The Big Beauty Christmas Gift Guide

The Big Beauty Christmas Gift Guide

I’d planned on hitting December back with a big bang after a quieter few months but the new house schedule hasn’t exactly gone to plan for the past few weekends. So I’ve been spending more time getting the home situation sorted so when it comes to Christmas we can relax and unwind. Speaking of Christmas, has anyone else barely thought about it? It’s less than two weeks away now and I still have a lot of presents to go. If you’re in the late boat – like me – I have my beauty gift guide for 2018.

The One For the Person Who Loves Smellies
M&S Lifeology Range

The Lifeology Range from Marks and Spencer’s has been new this year and launched over the past few months – I think that makes it a really good option for gifting and a different to the “usual” brands which other people may see every year. I have the Pink Pepper and Water Lily hand soap scent in my downstairs toilet which has proved popular with guests, but there’s a few other options in the range too – Lemongrass & Thyme and Orange Flower & Vanilla. I was kindly sent a few items from the range but I’d also purchased some of these. You could use the Lifeology range to make hampers for friends – but the Christmas sets are currently 50% off online and in store.

This set is the Pink Pepper & Waterlily Indulgence Set or Pink Gift* which features their Body Wash, Bath Foam, Body Butter, Hand Cream, Lip Balm and Body Puff and it retails for £15 and I think this makes a lovely alternative to the usual brand names you see at Christmas. Currently reduced to a mere £7.50 such a steal.

Another pick from Lifeology that I purchased myself for gifts was the Rise & Shine Set which features 3 beauty products from the Orange Flower and Vanilla set and a Shower Loofah too – it’s at a little lower price point, £12.50 so makes it a bit closer to the £10 mark that is set in most offices (I always go slightly over when it comes to Secret Santas) – but the good news is as I’m writing this it’s currently half price so it’s just £6.25!

Finally I picked up a couple of the Hand Soap and Hand Lotion packs one in the Pinkpepper and Water Lily and one in the Orange Blossom and Vanilla. My plan is to split up these two gift sets with the hand soap & lotion sets and make a couple of baskets up for different people. These are out of stock online, but these are just £4.25 if you can find them in store reduced down from £9.50.

The One for the Table
Ragdale Hall Little Spa Essentials Crackers*

These Ragdale Hall Spa Crackers a nice option for a pre-Christmas get together with the girls or using as stocking stuffer ideas too. They’re priced at £12.50 (reduced to £6.25) and there are four different items inside which are labelled on the back which is which should you wish to specifically direct a particular item to a particular friend. The items inside are the Be Happy Shower Burst, Be Happy Body Sorbet, Sleep Pillow and Body Aromatherapy Mist and the Sleep Hand Cream.

The One for Work Secret Santa
Lifeology Rise & Shine Set & Lemongrass Duo Bag

I often struggle with Work Secret Santas – especially as I work in an office of men, bar one (hey Sian if you’re reading!) but these are two options I’d suggest for if you’re struggling with a female who you don’t know particularly well. If you want to stay to a closer budget, there’s a final set I liked the look of that contains two full size items – the Lemongrass & Thyme Shower Me In Smiles Body Wash and the You’re a Smooth Operator Body Lotion. These are £9.50 although are currently reduced to £4.75. The Lifeology range in general I think would make nice options too if you’re making a Christmas Hamper for something as they’re budget friendly but very pretty.

The One for Makeup Magpies
Jeffree Star Liquid Lipstick (2018 Holiday Packaging)

I almost didn’t include this but the packaging of this is truly special – you’ll all have a friend in your life who is beauty obsessed and swoons heavily over packaging (I’m that friend), and if so the Jeffree Star Christmas Packaging this year is something that can’t be missed – there’s simply nothing else like it. I picked up two shades Jeffree Who? and Scandal which I’ve been wearing a lot already the season – but they have everything from the neutral to the experimental in this holiday collection. The sparkly packaging is something to be admired and simply is even better in person as it’s magical nature doesn’t quite capture on camera.

The One for Your Beauty Bestie
Jeffree Star Red Mini Bundle Set

She’ll know by the time this goes up as we’ll have exchanged secret Santa presents over the weekend, but I got this set from Jeffree Star for my friend Lora about 5 weeks ago – she featured it recently as something she was tempted by in the sales and I was feeling smug knowing I already had it for her! We’re all Jeffree Star liquid lip fans in our group and these minis are perfect sets for tucking in your clutch bags over the festive season, there’s a few different colours of these sets but I went for his Valentine Set which was predominately Reds (Lora’s Fave) and Pink shades that I thought would look great on her. I also knew she was running out of Red Rum which was included in this set. Our friend Molly also has the Send Nudes set from him which she loves so they’re a great option all round and offer great value for money. These would also make great sets to split up amongst a few friends too (and maybe hold one or two back for yourself, I didn’t do that for Lora’s gift though I promise!). The red set is currently out of stock on Beauty Bay but they have the more adventurous rainbow set and the send nudes volume 2 available.

The One for the Budding Makeup Artist
Beauty Bay Going Out Out Palette

I purchased this for myself in the Black Friday sales and I can see how many people who would love experimenting getting really excited about this palette. It’s very different as a palette and has four mattes in the corners, whilst the middle area is filled from gorgeous metallics from neturals to bright jewel tones. The top row contains duochrome toppers which can change the dimension and reflection of the shade. It’s a great palette for those who love to get creative and it’s at a great price point too!

If you’ve got a teenage cousin or little sister (or hey, anyone who just loves eyeshadow!) This would make a fantastic gift. And shush, you can get 10% off too using a discount code which comes inside by palette purchase to share the love… HEYYOU10 which is valid on any of their own brand palettes. I’m not sure if this works alongside the fact it’s already discounted from £30 to £21.

The One Who Likes Natural Makeup
Pixi Glow Cake Powders

I think we all know people in our lives who like makeup but like to keep things neutral, there’s also die hard Pixi beauty fans out there too. These Pixi Glow Cake Powders* are new in and are beautiful – there’s two different colourways, a neutral bareglow and a mauve pink colourway too. I think anyone would appreciate Bareglow and it can be used as a highlight/shimmery bronze duo and transitioned to eyeshadows too. The pink shade way is gorgeous too and can be transitioned in a more colourful but wearable eye too. As these are new out so even the biggest of Pixi fans might be safe with these as a makeup bag addition.

The One Who Loves Good Skincare
M&S Absolute Face Cream Set

This sleep cream has been my skincare discovery of the year and I’ve already been through two pots of it, I’ve been resisting cracking open this as I knew I wanted it for some end of the year posts! This is a face cream that has had a lot of hype (including from me!) and it’s well deserved. A really good face cream at an affordable price too, it’s packaging is nice and comes beautifully boxed. What’s even better is that this set is 50% off in M&S at the moment which means you can get an day cream and night cream for £20. There’s a few other sets within the line, but I took opportunity to stock myself up with another one of these whilst there was a great deal to be had. This is out of stock online but they had loads in my local store!

The One for the Person You… Forgot
Yes to Tomatoes Face Masks

We’ve all been there – you’ve got a few days before Christmas and realised that oops – you forgot to buy for someone. There’s great news that the Yes To range* is now being stocked in selected Tesco stores and to celebrate the launch they are also on 3 for 2, that means whilst you’re picking up your food shop a few days before Christmas you can also pick up some face masks too. Alternatively they make great stocking stuffers too.

The Person Who Likes a Bit of Sparkle
Colourpop Glitterally Obsessed

Colourpop have recently launched some new glitters which look, quite frankly magnificent. At $8 a pop they’re not going to break the bank and if you’re lucky they might arrive just in time if you’re in the UK, or the stateside I imagine you’ll be fine to order! I picked up three shades, Puffin, Avenue of the Stars and Starlight which are all as pretty. Whilst these are body glitters I’ve seen these be used on the eyes and they look splendid. I can’t wait to play!


I hope you enjoyed my picks, I’ve been so limited on time for places I’ve been able to take a look and shop for other people (I need to get my bum in gear this weekend!). So maybe I’ll do another mini follow up should I be buying any more beauty for family and friends. Let me know any favourite gifts you’ve seen and found in stores too in the comments.

Items marked with * were sent in PR, thoughts are my own. Post contains affiliate links.

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Helpless Whilst Drying

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9 Comments

  1. December 12, 2018 / 7:37 am

    Those Jeffree Star lip colours look fun! Did you treat yourself to a set of the M&S face cream? Those Pixi blushes are pretty <3

  2. December 12, 2018 / 12:45 pm

    Oh wow, I popped into M&S yesterday and picked up a few of those gift sets. They’re just so lovely! x

  3. December 12, 2018 / 8:35 pm

    I haven’t even started my shopping yet. I only have to buy for 3 people & they’re all easy to shop for. I’ll get most of it done Friday (I get paid that day).

  4. December 13, 2018 / 12:23 am

    Thanks for sharing this great gift guide.

  5. December 13, 2018 / 5:15 am

    LOVE the packaging on the Lifeology range! The Ragdale Hall set looks lovely too, what steals.
    I know this isn’t all that relative to you across the pond, but I found some wonderful bath and body gift sets at Trader Joe’s! I picked up some body scrubs, hand creams, and body butters for stocking stuffers this year, each trio of products was $7.99. I kind of want to keep them for myself… :]

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