The festive season is the perfect chance to pick up a bargain or a mini-sized favourite
It’s vital to keep your eyes peeled at this time of year. If you’re not careful, you could be taken in by a swizz and, blinded by gift-buying panic and time pressure, buy something that’s not actually any use.
However, there are also great opportunities to buy some of the genuinely great beauty gift sets, which often give you the opportunity to grab some existing favourites for a bargain or in a delightful mini, or the chance to try something new without buying the full-size version.
Today I’d like to highlight some sets I’ll be grabbing this year, whether for myself or for someone I love.
Diptyque Set of Five Eau De Parfum
1. Diptyque Set of Five Eau De Parfum (€125 via brownthomas.com) – Fragrance brand Diptyque is chic and sophisticated, and this set, which contains five of its most popular scents, is a great way for someone to figure out which one they resonate with. Aside from that, no one wants to carry around a large bottle of perfume, so smaller ones are always a delight to receive.
Glossier Cloud Paint Trio
2. Glossier Cloud Paint Trio (€25.60 via spacenk.com) – These liquid blushes are beautiful and a little goes a long way, meaning it’ll take you ages to get through these three minis, which include a terracotta, berry and mauve shade. Whether you mix them, or wear them as is, you’ll have a healthy flush until next Christmas.
Sol de Janeiro Spritz & Shine Set
3. Sol de Janeiro Spritz & Shine Set/Cheirosa Mist & Match Gift Set (€34/€140 via brownthomas.com) – Sol de Janeiro continues to be a very desirable brand for pre-teens and young women. If you have a teen in your life, a set of the brand’s most popular perfume mists will be an enormous hit.
Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte’s Mini Viral Beauty Icons Gift Set
4. Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte’s Mini Viral Beauty Icons Gift Set (€54 via arnotts.ie) – This set is worth €82 and a great example of how you can use Christmas sets to get a deal on products you already love or have wanted to try. This set includes some of Tilbury’s biggest hits: Beauty Light Wand in Pinkgasm, Lip Cheat Lip Liner in Pillow Talk, Matte Revolution Lipstick in Pillow Talk and Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray. Each product is a decent-sized mini, making them ideal for travel.
Laneige Dreamy Lip Kit
5. Laneige Dreamy Lip Kit (€22.95 via lookfantastic.com) – Laneige’s lip masks are loved by teens and adults alike, and this set of four mini masks is a great option for a stocking stuffer or Kris Kindle. I always lose lip balms before I manage to finish them, so a mini is a great option for popping in your pocket, handbag or school bag.
NARS Mini Multiple Gift Set
6. Nars Mini Multiple Gift Set (€49 via arnotts.ie) – Nars has reformulated its iconic pigment stick The Multiple, and the result is the new range of blush sticks, which are smoother to apply and last on the skin. This trio includes three shades: Orgasm, a peachy pink; Dolce Vita, a dusky rose; and Fling, a watermelon pink.
Buying Irish
Kash Beauty After Hours Collection
Staying in the realm of beauty gifts, there’s no getting away from the fact that there are some incredible Irish options, a few of which are already sold out. Kash Beauty is one of my favourite Irish brands, and the After Hours Collection (€49 via boots.ie) would make a super present for you, or a make-up lover in your life. It includes the Muted Mattes Eyeshadow Palette, Gold Beam Skin Glaze, Femme Lip Liner, Brown Duoflex Liner, Sculpting Sponge and Sugar Cookie Lip Oil. That’s a lot of bang for your buck!
Something old…
Simihaze Beauty’s Eclipse Lip Balm
To be honest, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be into a sparkly lipstick. A lip gloss with a little shimmer, sure, but a lipstick flecked with sparkle in the same way an eyeshadow is? Too much, I would have thought. Then I discovered Simihaze Beauty’s Eclipse Lip Balm in Neo (€27.45 via cultbeauty.com), and everything changed. This little oil-balm lipstick is a gorgeous brown packed with flecks of blue glitter. While I accept that this sounds a little mad, what it actually delivers is a super-cool (both in tone and effect) lip, which elevates a neutral look to something special. It doesn’t look glittery, per se, more shimmery, in an edgy but wearable way.
Something new…
MAC Dazzlelips Crayon
Mac’s new sparkly lip products, Dazzlelips Crayons, are available in 12 pearly shades, from baby pink to vivid fuchsia. Cosmic Plum, a purply brown flecked with blue glitter is very similar to the aforementioned Simihaze product (which also reminds me of similar eyeshadows, like Half Magic’s Blushing Lizard, for example). Dazzlelips Crayons can be worn on their own, or on top of other lip products (all over, or just tapped in the centre of the lip). I think they add a lovely moment of drama or festivity at this time of year, although as you probably know if you are a regular reader, I think sparkle is for life, not just for Christmas.
