Francene’s Top Five – Christmas Beauty Gifts

Over the years I have received many beauty related gifts as my friends and family know how much I love make-up and skin care products.  In this post I am going to discuss in descending order what I think are the best five gifts I have recieved.  Hopefully this will give you all some ideas as to what you should put on your Christmas wish list and some ideas as to what you might like to buy for others.

Number 5 on the list is from Liz Earle Naturally Active Skin Care

There are many different type of gift sets available from http://uk.lizearle.com/ , the one that I recieved contained Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, Instant Boost Skin Tonic , Skin Repair Moisteriser in normal combination, 2 pure muslin cloths and a tube of Deep Cleansing Mask.  These skin care products are so luxurious and when they are finished, they leave you craving more.  They have a gentle yet refreshing and uplifting scent and leave your skin feeling thouroughly cleansed and pampered.  There are gift sets available to suit all budgets and skin types and it will be beatifully presented in a gift box with the items wrapped in tissue paper.  I have made many purchases from Liz Earle both over the phone and online, each time I have received excellent customer service and a free sample of a product to try. It is touches like these as well as the quality of the products that puts Liz Earle into my top five, another good place to buy Liz Earle is from QVC who often give you good value for money.

At number 4 is the Benefit Lip Gloss set

I have recieved two different Benefit lip gloss sets in the past couple of years, one set was named Her Glossiness and the other Peace Love and Glossiness.  These two sets contained three double ended lipglosses and some of the shades were repeated from one year to the next , however, this didn’t bother me as the gloss at the other end was different in each set. This year’s set which has been named Ticket to Glossytown,  contains six mini glosses and some of the shades are the same as previous years such as Life on the A List, Kiss You and Foxy Lady.  Therefore if like me you have been given these sets before you might want to pass on this set but it goes into my top five as I use my glosses frequently.  They are so handy to pop into your handbag , the gloss itself lasts well on the lips as well as looking great.  Another reason why it is on my list is that you can either buy it as a single gift for someone or you can separate the glosses and give it as a little extra to six of your friends (or five of your friends and keep one for yourself!).

Number 3 on the list is the YSL Elle gift set

 

This is a favourite evening scent of mine, the reason I wear it in the evening is that it is quite strong, the kind of scent that you can smell from yourself for hours and I just prefer these types of fragrance for a night out or special occasion.  Therefore this was a great beauty gift for me as not only can I layer the scent using the shower gel and body lotion but I can fit the bottle in my handbag and have another spray if I want  to when I am out.  This size of bottle is also very good for travelling.

At number 2 is the largest Soap and Glory gift set

The set that I received last Christmas was slightly different from this years version, that said, the main components are the same.  This beauty gift comes in at number two on my list because I am a big fan of the Soap and Glory beauty products and to get this many at the one time really is a treat.  In particular I really like their Righteous Body Butter as it smells like strawberries and lingers on the skin all day as well as making it super soft.  I also really like Hand Food as I constantly appply hand cream due to my job and this smells the same as Righteous Body Butter.   Another favourite is their Off Your Face Wipes which remove makeup brilliantly without making your face feel too wet or sticky.  There are many different gifts available from the Soap and Glory range to suit all budgets and like the Benefit lip glosses you can buy it and separate the items into gifts for different people and perhaps keep a little something for yourself.  Last year www.boots.com ran promotions on items from their 3 for 2 gifts whereby a product would be half price or less for a while.  The biggest Soap and Glory set was one of the items to go on promotion and I saw many people on my high street with multiple purchases as it was such a good offer,  keep your eyes peeled incase they do this again as this makes a fantastic Christmas gift.  Soap and Glory also have a cosmetics range which they have extended recently, I have not tried any of the new products but look forward to doing so as I have never been dissapointed in this brand so far.

Taking poll position on my top 5 list is the Dior Pallette

Given the fact that I received three of the sets last Christmas I do not feel I need any of the sets this year, however, I would still be delighted if I found that Santa had visited the Dior counter on my behalf.  If you didn’t receive any Dior gift sets for Christmas last year then I strongly recommend that you write it at the top of your wish list as you will treasure it and enjoy using it, particulary over the festive period.  The larger pallette that I have is also very useful for travelling with and I have found that all year round it puts a smile on my face when I use it.

I hope that this count down of my  top five beauty gifts received has given you food for thought when it comes to writing your own wish list or has helped you to decide what type of beauty gift you might like to purchase for a loved one.  There are so many great gifts to choose from out there and if you want to share any of your favourites or want to share your  ideas please leave a comment below.