Buying for a beauty buff can be a tricky business, but with proper guidance (you’re welcome) a well-chosen treat can be the gift that keeps on giving well into 2016.
First, some ground rules: unless you know the exact shade they use, stay away from foundations and bright eye colours. Tried and tested moisturisers, serums, make-up and tools are a great way to spoil someone special, particularly when you choose luxury brands your lucky giftee usually wouldn’t splash out on themselves.
Here are 10 items that are on our Santa lists this year:
Kiehl’s Daily Reviving Concentrate
€42.50, Arnotts.ie
Press three drops of this powerful serum into your skin before you moisturise daily to protect your complexion and glow all day. A blend of naturally-derived oils, including Ginger Root, Sunflower oil and Tamanu oil, there should be a bottle of this miracle mixture on every dressing table.
Clarisonic
€149 here
The ultimate tool for cleansing your skin, spinning at a frequency of 300 micro-movements per second means (that it is SIX TIMES more effective than a manual cleanse), the Clarisonic leaves your skin super-soft, while tightening up those dreaded enlarged pores. Prices start at €149.
Fuschia Mink Lashes
€15 from pharmacies and here
The beauty bloggers’ favourite, Fuschia’s Mink Lashes are the creme de la creme of falsies. So lightweight you’ll barely feel them, they come in eight different styles named after screen icons (we love The Bridget). Added bonus: Fuschia Make-Up is an Irish company.
Urban Decay Naked Palette
€46 here
They’ve brought out a few different versions since this one, but the original Naked palette is still the best in our book. The long case is packed with 12 gorgeous neutrals, from delicate champagnes to dark, gritty gunmetal, and a range of textures: everything from glitter to shimmer to matte. The mirrored case also includes a professional quality, cruelty-free Good Karma Eyeshadow Brush. It covers all bases.
Dream Team
€10.29 here
This Works’ Dream Team trial set is a great introduction to the brand. The mini Deep Sleep Pillow Spray and Stress Less Aromatherapy Roller will have you hooked in one blissful night.
Reese’s Lip Balm
€3.09 here
For January, when the annual health blitz dictates that peanut butter and chocolate treats are off the menu. Lip balm is calorie-free.
The Beauty Bear Pillow
€61, Net-A-Porter.com
Nurse Jamie Sherrill’s uniquely shaped Beauty Bear pillow is designed to support your neck and lumbar muscles, allowing you to sleep more soundly. The satin covering doesn’t absorb like cotton cases – it allows your skin to retain its natural moisture and oils, helping to minimise deep-set sleep wrinkles.
Charlotte’s Magic Cream
€90, Brown Thomas
It’s rumoured to grace the nightstand of Kate Moss herself, so you can be sure Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream is the bee’s knees. Thanks to the break-through BioNymph Peptide Complex, this formula fights the ageing process on all fronts: stimulating collagen production and cell energy, fighting free radicals, flooding skin with moisture to re-plump and infusing it with rose hip oil and vitamin E to bring your complexion back to life.
Eight Hour Cream
€33, Debenhams
The original and the best, there should be a tube of Elizabeth Arden’s 8-Hour Cream in every Mum’s handbag. For a start; it can cure chapped lips overnight, smooth dry hands, highlight your cheeks, keep your brows in place and soothe a burn. We can’t live without it.
Fluid Sheer Highlighter
€45, Brown Thomas
Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheers are extravagant, but take it from us; they last forever and they shake up your make-up like nothing else. Available in a selection of natural looking shades, including a bronzer and a few truly gorgeous blushes, the translucent formula goes on alone or over foundation to highlight and add a polished radiant glow. You’ll look like you’ve just been out for a jog.
What beauty treats are you hoping to get from Santa? Let us know on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.
