Part 1 of the 2018 Glow Journal Beauty Gift Guide detailed “stocking fillers,” all priced roughly $35 and below. Part 2 sees us graduate to the $40 to $85 price bracket.
As noted in Part 1 of the Gift Guide (which you can read here), these gift guides came to be after identifying a gap for a beauty gift guide that contained no stock imagery, told you something about each product beyond its name and price and, arguably most importantly, featured absolutely no sponsored product placement.
Not one product in this gift guide has been included as a paid advertisement. I personally reached out to every single brand and retailer included in these guides because I love their products, use their products and would be proud to gift any of their Holiday offerings to a loved on.
You can read the Stocking Fillers Gift Guide here.
Jo Malone London are, as their name suggests, quintessentially British. There’s something about gifts from such an iconic London brand that feel just that bit more “Christmassy,” although I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the idea of a white Christmas? This Jo Malone packaging is so festive that the ornament would be worth purchasing even if the products housed within it weren’t beautiful- but, coming from such fragrance leaders, naturally they are beyond beautiful. This year’s Christmas Ornament contains a miniature Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne (my personal favourite of the Jo Malone scent offering) and an English Pear & Freesia Body Crème.
Shop here: Jo Malone London Christmas Ornament, $45
As above, this is the sort of Christmas gift that I can’t really fault. If I were a truly fancy human, I’d buy one of these for each of my friends and use them as place settings at a Christmas dinner. The Jo Malone 2018 Christmas Cracker contains miniature versions of the brand’s Red Roses Cologne, English Oak & Redcurrant Body & Hand Wash and Lime Basil & Mandarin Body Crème.
Shop here: Jo Malone London Christmas Cracker, $78
In every single piece I’ve ever written on beauty gift giving, I’ve cited Sali Hughes’ philosophy: “My trick has always been to buy the smallest thing I can for my money.” Rather than spending your budget on a cheap, oversized eyeshadow palette with 100 poorly pigmented colours or a wicker basket full of drugstore toiletries, put your cash towards something smaller and higher quality.
Luxury lipsticks epitomise that sentiment, and brands don’t come much more luxurious than Armani nor YSL. This year’s Giorgio Armani Beauty Holiday collection sees four best-selling Ecstasy Shine lip colours poured into limited edition Christmas packaging. These are amongst my all-time favourite lip formulas.
Shop here: Giorgio Armani Beauty Ecstasy Shine Christmas Limited Edition, $56
Yves Saint Laurent lipsticks- also an incredible gift, also a beautiful quality product. I just love the idea of gifting someone with something that they ordinarily wouldn’t spend their own hard earned money on. YSL’s Holiday offering includes the Gold Attraction Rouge Pur Couture lipstick in customisable festive packaging.
Shop here: YSL Beauty Gold Attraction Rouge Pur Couture, $57
For what I consider to be a fairly high-end beauty brand, Nars really do pack value into their Holiday collections (unheard of for most luxury houses). This year sees the brand pack four of their Velvet Matte Lip pencils into a limited edition red Riot Volume pouch. All four shades (three reds, one berry) are full size. For context, one full size Nars Lip Pencil retails at $39 AUD, meaning you’re getting four pencils for the price of about one and a half.
Shop here: Nars Riot Volume Matte Lip Pencil Set, $66
At similarly great value is the Nars Lip Clash Coffret, which includes two Powermatte Lip Pigments (matte finish) and two Powermatte Lip Lusters (matte yet metallic).
Shop here: Nars Lip Clash Coffret, $66
In Part 1 of this year’s Gift Guide, I touched on how crowd-pleasing Stila holiday sets always are. I’d argue that the With Flying Colours Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick Set is the most impressive from the brand’s 2018 collection. This set includes six of the brand’s cult Stay All Day Liquid Lipsticks in a shade range encompassing everything from creamy nude through to deep wine.
Shop here: Stila With Flying Colours Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick Set, $57
I will finish with the lip products shortly, but they really do make for the perfect gift. Following Part 1, it’s no secret that Charlotte Tilbury make some of my all-time favourite beauty products. This Christmas sees the makeup artist release a brand new, limited edition lipstick formula- Superstar Lips, a gloss finish lipstick so good that I’d be surprised if it isn’t bumped up to permanent collection status.
Shop here: Charlotte Tilbury Superstar Lips, $49
One of the things that initially drew me to beauty was the theatre of swiping on a lip colour housed in something spectacular. Hourglass’ refillable Confession Lipsticks blew me away following their launch in 2017, and this limited edition Holiday set has blown me away once more. This set contains two colours (one nude and one deep red) with one of the Confession cases. For context, one Hourglass Confession Lipstick ordinarily retails at $49 while a refill will cost you $32, so in this duo you are quite literally getting the refill for free.
Shop here: Hourglass Confession Lipstick Duo, $49
Efficacy aside, a large portion of La Mer’s reputation as a beauty brand comes down to their pricing. La Mer products are almost a status symbol, so at $85 this limited edition Lip and Cheek Glow feels like a somewhat more accessible entry point into a luxury brand. I love La Mer products and use them whenever I can, and this multipurpose tint has become a handbag essential for me post wrapping this Holiday shoot (abstaining from using this particular product prior to shooting almost killed me).
Shop here: La Mer The Lip & Cheek Glow, $85
I love Go-To Skincare, and my two favourite products (huge and difficult call) from the brand are Face Hero and Transformazing. This face oil and sheet mask duo will work in harmony to ensure your skin is plump and juicy through the eternally dehydrating festive season, plus it comes with a peach scrunchie (important to note that scrunchies are trendy again courtesy of what I believe to be “The Jen Atkin Effect.”)
Shop here: Go-To Skincare Party Face, $54
There are so few words that accurately describe how excited I was to see Frank Body’s Shimmer Scrub return to the brand’s Holiday roster this year. This is my favourite Frank product of all time (you can read my review here). This year’s Party Starters Kit contains the three shimmer products that were launched together as a limited release “Shimmer Bomb Kit” back in 2017, and I would strongly suggest doing what I did one year ago and buying as many of these kits as your bank account permits and stockpiling them. This WILL sell out.
Shop here: Frank Body The Party Starters Kit, $49.95
It almost doesn’t feel fair to talk about this Frank kit after giving the aforementioned set such high praise, so it’s worth me pointing out that Frank Body’s Original Coffee Scrub, the star of this kit, has been sold over 2.5 million times worldwide. Huge. The Originals Kit contains coffee based scrubs for every part of your body- the Original Coffee Scrub, Express-O Coffee Scrub, Creamy Face Scrub and Lip Scrub.
Shop here: Frank Body The Originals Kit, $59.95
Baume de Rose Lip Care is one of French beauty house By Terry’s most iconic formulas (one in a handful of products that have helped to elevate the brand to truly cult status- more on that in Part 3), so this duo will appeal to everyone from the slave to beauty through to the uninitiated- such is the appeal of a lip balm and hand cream. A no-brainer beauty duo and a gift that works for all skin types. This duo includes a Baume De Rose Lip Care Wand and Baume De Rose Hand Cream.
Shop here: By Terry Baume De Rose Duo Set, $79
I have two favourite Eve Lom products- their best selling balm Cleanser and their purifying Rescue Mask. The former isn’t the most travel friendly of products, unfortunately, so the brand formulated a Gel Balm Cleanser to combine the efficacy of the original with the ease of use of a gel- they succeeded. This duo includes the Gel Balm Cleanser and Rescue Mask.
Shop here: Eve Lom On The Go Cleanse Ornament, $51
If there is one thing the festive season will always deliver, it’s congested skin. Overindulgence and end-of-year parties are a recipe for blocked pores that can only be remedied by a great clay mask- enter Omorovicza. This gift set contains a mini Deep Cleansing Mask, mini Ultramoor Mud Mask and Omorovicza Mask Brush, housed within a beautiful, limited edition gift box. Across all three guides, this is in my top 5 products.
Shop here: Omorovicza Mini Mask Set, $59
This festive season sees MAC launch Shiny Pretty Things, a collection of limited edition items inspired by the bright lights and metallic shimmer of the holidays. The Smoky Eye Party is one such item, a palette of nine smoky shades spliced with vibrant blue and sparkling teal. It’s also worth checking out the looks the MAC creative team put together for this season’s campaign- inspiring in a way that only MAC can master.
Shop here: MAC Shiny Pretty Things Eye Party: Smoky, $79
Stila’s Heaven’s Hue highlighters have long been a source of delighted confusion for me given that, while technically a powder, the texture feels almost like a cream to touch. The brand’s Heaven’s Dew Palette includes three such highlighters, a formula that has been likened to that of Silly Putty. I’m mad for it.
Shop here: Stila Shine Bright Heaven’s Dew Palette, $66
Also from MAC’s Shiny Pretty Things collection, the Face Compact houses three Extra Dimension face powders- a Skinfinish, Blush and Bronzer. I’ve included the cool toned option, but a warm alternative also exists.
Shop here: MAC Shiny Pretty Things Face Compact, $79
I’ve used The Beauty Chef’s products for some years now, but when asked to describe their effect I always note that while I don’t see an immediate difference in my skin when I start taking them, I notice it the second I stop. The two that I never stray from are the Collagen Elixir and Glow Powder, a pair designed to work together to deliver glowing skin from within. Consider the Glow Powder your inner beauty moisturiser and the Collagen Elixir your serum.
Shop here: The Beauty Chef Holiday Glow Kit, $49.95
Want to change up your inner beauty serum? Simply swap out the aforementioned elixir for the Antioxidant or Hydration options from the brand’s Beauty Boost Kit. I have been known to mix and match or take multiple at a time, as one would with facial serums (also, decidedly off brand to discuss hangover cures on here, but this Hydration Elixir is mine).
Shop here: The Beauty Chef Beauty Boost Kit, $44.95
When buying a gift for someone whose skin type you’re not really aware of, it can be worth sticking with natural products so you aren’t running the risk of causing an irritation flare up. The Jojoba Company make natural products that feel far more luxurious than many of their green counterparts, and the gold packaging of their Age Defying Duo Pack feels especially luxe. This is another great value set, as $39.95 would ordinarily only cover the cost of one of these products.
Shop here: The Jojoba Company Age Defying Duo Pack, $39.95
My favourite brightening eye cream, without question, is the Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Cream. It takes pride of place in this season’s Glow Brightly Radiance Boosting Super Set, which also includes the Vitamin C-rich Truth Serum, C-Rush Brightening Gel Crème (one of the best smelling beauty products of ALL time) and Goodnight Glow Retin-ALT Sleeping Crème.
Shop here: Ole Henriksen Glow Brightly Radiance Boosting Super Set, $69
Innisfree, a Korean beauty powerhouse that I talked about at length in Part 1, cite their Green Tea Seed Serum as their most famous product. This holiday season sees the brand release a jumbo size of the best-seller, housed in festive Christmas packaging.
Shop here: Innisfree Holiday Green Tea Seed Serum, $54
Second only to the serum in Innisfree’s best sellers catalogue is the accompanying Green Tea Seed Cream, a traditional moisturiser that also harnesses the hydrating properties of the brand’s signature ingredient. This cream has also been given a jumbo makeover for the festive season.
Shop here: Innisfree Holiday Green Tea Sea Cream, $52
One of the best things about The Body Shop is that you can enter one of their stores at any time of year and find a gift set to suit your budget. That in mind, their range is so all-encompassing that it can grow difficult to choose the perfect gift- hence me curating the very best for this gift guide. For $80, I recommend one of the brand’s Ultimate Collections- a gift set containing six products available in three iconic Body Shop scents. My pick? British Rose.
Shop here: The Body Shop British Rose Ultimate Collection, $80
The perfect gift for anyone spending time amongst the hair-drying elements of the Australian beach this summer, the De Lorenzo Prescriptive Solutions Moisture Balance Intense Pack will restore much needed hydration to damaged tresses.
Shop here: De Lorenzo Prescriptive Solutions Moisture Balance Intense Pack, $44.95
A beautiful hairbrush makes for another nice example of a beauty item that your loved ones probably wouldn’t ordinarily spend their own money on. Why choose the high end option when the home brand serves the same purpose? Mecca Cosmetica’s Summer Styling Set will allow you to inject a little luxury into the everyday thanks to a luxe rose gold hair brush and satin hair scarf. Mecca also have a great little video on their website on how to style a hair scarf. Worth a look.
Shop here: Mecca Cosmetica Summer Styling Set, $60
I exclusively sleep on silk now- not because I am a princess, but because of silk’s incredible benefits for the hair and skin (benefits that made this product incredibly difficult to categorise). Slip make the BEST silk pillowcases, saving you from both bed head and fine lines. This season has seen the brand release new prints, my favourite being the black and white leopard.
Shop here: Slip White Leopard Queen Silk Pillowcase, $85
Sincere and special thanks to Mecca Brands, Go-To Skincare, Sarah Humphries Agency, Estée Lauder Companies, L’Oréal Luxe, One Daydream PR, Tailormaid PR, Frank Body and Innisfree Australia.
