Earlier this year, I said “We might make the Gift Guide a little smaller this year.”
We did not.
The 2019 Glow Journal Beauty Gift Guide contains 100 carefully selected beauty gifts across three categories, with prices ranging from $14.95 to $497. Despite the size of this year’s Guide, I’ve been discerning in making my selections- every gift has been meticulously curated, and any option that I would not feel proud to give nor thrilled to receive has not made the cut.
As per previous years, I want readers to be able to identify their budget, then be able to quickly and easily select a gift from a list of brands that have been personally recommended to them by someone who has, quite literally, tried them all. Not one product in this gift guide is here as a paid advertisement. I personally reached out to every single brand and retailer included in the Guide because I love their products, use their products, and wanted to share with you their Holiday offerings.
We begin this year’s Glow Journal Beauty Gift Guide with Stocking Fillers- gifts priced below $40 that, despite their accessible price, do not skimp on quality. You will not find a chemist-value-pack-hamper-stuffed-with-tissue-paper nor a bumper-size-chalky-eyeshadow-palette-that-you-will-not-use on this list. You deserve better than that.
Please enjoy Part 1 of the 2019 Glow Journal Beauty Gift Guide and stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3.
One of my very favourite beauty gift giving philosophies comes from the inimitable Sali Hughes, who says “My trick has always been to buy the smallest thing I can for my money.” Rather than exhausting your budget on a cheap, oversized eyeshadow palette with 100 poorly pigmented colours or a wicker basket full of drugstore toiletries, choose something smaller that the receiver of said gift may not spend money on themselves.
Case in point: silk haircare. Any Slip product makes for a beautiful gift, but this festive themed scrunchie bauble is my pick for the season.
Shop here: Slip Pure Silk Skinny Scrunchies Holiday Bauble, $30
While not technically a Christmas special nor a limited edition gift, I am a long time devotee of The Beauty Chef and I sincerely believe hardcover books are amongst the loveliest gifts one can buy.
This cookbook focuses on gut health, which may sound a smidge like very dry and un-festive content, but Carla Oates makes gut health feel very sexy and luxurious. And CHRISTMAS should feel sexy and luxurious. Also, gut health equals lovely skin.
Shop here: The Beauty Chef Gut Guide, $39.99
There are very few brands/humans who do holiday gifts quite like Charlotte Tilbury. There’s something almost magical about a Charlotte Tilbury Christmas gift, which sounds like a joke but I am actually being very serious.
This year’s very magical and sparkly CT holiday offering (and you’ll see a few of these across this year’s Guides) includes Charlotte’s Secret Lash Tricks- a collection of limited edition false lashes that I am, quite frankly, besotted with. I have the kind of face that can really easily look insane when you add lashes, but these are perfect and beautiful and foolproof. My favourites are the Cat Eye Corner Lashes and Natural Chic Lashes- both subtle, both excellent on all eye shapes.
Shop here- Charlotte Tilbury’s Secret Lash Tricks Cat Eye Corner Lash, $29
Shop here- Charlotte Tilbury’s Secret Lash Tricks Natural Chic Lash, $29
In the same way that I love the festive appeal of the aforementioned Slip Silk Scrunchie Bauble, I am mad for any beauty gift branded as an “ornament.” No one on God’s good earth is physically hanging one such bauble from their tree, but boy oh boy do they make for a nice Christmas gift.
Pour exemple: the Mecca Max Super Star Mini Mascara. A really excellent mascara, in festive ornamental packaging. Do not hang it on your tree, put it on your face.
Shop here: Mecca Max Super Star Mini Mascara, $16
Similarly small and excellent but sans ornamental ribbon (because that’s all it is, no? A package, with a ribbon. Then branded an ornament.) are the Innisfree Sparkling Glitter Tints (beautiful, Christmas-red liquid lippies) and the Mecca Max Peace Out Liquid Lip Duo (two nude shades that work with every skin/lip colour).
Shop here: Innisfree Sparkling Glitter Tints, $17 each
Shop here: Mecca Max Peace Out Liquid Lip Duo, $25
Straddling the line between makeup and skincare (I’m so sorry, straddling is not the ideal word but also it’s the perfect word) is the MAC Stars of Skincare Kit. This limited edition festive duo includes a bottle of Fix+ and a tube of Strobe Cream, both of which are amongst MAC’s truly cult products- the former both setting and refreshing makeup, and the latter giving the skin a beautiful, almost airbrush glow.
Shop here: MAC Stars of Skincare Kit, $39
Remember when I talked about ornaments? That was a nice time.
Lanolips 101 Ointment is one of my all time favourite products, and the Lanolips 101 Ointment Limited Edition Bauble is a wonderful Christmas gift on account of it’s one of my favourite products AND it had a festive ribbon on its head.
Shop here: Lanolips 101 Ointment Limited Edition Bauble, $18.95
Brands popping their best selling product in festive bauble packaging is, frankly, genius holiday marketing. I’m going to buy the product regardless (because I am super susceptible to the phrase “best seller”), but if you pop that bauble ribbon on it, I can tell myself that it was the right thing to do given the season. You can’t fight the festive season!
Dr. Jart+’s Ceramidin Cream and By Terry’s Baume De Rose both come in mini Christmas baubles. You know what to do.
Shop here: Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Cream Limited Edition, $32
Shop here: By Terry Starlight Rose Baume De Rose, $31
You know what I like even more than beauty baubles? Beauty crackers (I wish there was an opportunity for alliteration here, but there is not).
If you’re throwing a really great Christmas dinner party and your guests are good people, you could pop any of these beside their cutlery: Mecca Cosmetica’s To Save Face SPF50+ Superscreen Cracker, Glasshouse’s Christmas Bon Bon Body Duo, or Lanolips Coconutter Cracker.
Shop here: Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF50+ Superscreen Cracker, $22
Shop here: Glasshouse Fragrances Christmas Bon Bon Body Duo, $15.95
Shop here: Lanolips Cononutter Cracker, $19.95
If you slash your loved ones love beautiful skincare but are less interested in kitchy festive packaging, I am here for you.
The Jojoba Co’s Jojoba Ultimate Duo includes the brand’s universally lauded Ultimate Youth Potion and Ultimate Day Cream (priced at $39.95 with a value of $70), while Mecca Cosmetica’s SPF Saviours holiday set includes the To Save Face SPF50+ Superscreen and To Save Lips Superscreen Protective Lip Balm with SPF50+ (two of my all time favourite SPF packed products).
Shop here: The Jojoba Co Jojoba Ultimate Duo, $39.95
Shop here: Mecca Cosmetica SPF Saviours, $30
Hand creams: the easiest of Kris Kringle gifts.
Everyone loves hand cream, yet no one is spending money on their own. We are all merely drifting through the year, waiting for a gift giver to replenish our hand cream stocks.
A bad or lazy person will gift not-that-good hand creams this festive season. You, a nice person, will gift one of the following: The Body Shop Handfuls of Happiness Hand Cream Trio, Glasshouse Fragrances’ Christmas Hand Cream Duo or Innisfree Perfumed Hand Cream Set.
Shop here: The Body Shop Handfuls of Happiness Hand Cream Trio, $20
Shop here: Glasshouse Fragrances’ Christmas Hand Cream Duo, $24.95
Shop here: Innisfree Perfumed Hand Cream Set, $20
Skincare can be a difficult category to purchase a gift from, as everyone’s skin is so different. A universally loved skincare gift, however? Face masks.
The beauty of a mask is that it delivers instant results, other than staple skincare that requires months of commitment or highly active skincare that could trigger a reaction in sensitive skin. The Sephora Collection Frosted Party Skincare Surprise Box contains four “surprise” skincare products perfect for young skin, while The Body Shop Don’t Ask, Just Mask set includes a collection of facial masks to breathe life into a tired complexion.
Shop here: Sephora Collection Frosted Party Skincare Surprise Box, $26
Shop here: The Body Shop Don’t Ask, Just Mask Set, $25
The Body Shop, since its inception, are the undisputed BEST at curating Christmas gift sets. Their body products are suitable for all skin types, and they fit into the earlier mentioned ideal gift category- the type of beautiful product people won’t splurge on for themselves.
Shop here: The Body Shop Strawberry & Mango Body Yogurt Duo, $35
Shop here: The Body Shop Soft Hands, Warm Kisses Nutty & Nourishing Shea, $15
Shop here: The Body Shop Festive Body Butter Trio, $25
Another thing The Body Shop do very well- these Festive Sacks.
Everyone has a favourite Body Shop fragrance, even if they don’t know it. If you’re shopping for someone you know reasonably well, select a scent, and invest 35 hard earned dollars in a Festive Sack. Each reusable bag houses a shower gel, body butter, hand cream and body scrub.
Shop here: The Body Shop Rich Plum Festive Sack, $35
No, but The Body Shop gifts are THAT good. I don’t even HAVE a bath, but I hold onto The Body Shop’s very neatly individually wrapped bath bombs for any and every hotel stay.
The Body Shop’s Bath Bomb Party set includes six scented bath bombs and a rainbow loofah (they call it a Bath Lily but it’s the same thing).
Shop here: The Body Shop Bath Bomb Party, $20
The Bath Bomb Party is a hybrid ornament-bauble, as is Glasshouse Fragrances’ Tahaa Affair Christmas Bauble (did I mention I really like festive packaging? I do not recall).
This limited edition gift contains a 30 gram Vanilla Caramel candle. You know that scent you get a whiff of every time you walk past Peter Alexander? It’s this. You’re welcome.
Shop here: Glasshouse Fragrances A Tahaa Affair Christmas Bauble, $14.95
Two other things I love about the holidays are Prosecco and Rosé. A close third would be this Palm Beach Prosecco Rosé Mini Diffuser, the name of which speaks for itself.
Shop here: Palm Beach Collection Prosecco Rosé Mini Diffuser, $18.95
Innisfree’s limited edition Bright Music Notes Scented Candle is spicy, woody and musky (my idea of personal heaven) AND it comes with a gold carousel that spins as the candle burns (see above).
Shop here: Innisfree Bright Music Notes Scented Candle, $18.95
Sincere and special thanks to Mecca Brands, Tailormaid PR, Innisfree Australia, Sarah Humphries Agency, The Body Shop, Elise Garland PR, Stellar Concepts and MCMPR.
