With just a week to go until Christmas day, there’s only a couple of shopping days left to make sure your parcels arrive in time for the weekend. And if you’ve left it a little last minute, I’m here to help you pick up your final gifts by sharing my top beauty picks to ensure a festive success.
From Secret Santa and stocking fillers to Christmas showshoppers, I’ve shared a number of my best-loved brands you’ll have likely seen shared on beffshuff.com over the past few years, as well as newly discovered favourites. There’s something to suit every budget, too from £10 beauty buys to £500 hair tools, all of which will be universally adored by friends and family.
Shay and Blue
For the fragrance lover in your life, I can’t recommend Shay and Blue enough. They’re by far my favourite perfume brand, and their Blacks Club Leather has become something of a signature fragrance of mine.
Each scent in their collection is totally different from the rest – individual, recognisable, and totally gorgeous, making them the perfect present for your loved ones.
This Precious Trio Woods features a combination of the brands bestselling woody blends, including Kings Wood, Oud Aif and Blacks Club Leather.
The set usually retails at £65, but has been slashed to £15, making each 10ml spray just £5 each, which is incredible value seeing as 10ml of Blacks Club Leather is usually £25 on its own.
You can split them up for different recipients, or gift the set together – it’s totally up to you! Shop the set online here.
Liz Earle
Liz Earle is allowing shoppers to give the gift of gorgeous skin and fuss free routine for a fraction of the price with their ‘Your Daily Routine’ bundle, which will see customers receive over £140 worth of products for under £55.
Shoppers who pick up the Your Daily Routine Bundle Kit for £54.50 will be able to customise the gift, worth £63 if purchased individually, choosing from one of five moisturisers to be paired with the iconic Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and Instant Boost Skin Tonic.
If that wasn’t enough, with the Your Daily Routine Bundle Kit, customers will also receive the Superskin Microdermabrasion Polish worth £40 and the £32 Superskin Alt-Retinol Paste completely free, both in full size tubes, and that’s without the mini samples that get thrown in at the checkout at no extra charge, too.
You can even get it gift wrapped at the till with free delivery, making it the easiest Christmas shopping experience ever. Shop the bundle online here.
Glossier
My love for Glossier started with this cult-favourite, multi-purpose lip balm when I picked up the flavour ‘birthday’. The clear, subtly sparkly balm smells just like cake and feels so hydrating on chapped and dry skin.
Now, the balm dotcom comes in a selection of different fragrances, some which apply sheer, like mint coconut and lavender, and others which have a slight tint like cherry and cookie butter, the latter of which is the ultimate festive fragrance.
Described as a ‘do-everything’ lip balm, you can apply this product anywhere that needs a little extra moisture. It also doubles as a brow tamer, subtle highlight, and even a tinted blush.
The soothing cruelty-free balm uses nature’s heavy-duty moisturisers like castor oil, beeswax, and lanolin to offer a dense, waxy texture that stays in place to seal in moisture. They come in at £10 each but you can often get a set of three for the reduced price of £25. The Cookie Butter one smells just like Lotus biscuits – and you can’t get much more festive than that.
Read about more of my favourite Glossier products here.
Trigwell Cosmetics
Having gone viral on TikTok earlier this year, the Trigwell Cosmetics velvet powder puff is the ultimate makeup applicator, famed for its skin-blurring properties. There’s no wonder it’s sold out 99 per cent of the time.
Used by the likes of TikTok beauty creators Amelia Olivia and Graces.faces as well as the MUAs of Jennifer Hudson and Lizzo, there’s no wonder there’s so much hype around these soft and smoothing pads.
The game-changing makeup tool costs £13.95 for two full sized, while the mini under-eye puffs cost £9.99 for two, and they’re cosmetic kit essentials – I can’t finish a full face of makeup without them anymore.
They’re an absolute must for leaving your skin flawless with a shine-free finish, while minimising the appearance of pores and ensuring makeup stays put all day, every day.
You can shop the powder puffs online here – if they’re in stock – alternatively, the 10-piece brush kit is a really great shout at £35.
With ten easy-clean face and eye brushes to play with – plus a holographic storage pouch – these professional-grade, super gentle tools provide everything you need for a full face of flawless makeup.
Embryolisse
Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré Nourishing Moisturiser is a 24-hour ‘miracle cream’ hailed as every makeup artist’s holy grail, used by the likes of Michelle Keegan, Karlie Kloss and Emma Willis. The celeb-approved lotion is a multifunctional do-all makeup kit hero, so it’s easy to see why it sells one every 13 seconds.
Predominantly, I use Embryolisse as a primer and moisturiser, but it can also be used as a make-up remover, repairing mask, an after-shave cream, and even a baby-care product.
It’s been one of the industry’s best kept beauty secrets for years, but then TikTok discovered it and totally blew it up, giving it all the recognition and accolades it deserves.
It works incredibly well under makeup, which is why so many makeup artists swear by it. At first it goes the slightest bit tacky, but absorbs quickly leaving a beautiful veil-like texture and satin finish, laying the foundations for a flawless base.
It’s basically a one-size-fits-all, no nonsense skincare saviour that should be in the bathroom cupboard of every woman in her 20s and beyond. Embryolisse is well and truly up there in my beauty hall of fame, and it should definitely be in yours, too. Bag the large tube on Amazon for £16 here.
Mario Badescu
Spritz.Mist.Glow by Mario Badescu is a set of three best-selling facial sprays that are designed to keep skin refreshed, hydrated and glowing. Priced at £20.25, the set can be gifted to one person for the ultimate aromatherapy skincare set, or split between friends and family as part of a present.
There’s a different spray to suit every need, including Cucumber And Green Tea to boost and awaken in the morning, Aloe, Herbs And Rosewater for a midday pick me up and Aloe, Chamomile And Lavender to calm and soothe before bedtime.
Each one comes in a 118ml bottle and is cruelty free and paraben free, perfect for misting over your face before moisturising, after makeup or throughout the day for a refresh.
Shop the set on Beauty Bay here.
Lush x Lazy Oaf
Lush has teamed up with a British female-owned fashion brand Lazy Oaf to launch their first ever brand-to-brand partnership. The fresh handmade cosmetics company has joined forces with the North London independent for a colourful and conscious 17-piece collection of cosmetics, homeware and accessories.
There are two fragrances which run throughout the Lazy Oaf line, with some scented in the dreamy and relaxing Sleepy with snooze inducing lavender, while others are in the more uplifting and vibrant Intergalactic, offering notes of musky cedarwood and invigorating peppermint.
The Lush X Lazy Happy Bath Bomb & Sad Bath Bombs see one of each of those scents – and they’ll definitely turn that frown upside down when you drop them into the tub.
The bath bombs are available individually for £7, or in a box set for £14. These can be gifted together, or split up and gifted with a pair of socks from the Lush X Lazy Socks gift box.
Priced at £30, you get three pairs of organic cotton socks to slip on once you’ve smothered your feet in moisturiser – and they’re incredible for Dr Marten lovers as they really are the ideal ‘Doc sock’.
The range champions considerate, small-batch production with a strong focus on turning homes into self care spaces, making for a funky gift for those who need a reminder to take five minutes to themselves once in a while.
Magnitone
Leaders in skincare and electrical beauty since 2013, Magnitone’s popular XOXO micro-sonic soft touch silicone cleansing brush is currently on sale, down from £40 to £24. I’ve been using this facial cleansing device for a number of years now, and recently acquired another in my LookFantastic advent calendar, too.
The super-soft, naturally antibacterial cleansing brush uses micro-sonic technology and three cleansing zones, using up to 8,000 pulsations a minute to get deep under the skin to dislodge dirt and impurities, for a more radiant and healthy glow.
It also gently massages your face for a mini home-spa treatment that can be repeated every single day. Small but mighty, this 100 per cent waterproof cleansing tool has three different speeds and one charge will keep it powered for a whole month. Ideal for all skin types, the Magnitone product is USB rechargeable and compact, perfect for daily use at home or to pop in your wash bag when you travel.
Shop the Magnitone XOXO micro-sonic soft touch silicone cleansing brush on sale here.
Dyson
Since arriving on the electrical beauty scene in 2018, the Dyson Airwrap has captured the imagination of shoppers in a way no other hair tool has done before, going viral online and frequently selling out.
It’s the most in demand hair tool that has topped many people’s Christmas wishlists for the last five years, but at £499.99 for the complete set, it’s not exactly cheap, either. So there’s no wonder people are waiting until Christmas to add it to their list. But let me tell you – it’s totally changed my life.
The all in one-styler is able to recreate some trending hairstyles from curling to bouncy blow-dries effectively with less heat, using a variety of barrels to curl or wave, and brushes to smooth and volumise.
The innovative tool uses the Coanda effect by creating a spinning vortex of air around the cylindrical shaped barrels of the tool to curl and style.The barrels attract the hair through the airflow, encouraging hair to wrap itself around the barrel and curling it through the use of the air vortex.
The hair tool has made curling and styling my stubborn limp hair a total breeze, giving me bouncy, salon-fresh hair every single day. Using the Dyson Airwrap takes no time at all to use, and would be a showstopping gift for a mum or girlfriend this December 25.
Shop the must-have hair tool here.
L’Occitane
Another steadfast brand prime for festive gifting is L’Occitane – a brand which, since 1976, has been imagining, producing and selling luxury beauty, skincare and well-being products inspired by the wonders of nature.
If you know someone who’s always getting manicures but perhaps isn’t quite on top of keeping them oiled, then this shea butter hand cream is a dream. Made with 20 per cent concentrated shea butter, it’s a true saviour when it comes to dry hands, which is particularly helpful in winter. It’s so popular, it sells one every four seconds worldwide. It costs £22 for a full-size tube, which comes with express delivery when ordered before 2pm on Monday. You can shop the hand cream here.
And for a match made in heaven, you can pair the hand cream with the shea bubble bath (£28) – a luscious, creamy bath soak that transforms into a rich, generous foam on contact with water. Enriched with shea butter, known for its nourishing properties, this bubble bath helps to soften the skin and prevent feelings of dryness.
