It’s every beauty addicts favorite time of year: holiday gift set season! What better way to check presents off your shopping list while treating yourself to a few bright and shiny tidings of good cheer? From department stores to drugstores to the hallowed grounds of Sephora and Ulta, shelves are filling with beauty brand’s best offerings, packaged in festive boxes just begging to be torn open. With so many cosmetics to choose from, the shopping process can be overwhelming, and while it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of smaller sized products to try something new, how do you know what to reach for?
Don’t worry, beauty junkies, we’ve got you. We rounded up some of our most lusted after holiday kits, including which items to keep and which items to set aside for stocking stuffers. Ready? Set? Splurge!
Tocca Sugar Rollerball Collection
These three beautifully curated perfumes from Tocca are the perfect present for anyone who loves fragrance. The set includes Florence, Simone, and Stella, three of the brands most popular scents. Florence is ultra-feminine, with crushed violets, blonde wood, and gardenia–it’s subtle, sophisticated, and timeless. Simone is a delicious, creamy, summery scent, with frangipani flowers, sea salt, and ylang ylang blending together like beach sand. Rounding out the trio is Stella, infused with blood oranges and spice, settling into a modern love affair with old world glamor. With each rollerball being well-crafted and packaged, you could easily keep one for yourself (we heart Florence) and give the other two to girlfriends or co-workers as an elegant present topper.
Sephora Favorites: Give Me Some Bold Lip
For the scant $28 price point, you can’t find a better deal for the lipstick junkie in your life–even if she’s you! Nestled into an adorable lip-shaped box, this kit features Bite Beauty Matte Crème Lip Crayon in Aubergine, Ciaté London Liquid Velvet in Head Over Heels, Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Damned, Laura Mercier Velour Lovers Lip Colour in An Affair, Sephora Collection Rouge Cream in Belly-Dancing, and Tarte Creamy Matte Lip Paint in Yaassss. The shades range from on trend deep plum to hot pink, with a range in between suitable for just about any skin tone. We suggest popping Bite’s Aubergine into your purse immediately and dolling the rest out as you see fit, although they’re all just gorgeous.
Origins Prep & Mask
Holiday gift sets are a great way to try new skincare products, which can normally be quite pricy, especially if they don’t work out. This set from the complexion gurus at Origins features three of their top performing, top selling masks–Drink Up, Original Skin, and Clear Improvement as well as a travel size Maskimizer. For us, the standout is Drink Up, an overnight hydrating treatment full of avocado and apricot kernel oils, soothing winter-dry skin and protecting sensitive complexions for lasting hydration. Clear Improvement is a non-drying active charcoal mask that refines and purges pores, drawing out impurities and nasty dirt. Original Skin is a re-texturizing mask, leaving skin smooth and glowing with it’s rose clay and jojoba beads. Each mask is leveled up by a simple spitz of the Maskimizer, a face priming pre-treatment. At just $25, this set is an incredible way to halt seasonal damage to your skin, or even use to host a night of pampering with your girlfriends–just add a bottle of wine and a few stacks of holiday cards to write, and you’ve given yourselves the best present ever.
The Body Shop: Festive Seasonal Body Butter Trio
Cold and dry weather wreak havoc on our skin, and these champions from the experts at The Body Shop are the perfect antidote. Featuring Spiced Apple Body Butter, Frosted Berries Body Butter, and the scrumptious Vanilla Chai Body Butter, this holiday-exclusive set is ideal for splitting up. The scents are yummy without being overpowering, with the Vanilla Chai and Spiced Apple even being mellow enough for a man to use. Unlike so many other lotion kits, these are all individually packaged in convenient sizes, making them ideal for those of us packing a suitcase to play cross-country-Santa-Claus.
Benefit Cosmetics: Girl O’Clock Rock 12 Benefit Bestsellers
Adorable packaging? Check. Amazing products? Yas, queen. Fun sample sizes at a great value? You know it! We are officially obsessed with this $45 special edition kit from Benefit. Not only is this a squeal-worthy gift for your best friend, but it’s easy enough to divide among a few lucky ladies for elves on a budget. Included in the musical set (yes, musical!) are Benefit best-sellers such as POREfessional Pore Minimizing Face Primer, They’re Real! Lengthening Mascara, the classic Benetint Cheek & Lip Stain, High Beam Liquid Face Highlighter and so much more. We can’t decide what to keep and what to gift, so you’ll just have to grab one yourself!
No matter what treasures you find, we hope you have a fun and gorgeous holiday shopping season!