Wednesday 9 December 2015

The (More) Affordable Beauty Gift Guide (£15-£35)

So I feel I need to prefix this post with a: this is my "more affordable" gift guide because my next one is £35+. So while I know some people wouldn't call up to £35 "affordable" it's more affordable than my luxe guide, if that makes sense?

If £15-£35 is out of your budget, head back to my Friday post from last week which focusses on beauty gifts that are under £15, and if you want to spend a little more I have a luxe list coming up this Friday so check back for that/ I just wanted to make sure that I've got most peoples budgets covered in this series. I was trying to keep these posts to 10 items but this category had a lot of really amazing bits and I just couldn't whittle down the list that much so while the other instalments are 10, this one is 15. So lets get going.


I mentioned them in my "Under £15 Gift Guide" and I'll mention them again, for the girl who loves a nice relaxing bath: the Aromatherapy Associates Bath Jewels is the medium instalment in their Christmas releases this year and it's lovely. With 3, 9ml bottles of their amazing bath oils this is a nice treat for £28. The set includes the scents "Deep Relax", "Revive Morning" and "De-Stress Mind".

If you're wanting to gift a simple but lush set of skin saviours, the Kiehl's Pamper Yourself Body Gift Set has you covered. For £30 you get a 125ml Créme De Corps, a 75ml Ultimate Strength Hand Salve, a 30ml Ultra Facial Cleanser and a 30ml Ultra Facial Moisturiser.

Now the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Mini Lipstick Trio nearly had a place in this lineup but after seeing it, while the mini lipsticks are cute and the packaging looks great, the shade selection it includes is (in my opinion) pretty poor. "So Marilyn" "Penelope Pink" and "Bitch Perfect" are the shades included and the only one I personally would wear out of the 3 is "So Marilyn", so maybe check the colours out first. I personally think if you're wanting to gift some Charlotte Tilbury this year, one of her full sized lipsticks would be a way better choice, her Matte Revolution Lipsticks and the K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipsticks are both available for £23 a piece and you can pick the perfect shade that way.

I've loved the Soap & Glory "Sugar Crush" range ever since it launched so I was super excited to find their The Zest A Girl Can Get set for £16 in Boots. It contains a 300ml bottle of their Sugar Crush Body Wash, a 300ml pot of the Sugar Crush Body Butter Cream, 100ml of the Sugar Crush Body Spray and a little pink rubber duck. I think it's really great value for money compared to the Get A Smooth On set (the larger "Sugar Crush" gift set this year) simply because that one is £35 so £19 more expensive and for that you get 1 extra product, and then a bit more of the Body Wash (200ml more) and the Body Butter Cream (50ml more).

If the lip lover in your life prefers a lip gloss, my favourite lipgloss range ever has been made into a Christmas quartet this year and it looks amazing. The Lipstick Queen Galactic Gorgeous set contains 4 of their Big Bang Lip Glosses in the shades "Infinite", "Energy", "Black Hole" and my personal favourite shade "Creation". The lip glosses are miniatured but considering for the full size you pay £22 and here you get 4 minis for £20 I think it's a great deal. These lip glosses are smooth and balmy on the lips and shimmery but not chunky, love.

For the lip lover who wants a bit of everything the Clarins Lip Collection "Perfect Lips" set is lovely. For £20 you get a mini (1.4g) Rouge Eclat Lipstick in the shade "13 Rosewood," a mini (2.5ml) Gloss Prodige in "04 Candy" and 2 mini (5ml) Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector lip balms in "06 Rosewood Shimmer" and "01 Rose Shimmer".

I love the Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners and their christmas set is always something that catches my eye. This year there's two collections of the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner Set and they're £25 each. The "Delirious" set comes with their "Perversion" (matte black), then "Muse" (brown), "Accuse" (blue), "Zodiac" (green) and "Delirious" (purple). If neutrals are more your thing, the "Cosmic" set includes "Zero" (slightly lighter black), "Stag" (dark brown), "Supply" (medium brown), "Trick" (copper) and "Cosmic" (white).

Another pick from Clarins would be their Body Care Collection "Spa Treats" Gift Set. For £30 this contains a full sized Tonic Bath & Shower Concentrate, 30ml of the Tonic Body Treatment Oil, a 30ml tube of their Moisture Rich Body Lotion, a 100ml bottle of the Exfoliating Body Scrub and a 50ml Hand and Nail Treatment Cream. The Bath and Shower Concentrate is £20 alone so when you break it down the set is a really good value.

NYX has finally made it over to the UK while it's not a Christmas release, I think that their Butt Naked Eyes Palette would make a really great gift. For £20 you get 4 blush shades, 2 highlights, a bronzer and 15 shadows. It's every colour cosmetic you need in one compact palette.

Then my final makeup gift for this category would be the By Terry Ombre Blackstars. At £29 each they're a proper treat type product, but they're lovely and if you know someone who's into eyeshadow, they need to at least try one of these. Anyone looking for shade recommendations: "Misty Rock", every time.

I have two candle picks for this post and the first is the Jar Candles from Yankee Candle. Depending on the size you go for these will set you back up to £21.99 a piece but can often be found on some kind of deal. My favourites are "Christmas Cookie", "Candy Cane Lane" and "Fluffy Towels", but they do a whole host of scents so there should be something for everyone. They also have sets of Two Medium Jars this year for £27.99.

If you're looking for a more indulgent candle option then the Diptique Scented Candles, they have 3 holiday released this year "Sapin", "Oliban" and "Liquidambar" which are all £28 for the 70g size. Alternatively, their standard collection candles are £20 for the 70g, my favourite is their "Tubereuse" scent but I know "Figuier", "Baies" and "Ambre" are all popular scents in the line.

Now for skincare gifts, I struggled in this category. Brands this year have really gone to town with their miniatures and their tree trinket gifts but the majority of these are under £15, and then for the most part the actual sets are above that £35 price limit, but I did find a couple of nice bits. The REN Pure Glow Trio Kit is at the top end of the budget at £35, and contains 100ml of their Rosa Centifolia Purity Balm, the Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask and their Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial Mask. I've only seen this on Space NK and I'm not sure if the picture is just misleading but the desciption says you get 50ml of the Glycolactic and 20ml of the Flash Rinse, but in the picture the Flash Rinse seems to be the 50ml product and the Glycolactic seems to be 20ml. Either way, both are great.

Skyn Iceland have a lovely little skincare set this holiday season in their Skin Hangover Kit. So if you know someone who could probably use a hangover remedy on Boxing Day morning this might be a nice pick for them. At £17.50 it's a decent price and you get a nice selection of Skyn Iceland products. The kit includes two pairs of the Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels, an Icelandic Relief Eye Pen, two Fresh Start Face Masks and an Antidote Cooling Daily Lotion (which conveniently isn't sold separately, thus the lack of clicky link).

And then really, I thought that this price bracket was a good one for just getting a full size of something for the skincare lover in your life. Loads of my favourite skincare items are in the £15-£35 bracket like the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel (£28), Indeed Labs Hydraluron (£24.99) or the Pixi Glow Tonic (£18).

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