Beauty Bible Weekend Steal: beautiful Christmas gifts under £20
Who doesn’t have their eye on their Christmas budget, this year…? Well, the good news is that we’ve sleuthed out fab gifts that are real beauty bargains – and which we would, hand on heart, be happy to receive ourselves. (And we make no apologies for featuring several hand-smoothing gifts – because we know that everyone loves a great hand cream…)
Paul & Joe Lip Treatment Balm (main pic)
Who doesn’t always need more lip balm in their life? (Not us, that’s for sure.) These adorable Paul & Joe tins are pocket-friendly in every way, in a choice of designs and flavours.
£14 - buy here
GAIA The Christmas Cracker Awakening Bath Oil (above)
Originally created for the award-winning GAIA Spa at Boringdon Hall, this is one of our fave spa ranges ever, with some utterly foolproof Christmas offerings, this year. We love this cracker of sense-waking bath oil, blending grapefruit, geranium, petitgrain, rosemary and lemongrass, making for a great morning-after-the-party-before soak.
£12 - buy here
Butter LONDON Queen’s Crown Mini Duo (above)
A shimmering metallic red and a gleaming, holographic neutral: that’s anyone’s party manicure requirements sorted, right there, in two dinky-sized, high quality polishes.
£19 - buy here
Biossance Glow Forth, Be Bright (above)
This is really stupendous value: a duo from cult skincare brand Biossance, designed to rev up tired-looking skin with Squalane + Omega Repair Cream and Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil (15ml each), harnessing the nourishing, plumping power of this lightweight natural oil.
£19 - buy here
Heathcote & Ivory In The Garden Hand Care Essentials Kit (above)
We are founder members of the Heathcote & Ivory fan club, not least for their too-gorgeous-to-throw-away tins. We absolutely adore this one, which could be upcycled for storing seed packets, we think, opening to reveal tubes of gently exfoliating Hand Wash and a Hand Cream, powered by elderflower, rhubarb and blackberry extracts.
£14 - buy here
Tan Luxe THE FACE BAUBLE (above)
You can even dangle this from a (strong) branch of your tree, should you wish: a mini-bottle of one of our favourite facial tanning drops – and frankly, it’ll still last almost forever, because just a few droplets is all you need, blended into facial moisturiser for a seamless glow. (Great for perking up winter-weary faces – though maybe that’s not how you’ll put it to the recipient…!)
£15 - buy here
Percy & Reed Little Luxuries Hair Perfectors (above)
Instant zhoosh and frizz-taming, in deluxe travel sizes, from affordable luxe haircare brand Percy & Reed: I Need A Hero! Wonder Balm Hair Primer (30ml), a unique ‘primer’ which helps shield against humidity for up to 72 hours, and a darling little can of Reassuringly Firm Session Hold Hairspray (50ml), which keeps hair in place without impacting on swishiness.
£10 - buy here
Liz Earle The Kindest Touch Handcare Gift (above)
Even after all these years (um, decades), we sense a little flutter of excitement when a friend or loved one opens a beauty treat from Liz Earle. There’s literally nothing not to love about this keepsake drawstring bag featuring a super-softening yet sinks-in-fast cream, scented with bitter oranges, plus a wood-framed nail buffer – we swear by gentle buffing, for home manicure sessions.
£14 - buy here
Sanctuary Spa Petite Retreat Kit (above)
Fact: Sanctuary Spa offers amazing value, with divine smells and great textures that always have us asking: ‘Why pay more?’ In this travel-friendly zip-up, find getaway sizes of Body Lotion, Body Scrub, Hand Cream, Body Wash and Bath Float, all with that wonderful, cocooning signature Sanctuary Spa fragrance.
£14.99 - buy here
17 Lip Envy Red Lip Kit (above)
A fiver. Yup, a fiver, for a classic pillarbox red lipstick and lip pencil in a daisy-bedecked box that’s equally smile-making. Whoop, whoop!
£5 - buy here
Cath Kidston The Artist’s Kingdom Nail Care Kit (above)
You couldn’t throw this tin away. Ever. Think: sewing notions, buttons, postcards, treasures… We remain utterly enraptured by the Cath Kidston brand, after all these years. But wait: inside the tin, there are beauty treasures, too: Cuticle Cream, Hand Cream, a gorgeous nail file and nail clippers. Just adorable, and like everything we’ve featured here, we think it could not fail to please.
£14 - buy here
