Beauty Bible's Christmas Shopping Guide 2023: Blow the budget
The super-luxurious Christmas gifts for when money’s no object – and something truly special is called for. And anyway, it’s OK to dream. (We are.)
We can’t even begin to imagine a lifestyle whereby gifts with the sorts of price-tags we’re featuring here are given with abandon to all and sundry, but sometimes, blowing the budget is the right thing to do. (And actually, the perfect recipient might be YOU, for everything you’ve done or achieved or gone through this year.)
Whatever, these are the gifts we’d love to receive from ultra-generous friends – or would buy for our loved ones, if the Premium Bonds come good in time.
Diptyque Set of 12 Miniature Candles
What’s nicer than a Diptyque candle at Christmas…? Well, a dozen Diptyque votives, we reckon (see main photo, above). This brand excels at gifting – our wishlist is pretty extensive, but it’s topped by this fantabulous collection, which spans everything from classic Baies, Santal and Tuberose candles to 34 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Mimosa, Santal and more, in 35g sizes. What a tablescape (and scentscape) you could create for Christmas, with one of these flickering at each place setting!
£186 – buy here
L’Occitane Immortelle Divine Trilogy
Three fabulous full sizes of L’Occitane’s stellar age-defying range, one which has scooped a slew of Beauty Bible Awards over the years and which we buy ourselves. This features Immortelle Divine Cream (at one point the highest-scoring miracle cream we’d ever trialled), Immortelle Divine Serum and Immortelle Divine Eye & Lips Contour, which is a perennial on Jo’s bathroom shelf. The price is hefty, but represents quite a saving on the individual prices (they’d normally come to £219), and comes beautifully boxed. As we were saying, ‘Dear Santa’…
£165 – buy here
Mauli Rituals Set of Luxury Body Massage Oils
We’re longstanding fans of this Ayurvedic beauty range, and any of their body oils is a total treat, but this trio gives you an oil for each dosha – pitta, kapha, vata. These 100ml sizes are all worth having in your wellbeing armoury; choose Serenity Pitta to calm inflamed skin and a whirring mind; Surrender Vata to soothe aching bones and wind you down for sleep, and Spirited Kapha to tackle lethargy and/or symptoms of flu or colds. Absolutely sublimely-scented, each one.
£122.40 (worth £144) – buy here
One for make-up connoisseurs, featuring three hero lip products from Chantecaille’s range: Lip Definer (Nuance), Creamy Lip Veil (Honeypot), and Brilliant Gloss (Charm), all shades that would suit each and every skintone. You’ll save £8 on the normal price (better than a smack in the face with a wet lettuce, as our mothers used to say.)
£92 – buy here
The Organic Pharmacy Rose Embroidered Rose Diamond Gift Set
Founder Margo Marrone gifted Jo with one of these beautiful embroidered boxes of rose-powered skincare a year or so ago; Jo’s now planning to stock up with this set, which offers a staggering saving of £273 on the full prices of the individual Rose Diamond Exfoliating Cleanser, Rose Diamond Face Cream and Rose Diamond Eye Cream. Amazing savings on a sublime trio. (And the box is w-a-y too beautiful to throw away – Jo keeps ribbons in hers.)
£117 – buy here
Margaret Dabbs The Ultimate Pampering Night In Gift Set
Happy feet make a happy woman, and this set – from multi-Beauty Bible Award-winning Margaret Dabbs – will keep your extremities very, very content, with everything you need for an at-home foot treatment created by the UK’s leading podiatrist: lemon myrtle-scented Hydrating Foot Soak (200ml), super-silkifying Intensive Hydrating Foot Lotion (75ml), ultra-effective Cracked Heel Treatment Balm (30ml) and a pair of Luxury Hemp Socks, which you can slip over those divinely deep-treated feet.
£62 – buy here
We’re pretty sure you know our love for this British make-up brand by now, but here’s a great introduction for those who aren’t so familiar with delilah’s creations, a line-up of complexion perfectors that includes Under Wear Future Resist Skin Primer (15ml Discovery Size), Time Frame Future Resist Foundation, which also boasts an SPF20 (full size), and a brilliantly buffing Foundation Kabuki Brush. Seven shades are available in this set, NB, covering a wide range of complexions, so be sure to consider the best shade before buying for a friend or loved one.
£68 (you save £29 on normal prices) – buy here
You want an at-home spa? We’ll give you an at-home spa, with this ESPA set (honestly, nobody does it better, really, after 30 years (it’s their birthday this year, and we remember the launch SO well!) ESPA’s Positivity fragrance gorgeously blends gardenia, jasmine, rose geranium, sweet orange and bergamot, infused here into four transporting products: a long-burn Candle (200g), Bath & Shower Gel (100ml), Bath & Body Oil (15ml) and Pulse Point Oil, so you can recapture the uplifting effects of this collection, anytime or anywhere.
£65 (worth £75) – buy here
Diorshow 10 Couleurs Blooming Boudoir Collection
One for the make-up collector, an incredibly beautiful palette of Dior’s long-wear, buildable eyeshadows in matte and gleaming finishes, emblazoned with a flower design by artist Pietro Ruffo. Almost too pretty to use – almost – but a thing of utter beauty, to treasure.
£112 – buy here
Neal’s Yard Frankincense Age-Defying Collection
We were first wowed by Neal’s Yard’s frankincense-powered offering getting on for 30 years ago when it became a global bestseller on the back of some stellar results in the ‘Miracle Cream’ category in the very first Beauty Bible (launched 1996!) Since then, many excellent skin-boosting products have joined the line-up, all based around sustainably-sourced frankincense, with this ultra-luxury set featuring Frankincense Intense Cleansing Melt (30ml), Frankincense Intense Age-Defying Eye Cream (5g), Frankincense Intense Age-Defying Serum (30ml), Frankincense Intense Age-Defying Cream and Frankincense Intense Age-Defying Overnight Mask (15ml). That’s mega.
£140 – buy here
LOOK OUT FOR THE FINAL GUIDE IN OUR 2023 SERIES - HOME FRAGRANCE GIFTS - NEXT WEEK