Gift Guide / Part One
French Connection Watch / Freedom Pro Lipstick Collection / Personal Planner UK / Initial Makeup Bag / Mr Frosty Bubble Bath / Freedom Artist Palette / Wah Immerge Nail Set / Topshop Decoration Gifts / The Wet Brush / A Girl's Best Friend
In previous years I've filmed video gift guides but this year I wanted to do something different. I never felt like I got them out in time and videos aren't always a quick turn around so instead I will be posting a couple of gift guides like this here on my blog as well as single posts on gift ideas as and when something pops up I think you'll be interested in. It's a little more instant this way and if (like me) you've left your shopping a little later this year then those drip fed posts might be more useful than several budget categorised videos in mid-December!
Most of these items were gifted to me for review, some were actual gifts and one I purchased myself, all are items I would happily gift and some are on my 'to buy' list for friends and family now I've tried them! I'm going to start with the makeup because.. well, why not? I love a highstreet beauty gift and their are plenty of options this year, some stocking fillers I think are super cute are these individually boxed products from Topshop. In an ideal world I'd have an entire tree decorated with pretty makeup decorations but I'll make do with cracking them open and using them instead. I have a lip bullet and a nail polish here but they have lots of options, even a little brush set. There are several new launches from Freedom too, their lipsticks are now available in a 5 neatly boxed categories. £5 for 5 lipsticks make them perfect for secret santa but if you have a little more to spend their 2 huge boxed palettes (in the style of iPads) are £15 each. The Wah nails kit is one you'll definitely be hearing more about, heralded as the new nail art with colours that will swirl and bleed into each other with ease.. I'm excited to give it a go as I rarely have the patience for 'real' nail art. Lastly this makeup bag from Matalan is available (in theory) in every letter and is a steal at £4. They have tons of other initial items such as mugs and cushions too.
These might be slightly crossover products here but stay with me. This Mr Frosty Bubble Bath from Avon smells AMAZING, seriously festive and produces lots of bubbles but that's not even the best thing! Under the lid is a squeezy bottle so if you have kids who tend to pull every product into the bath with them this wont get wasted. I've had the Wet Brush for a while and really enjoyed using it, less tangles and shedding hair when brushing and it's available in a variety of funky patterns/colours, a great gift for sure! Another Avon feature is this watch from French Connection, currently on offer for £25 it's an affordable yet classic solution for those men in your life you just don't know what to buy for. I know a 17 year old who will (hopefully) love this. I'm rounding off with 2 books (kind of) the first of which is actually a novel I'm saving to read when I allow myself some time off this Christmas. If you have read any of Lindsey Kelk's previous books (which I'm going to assume you all have) this is a crossover with several characters from different series finding themselves in New York at Christmas.. it's like she wrote it just for me! Thanks, Lindsey! Lastly an item I've had countless questions about both on and offline, my personal planner. I have a video all about it here if you want to know the in's and out's but in a nutshell it's a fully customisable diary/organiser. I'm on my second, have already bought them as gifts in the past and know at least one person who'll be getting one from me this Christmas!
I did film ONE gift guide this year with Emma for our styleontoast channel. We each for 3 gifts for the other with a £5 budget and opened/shared them on camera. It made for a fun video but I think the gifts we found were really great for the cash too so if you need inspiration for secret santa or just very affordable gifts it might be for you..
Miss BB
*contains PR samples