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Holiday 2009 Gift Guide: Best Gifts for the Minimalist

Holiday 2009 Gift Guide: Best Gifts for the Minimalist

Sometimes us beauty addicts just love to share our love for all that is beauty, but not everyone in our life is nearly as dedicated as us… enter beauty-themed gifts that are great to receive, even if you’re not a beauty buff.

Whenever I look to give a beauty-ish gift to someone I know doesn’t wear makeup much or isn’t big on spending that much time getting ready, I like to compromise and include a beauty gift alongside something else, so I tend to look for affordable beauty gifts that are fun to give and receive, but I won’t be devastated if they don’t use it much!

Philosophy’s The Recipe Box Set ($18.00) is not only good for your friends, but it’s something that even a minimalist might enjoy since showers aren’t reserved only to beauty addicts. It’s a cute little set in a gift-ready box and red bow tied on top. It contains two 6 oz. shower gels: Sweet Creamy Frosting and Red Velvet Cake. It is available at Beauty.com, Nordstrom, Philosophy.com, and Sephora.

Philosophy’s “A Kiss and a Wish” Set ($15.00) is a cute, easy-to-give gift that’s compact and affordable. It includes four miniature lip shines in the following scents: Raspberry Sorbet, Red Licorice, Pink Bubbly, and Candy Cane.  These are just comfortable, very sheer color that keeps lips moisturized, so even those who have no desire to pump up their lip color can enjoy these. You can find this set at Nordstrom, Philosophy.com, and Sephora.

Bath & Body Works Deep Cleansing Soap ($4.50 for 8 fl. oz.) are extremely affordable at-home-with-beauty options that work well in just about every household. B&BW has a whole slew of scents to choose from, but one of my favorites to keep in the household is Kitchen Lemon. I just love me a fresh lemon citrus smell in the kitchen!

See more of my gift picks…

Clinique High Shine To-Go Set ($30.00) is a nifty candy box filled with twelve miniature-sized Long Last Glosswears. I love Long Last Glosswears for sheer color that lasts, truly, for hours. (The only way I’d be happy with these if they put out some ultra pigmented ones, too, because the formula is great.) You get the following shades (each 0.035 oz.): Air Kiss, Cabana Crush, Clearly Pink, Juicy Apple, Whisper, Mystic, First Blush, Sunset, Brandy Twist, Guava Gold, Fireberry, and Bamboo Pink.

Bliss Softening Socks ($48.00) are these awesome socks that pretty much come with this gel lining that soothes and moisturizes your feet while you wear them. Bliss says that a pair of socks lasts for up to fifty uses (not too bad!) and you wear ’em for about twenty minutes. (You can even get them in a nifty holiday gift box at Bliss.) You can also give the same technology, but for hands (gloves, rather than socks, duh!).

CARGO Essential Eye Shadow Palette ($32.00) is totally makeup-made-easy. These palettes include four shades of eyeshadows, and they’re set-up in a way that’s pretty much paint-by-numbers… just with eyeshadow instead. It contains a shade for the brow, lid, crease, and outer corner. The palette is available in three variations: Warm, Cool, and Dark.

Godiva Candle ($22.50 for 7 oz.) have some very aromatic scents that burn for apporixmately sixty hours. I don’t burn candles religiously, but I really love receiving them as gifts, because they’re something I do enjoy but don’t always feel compelled to actually purchase (though that’s been changing, ha!). They’re currently available in five scents: Black Almond Truffle, Milk Chocolate Truffle, Peppermint Bark, Raspberry Ganache, and White Chocolate Magnolia.

BURN Candles ($60.00 for ~100 hours) come in amazing, complex scents that really waft throughout the room/rooms. I’ve found that I’ll burn one in the office, and the scent will be in the living room/kitchen and even in the bedroom. The scent is just enough to enjoy without being overwhelming. For the holidays, they’ve added the following scents: Firewood Embers, Grenadine Pomegranate and Sugar Pine Balsam. If you’re finding the price tag a little gift-giving prohibitive, they also have their BURN VOYAGE line, which are smaller-sized candles for $25.00 each that burn for approximately 35 hours. (On the other side, they also have candles that burn for approximately 150 hours for $95.00 a pop.) You can also find BURN at Barneys.

What beauty gifts have you found work well for even the beauty minimalist?