If you’ve ever read any of our gift guides, you know we love to give and receive (hint hint) beauty gifts any time of year at all. They’re a brilliant, easy gift for those of us last-minute shoppers, and yet they never feel last minute at all. Whomever is still on your nice list, it’s especially easy to get their names checked off in one fell shopping swoop thanks to Sephora (a former sponsor), which conveniently also has locations inside JCPenney should you prefer to try everything in person first.
Here are some of our favorites in a handle little beauty product gift guide for the holidays that will hopefully help you check off every beauty product lover on your holiday list — including you.
Psst… you can get yourself a free mini holiday makeover while you’re there. Score!
Updated for 2023
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All items were independently selected by our editorial team
A beauty gift for the woman who’s gone full Barbie
We’ve all fallen in love with Greta Gerwig’s new classic (is it too soon to say that?) and so have so many brands who’ve created smart Barbie collabs. One of our favorites: The limited edition Glow Recipe x Barbie Watermelon Glow Hydration Kit ($31). It includes their cult favorite Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops to brighten skin, and Watermelon Pink Juice Oil-Free Moisturizer to hydrate and soothe. Female empowerment via capitalism sold separately.
A beauty gift for any makeup-obsessed woman
If you’ve got someone who already snatches up all the hot new makeup gifts for herself, you can’t go wrong with cosmetic tools. We were both swooning over their selection of eye and face cosmetic brush gift sets starting around $20. The Sephora Collection brushes have the quality of those with big designer names but are so much more affordable–though we’re fans of the higher end Ready to Roll Brush Set ($72) that looks so swanky.
A beauty gift for a cool teen who’s always stealing your makeup
You will find no shortage of eyeshadow palette that make great last-minute beauty gifts for a teen, and new this year: The Electrip Eyeshadow Palette from Melt Cosmetics ($58) in so many bold metallics that teens are loving these days. Perfect if you’re shopping for an older daughter, niece, granddaughter or friend’s daughter.
Alternately, if she’s a little more into nudes and naturals, we haven’t found a better palette than this Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette ($48) from the makers of Liz’s ride-or-die brow pencil. It’s got the perfect shades in matte and metallic, for going glam or uh…soft glam.
A beauty gift for a woman who deserves a little end-of-year pampering
Who needs a little extra care and attention this season? Maybe your nanny? Your own mother or grandmother? Your BFF? Especially in this dry, cold weather, we’ve become total fans of Josie Maran products, including the Josie Maran Argan Bright Skin Vitamin C Serum. (regularly $66 but on sale!) A special treat for someone on your list who needs some TLSC (Tender Loving Skin Care).
A beauty gift for the woman who needs a night on the town
When’s the last time she treated herself to THE ultimate paint-the-town-red red lipstick? There are a few brands who fit the bill, but YSLRouge Pur Couture Caring Satin Lipstick with Ceramides is so hot right now and comes in R21 Rouge Paradoxe, which is the most perfect blue-toned red that looks amazing on any skin tone. Super chic gift for a party gal — or even a mom in need of a date night, ha.
Alternatively, let her brighten up her favorite matte color with Fenty Gloss Bomb in Fenty Glow, which we have continued to recommend since the day it came out. It keeps lips moist and kissably soft and smells delicious.
Beauty gifts for the gaggle of your tween or teen’s friends she JUST told you she needs gifts for.
If you want to give a super hot beauty gift to a tween or tween, they’re still all about face masks ,and Sephora sheet masks ($3-6) are so affordable, packaged adorably, and are priced perfectly if you’ve got a lot of young women to shop for. Great stocking stuffers for any woman on your list too.
A beauty gift for everyone’s stocking. Because who can’t use one more cute thing?
Speaking of affordable stocking stuffers, we can highly recommend the Sephora Clean Lip Balm and Lip Scrub Duo ($6) in plenty of scents. They’ll all keep lips smooth and soft during the harsh winter months.
A beauty gift for the skin care-obsessed woman who loves trying new things.
Liz is obsessed with Tatcha’s The Deep Cleanse exfoliating cleanser, which she discovered in a Tatcha Mini Favorites Gift Set ($68) a lot like this one. It’s a bit of a splurge, but she’ll get to try six of their best-selling, highly rated skincare faves including multiple cleansers and creams. Fabulous assortment and anyone who loves trying the hottest skincare products will be so excited with a beauty gift like this.
A beauty gift for someone who deserves a big splurge (without requiring a big splurge budget)
Hermes is expensive, obvs. But for $60–a relative steal–you can give her this HERMÈS Mini Fragrance Discovery Set. This way she can try the spicyTwilly d’Hermès Eau de Parfum, the sensual Eau des Merveilles, the floral Un Jardin sur le Nil Eau de Toilette, and the bold, crisp Eau de rhubarbe écarlate Eau de Cologne.
Want to spend a little less? Check out the collection of fragrance gift sets at Sephora starting at just $30 for brands like YSL, Prada, Versace and Marc Jacobs. The Mini Daisy Perfume Gift Set shown above is just $35.
A beauty gift for a high-powered businessman…or someone who just wants to smell like one.
Don’t forget about pampering the men in your life! We found lots of great options at Sephora, like this Mont Blanc Legend Spirit cologne (80). We smelled it in-store and wow. Big thumbs-up. We love that such an iconic executive brand has branched out into the beauty and fragrance space making it a really cool gift idea that he likely doesn’t have.
The ultimate beauty gift for yourself, because you deserve it.
If you haven’t yet found a little something special for yourself–or okay, a BIG something special–may we recommend you treat yourself to the one, the only, the Crème de la Mer Moisturizer by La Mer? The mini starts at $100 (we know, we know!) but wow… there’s a reason that this ultra-rich cream has a decades-long fanbase that shows no sign of letting go.
Of course, you could also add it to a list of beauty gifts that you’d like someone else to get you. Hey, you never know.
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