For the average lipstick enthusiast or novice makeup fiend, holiday shopping at your local Sephora can be very intimidating. Literally. You cannot avoid the strategically organized aisles, brightly coloured holiday value sets, and “accidentally” dropping $80 on a value-sized skincare set you otherwise cannot and will not be able to afford. Add the list of ‘essential’ holiday products every YouTube beauty guru SWEARS by (*cough* sponsored) and ironically, every listicle for the PERFECT beauty gift.
Luckily, for every girl that is too scared to attempt a winged liner, she has a friend that cannot leave the house without it. We all know this friend. She probably owns all of the Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow palettes, has a makeup table overflowing with products, and most likely has a sponsorship with a beauty brand (probably Sephora ;) ) . Either way, we all know they would probably choose their coveted makeup bags over you if it came to that point.
Shopping for this friend can be a little difficult. You know that a.) She probably owns that James Charles palette you were thinking of buying her, b.) She probably owns every single hyped palette or c.) She has cut-throat opinions as sharp as her eyeliner and will most likely judge your choice of presents. Unlike the next holiday gift listicle you will see, these 5 gift ideas have been curated by a self-proclaimed makeup fiend who probably has all of these items on her shopping list. If your friend does not appreciate any of our selections, you need better friends.
- Beautonomy Custom Eyeshadow Palette
-
Not gonna lie, I found out about this eyeshadow palette through Tik Tok after one girl made a custom palette for her best friend (something that I might consider doing). The Beautonomy custom eyeshadow palette is the perfect gift for one reason: almost everything can be customized! Design the actual front and back of the palette, choose your shades and even name them.
You can choose a sparkly champagne eyeshadow and name it “Shine bright like ______” or if you’re feeling a little salty, choose a dark green shade named ‘ Sister snake scales’.
- BITE beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick
-
For the girl with a particular taste in nude lips, the BITE beauty Amuse Bouche lipstick is curated to all lipstick aficionados who couldn’t make up their mind about shades.
Customize everything down to the scent, the shade and the finish. BITE also has a holiday set catered to healing chapped lips, great for mistletoe kisses!
- Breakups to Makeup bag
-
You can never have too many makeup bags, especially if your friend loves to travel or needs extra storage space.
The Breakups to Makeup bag is the most REAL makeup bag I will ever own. It fits my palettes and skincare when traveling and of course, its slogans are witty and accurate.
For the emotionally unstable friend you’ve given a the ‘you don’t need a boyfriend’ talk to for the 193009904th to or the one who recently got her heart played (again), the losing you clutch is the perfect gift. Really. For someone obsessed with makeup as much as her, losing her makeup bag would hurt more than losing any of her boyfriends.
For the one who can’t even make up her mind (*cough* commitment issues), the commit makeup clutch is something she does not have to settle for and can commit to. Hopefully, she can commit to a lipstick or somewhere to eat brunch.
- Mahli Makeup Brush Cleaner
-
Your friend probably has not cleaned her brushes in forever and temporarily solves her problems by buying more brushes. This makeup brush cleaner is so satisfying and cuts your wash time in half!
Bonus: Watching the dirt magically disappear like all of your problems
- A Sephora gift card
-
It has been a recurring theme in my family to give me a Sephora gift card every Christmas if they were unsure what to buy. Bonus tip: She can use the gift card the next day to go boxing day shopping and stock up on essentials or buy discounted holiday sets.