We chart the best beauty gift sets, from the affordable Secret Santa presents and stocking stuffers to the ultra-bougie products worth splurging on.
Forgo the last-minute dash to the shops come Christmas Eve because we’ve taken the hard work out of shopping for your best friend/sister-in-law/colleague/mum-to-be/teenage cousin with our edit
Working within a budget? We’ve included the full run of the top stocking stuffers and Christmas crackers, loaded with all manner of lip products, body care and travel-sized essentials.
If you’re looking to splash out a little more, consider our picks of elevated beauty buys, think fragrance gift sets, candle trios, hot styling tools and luxurious skincare.
Discover our favourites, as curated by our beauty editor, below.
Under $50
Level up your Christmas crackers this year with this one housing Mecca Cosmetica’s best-selling body sunscreen, which offers broad-spectrum protection against UVA and UVB rays and leaves skin feeling hydrated and nourished (and not at all sticky like other sunscreens can).
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Advertise with NZME.For the loved one who always requests Pure Fiji products be brought home from any island getaway, this Christmas cracker includes four miniatures from the brand in its Moringa scent: a Hydrating Body Lotion, Body Mist, Body Butter and Lip Balm.
Dupe beauty brand MCoBeauty has unveiled its festive offering with Candy Shop, a playful selection of makeup and skincare essentials inspired by some of your favourite brands. This overnight lip mask trio is a timely gift to keep lips nourished during the balmy months, with each pot containing a blend of shea butter and vitamin E to hydrate, smooth and soften lips while you slumber.
This pretty cracker contains two manicure essentials to keep nails healthy and well looked after during the summer break. It couples Manucurist’s Active Shine formula, a hybrid care and colour polish that works to strengthen and restore shine to dull nails, with a mini nail file to buff and shape.
Waterless beauty brand Dust & Glow has revealed a selection of travel-friendly minis, including this three-piece haircare routine containing two powder-based shampoos and one powder-based conditioner. The water-activated, pH-balanced formulations are free from fragrance, soap and sulphate, and are suitable for even the most sensitised scalps.
Trust Ecoya to create a beauty gift set as pretty to look at as it is to sniff. This year’s festive offering includes Mini Takeaway Sets in the brand’s core collection fragrances, including Australasian favourite Guava & Lychee. Inside, find a body wash, lotion, shampoo and conditioner in a transparent travel bag.
Under $100
A perennial favourite with makeup artists to prep skin for makeup application, Bobbi Brown has paired two of its Vitamin Enriched products in a travel-friendly gift set. Together, the Vitamin Enriched Smoothing Serum and Vitamin Enriched Face Base help to hydrate and plump skin, leaving it nourished and primed for makeup.
Another makeup artist must-have, Clinique’s cult Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator is touted to deliver long-lasting hydration to the skin and is especially soothing in the summer months. Find it paired with the Moisture Surge Overnight Mask and Face Spray Thirsty Skin Relief to keep skin glowing and moisturised.
Keep cuticles nourished with Paume’s cosseting cuticle cream, which helps to hydrate and restore with a suite of moisturising ingredients, alongside the Hand and Nail Brush to help buff and shine nails.
If your loved one has always wanted to try Summer Fridays, this is an excellent way to offer them a trial run of four products without committing to the full sizes. The four-piece set includes the Jet Lag Mask, Jet Lag Deep Hydration Serum, Super Amino Gel Cleanser and best-selling Lip Butter Balm in Vanilla, to deeply care for skin and lips.
Facial mists will always be a welcome treat over the holidays, and Caudalie’s Beauty Elixir subs in as both a toner and priming mist. It can be used on bare skin to hydrate or over makeup to refresh the complexion. Flanked here by the Instant Detox Mask and Vinoperfect Brightening Dark Spot Serum, this trio has proven popular (having already sold out at Sephora) so sign up to the waitlist now to ensure you jump on the restock before Christmas.
Beautifully presented in a stylish golden resille box, YSL Beauty’s Holiday Gift Set draws inspiration from the twinkling lights sparkling on a Parisian winter’s night. It couples the Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara with the Mini Rouge Pur Couture in Rouge Muse, rendering it the perfect pick for the luxury beauty lover in your life.
We’ve waxed lyrical about Sol De Janeiro’s viral Bum Bum Cream this year, and now you can find this cult favourite housed in the Rio Body Retreat set. Be transported to the vibrant Brazilian streets with the Brazilian Play Body Wash and Cheirosa 62 Perfume Mist, which are designed to be used before and after the Bum Bum Cream for the ultimate “everything shower” experience.
Benefit Cosmetics really leaned into its supermarket-themed holiday offering with Benemart – which sees the brand’s top makeup picks reimagined in fictitious foodie packaging. In the Soup’d Up Beauty can, find three makeup must-haves to create a “no makeup makeup” look: Hoola Bronzer, Benetint Lip & Cheek Stain and BadGal Bang! Bigger, Badder Volumising Mascara.
For the ultimate body care experience, look no further than Aotea’s new-look Hand & Body Gift Pack. The set highlights the brands Kūmarahou and Mānuka Hand & Body Wash and Harakeke Seed Oil and Mānuka Water Hand & Body Cream to envelop skin in New Zealand natural ingredients which gently care for sensitive, dry and normal skin types.
Shopping for a wellness warrior? Sodashi’s Body Brush Set includes a bristled brush to help buff skin and remove dead skin, promoting improved circulation and activating the body’s lymphatic system. It’s paired with the Vitamin Rich Body Oil which is heavenly when smoothed over skin for a moisture boost post-brush.
Under $200
Too Faced’s dazzling holiday collection includes the You’re A Gem Eyeshadow Palette, a festive exclusive which features five eyeshadow pans in matte, shimmer and metallic finishes. The palette is joined by two full-sized Too Faced products to create the ultimate eye look – including the Better Than Sex Foreplay Lash Primer and Better Than Sex Mascara.
Give the gift of an at-home spa day with Ceremonia’s Guava range – an ultra-moisturising haircare range that promises to banish split or damaged ends after two washes. This three-piece set includes the Guava Damage Repair Hair Mask, Leave-In Conditioner and Spa Headband to help inspire a salon-worthy experience from home.
Year after year, Sans Ceuticals really delivers when it comes to its selection of festive beauty sets, and this year certainly didn’t disappoint. We love A Moment To Soften Kit, which includes three soothing and rebalancing haircare products: Balancing Hair Wash, Nourishing Hair Hydratant and Moisture + Protein Infusion which come perfectly presented in the brand’s exclusive canvas bag in the shade Pumice, for a combined value of $190.
And back by popular demand is the Minis AM/PM set, allowing you to sample its most-loved products in a 30ml size that’s perfect for travelling over the summer months. I thought the Minis may work for travel-themed guides or stocking stuffers.
Two New Zealand beauty brands have joined forces on this skincare-laden set, which includes three products touted to improve the health of skin and lips. Start with Jeuneora’s SoWhippy Cleanser to remove dirt and debris, a layer of DewyDays Antioxidant Glow Serum to fortify the skin barrier and boost hydration and finish with Ashley & Co’s Tint Me Lip Punch to impart a light wash of colour to lips.
Aesop’s seasonal gift kits remain one of its most anticipated launches of the year, and this year’s selection celebrates the brand’s long-standing love affair with cinema. Viva loves Screen 2, which includes Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser, Geranium Leaf Body Scrub and the Geranium Leaf Body Balm for a truly elevated body care experience.
Spoil the mum-to-be in your life with Pure Mama’s Pregnancy Care Set, which is intended to act as a reminder for daily self-care and connection. The set includes Pure Mama’s best-selling Body Oil, Bump Scrub and Magnesium Rub to care for skin as it grows and stretches with baby.
Fan of Troye Sivan? Delight over Tsu Lange Yor’s Aromatic Candle Art Set, which contains three 100g candles created by the pop singer. Ignite your creativity with scents TLY 5755, Pool and Sassafras, aromatic blends which highlight a mix of spicy, earthy and woody notes.
Under $300
Jo Malone London’s miniature colognes are a must for even the most seasoned fragrance collector, with five 9ml scents to add to any fragrance wardrobe. Discover the sweetness of English Pear & Freesia, the crisp saltiness of Wood Sage & Sea Salt, the zesty energy of Lime Basil & Mandarin, the softness of Peony & Blush Suede and the verdant notes of Blackberry & Bay.
For an ultra-generous skincare gift, Dermalogica’s Smooth + Hydrate limited-edition set contains three full-sized products to help polish and moisturise complexions. Buff skin with the calming Daily Milkfoliant, restore hydration and boost skin health with the Circular Hydration Serum and smooth on the Active Moist for improved skin texture.
Lipstick lovers will obsess over M.A.C’s holiday exclusive, which sees 12 Lustreglass Sheer-Shine Lipsticks reimagined in miniature size and stashed in a gilt wardrobe-style box. Shades run the gamut from ultra-sheer nudes to vibrant lilacs, which promise to lend eight hours of long-wearing, comfortable colour.
Divine is the newest scent to be added to Jean Paul Gaultier’s selection of sensual fragrances, and now a 100ml eau de parfum comes paired with a 75ml body lotion and 10ml travel spray in this luxurious gift set. Better yet, the 100ml size is refillable, meaning you can keep Gaultier’s iconic corset-style vessel and refill for years to come.
Over $500
Moody and sensual, Tom Ford’s Oud Wood is an amber woody scent that oozes style and sophistication with spicy and smoky elements. Appealing to all, a 50ml bottle of this gender-defying fragrance is paired with a 10ml travel-size in this exclusive holiday gift set.
Sisley’s enchanting Essentials set features illustrations by British artist Fee Greening, who worked with pens and ink to create each intricate design. The set contains the brand’s Ecological Compound, a long-standing skin essential to rebalance and revitalise all skin types, alongside the Express Flower Gel to soften and smooth skin in just three minutes, plus All Day All Year, to help boost the skin’s own self-defence mechanisms.
Is there a cooler gift than Ghd’s new Iced collection? This year’s Deluxe Set includes the Chronos, a high-powered hair straightener which is said to straighten and smooth hair three times faster than traditional ceramic styling plates, plus the Helios, a professional-grade hairdryer which leaves hair ultra-shiny and smooth. Both hot styling tools come housed in the brand’s luxury vanity case, which is worth $120 alone.
La Mer really went all out with its luxury gifting option this year, with its investment-level four-piece skincare set. The Genaissance de la Mer collection is said to help reverse the visible signs of ageing, and in this kit you’ll find four of the range’s full-sized products with the Infused Lotion, the Serum Essence, the Eye & Expression Cream and the Concentrated Night Balm. All four products contain the brand’s patented Crystal Miracle Broth, a slow-ferment which supports skin renewal.
