If you still haven't sorted your Christmas shopping then keep it simple. At this late stage the way to go with beauty gifts is to stick with a theme or stock up on sets. It's all very well and good thinking you'll find the perfect present by wandering around looking for inspiration, but having accompanied a late-starting friend to try to do this last weekend, I wanted to run screaming from the mall.
I love Christmas, but I detest Christmas shopping when the day is nearly nigh. I'm a stock-piler and, when it comes down to those tricky types, a list writer. If my present buying isn't pretty much sorted by now I start to feel anxious, lest shopping cuts into socialising and the fun of decorating and wrapping with a glass of bubbles at hand.
My beauty suggestion is toilet bags, everyone needs one and hardly anyone replaces their own in a hurry, so these make useful gifts. There's some fun designs out there for both men and women and you can add contents if you are so inclined. Vary the price according to the recipient and for something beyond the decent lineup in most pharmacies and department stores head to bigger gift shops and Country Road. Men's stores sometimes carry them too, with upmarket outfitters offering leather options.
These may not sound wildly exciting, but if you make the effort to match the choice to the recipient then you can have some fun without widening your search too far which becomes exhausting and is likely to lead to your being sidetracked. If everyone at your gathering gets a variation on the same gift, it becomes a talking point about who got what and you can ring the changes with style variations from luxurious, to natural, eco-friendly, design-driven, etc, etc, to suit.
Other easy beauty themes are candles or hand and body lotions, yes, for men too, with the likes of The Body Shop's Hemp hand cream. There are also specialist products for gardeners and cooks, including from the Aromatherapy Company which makes a good exfoliating hand wash for grubby mitts and a scent-dispersing range for the kitchen. Try home and garden stores for other good ideas, including citronella candles.
