Down to the Wire

Ms. New Beauty just finished her last final an hour and a half ago. That's right, the evil administrators at her school thought giving a final exam four days before Christmas was a good idea. The inevitable result - MNB has spent weeks studying and paid almost no attention to what she's going to give out as Christmas presents this year. With just a few days left to shop and no idea what to get the fabulous family and friends in her life, Ms. New Beauty has decided to give presents that require minimal thought (her brain is so drained right now) but that are still sure to please. Gift cards can be so impersonal, so she's scoured the net to find the best universally acceptable gifts to eliminate any worries about what to get at the last minute.

Sephora Fragrance Gift Certificate

I don't normally recommend giving fragrances as gifts. What smells like roses to one person is funky feet and corn chips to another. But, this is such an ingenious idea. This is not your typical gift card or certificate. With this set, you get ten samples of Sephora's top selling fragrances and a voucher. Whoever you give this to can sample the scents, even wear them for a few days, and then decide which one she likes best. The enclosed voucher is good for one full size bottle of any of the ten fragrances included in the samples. Give the gift of fragrance and take out the worries about whether it'll be a hit or a miss. Oh, and this one comes in men's and women's versions, so this is truly a unisex gift sure to please everyone.

This one's sold out online, but may still be available in store. Check with your local Sephora.

Smashbox Beauty A-Go-Go Palette and Brush Kit

Makeup is another tough thing to buy for someone else. You never know what someone's preferences are or what colors will look good on them. The solution - palettes. Makeup palettes with several traditional colors, like golds, browns, pinks, and peaches, are good for everyone because there's always a color that will look great. This palette comes with eight eyeshadows in every shade a girl could need. Gold, taupe and champagne for nude eyes, and charcoal and navy for a subtler smoky eye. Plus, you get four flattering lip glosses, two highighters, and two brushes all in a palette with houndstooth print for a kick of 60s kitsch.

This is still available online. Make sure you get the two day delivery and you're gauranteed to have your gift by Christmas.

For bigger palettes with tons of colors, you really can't beat the Sephora Blockbuster Palette. It comes loaded with tons of eyeshadow and blush shades so every lady is destined to find something she loves in thesee. It is completely sold out online (and going for 2.5 times the price on eBay), but there may still be some in stores. If you stumble upon one, be sure to grab it.

Too Faced Glamour Eyes

As you can tell by now, eyeshadow is one of the easiest gifts to give. It's easier to play with color on your eyes and therefore easier to give to someone else. You'd never, well at least you shouldn't, try to gift foundation. And, blush only works in very specific circumstances where the shade is soooo flattering and you know your friend's undertones well.

Here's another great eyeshadow palette. Glamour Eyes comes with every eye shadow shade that Too Faced makes. At $350, this is definitely a luxe gift for a fabulous lady in your life. I know you could look me in a room with this palette and a mirror and I could entertain myself for days.

The Too Faced The Jewelry Box palette would also be great fun for me but that one is sold out online too.

MD Skincare Cult Classic Set

Let me let you in on one of my best gift giving secrets. Give gifts of beauty that are the signature products a brand offers. For women that use the line, they'll know that you bought them the best of the brand and appreciate the thought. Women that know the line will love that you bought something they would never spend the money on themselves. And, for women that don't know a thing about it, they'll be so impressed that you spent the money on such a luxury beauty line for them. It's truly a win-win.

This gift will definitely fall into my best beauty gift category. This is two of MD Skincare's best products in one set. It comes with the two step Alpha Beta facial peel and the All-In-One Facial Cleanser with Toner. The peel and cleanser are the two products that MD Skincare is best known and loved for. They don't call this the Cult Classic set for nothing.

And if you still need more gift ideas, you can never fail with anything from Diptyque, L'Occitane, Molton Brown, Fresh, Kiehl's or Anthousa. You can always buy something simple like a candle or body cream from these lines for less than $50. But it still gives that "life's little luxuries" effect. Trust me, my sister went crazy for a Tuberose Diptyque candle two years ago. Again, make sure you get one of the most popular or signature products from the line.


Give great gifts, get even better reactions, and don't forget that Ms. New Beauty told you!