Emmie’s Beauty Life Holiday Gift Guide 2021 – Part 1: High End Beauty Edition

Hello and welcome to the first of my two holiday gift guides for 2021. With less than 4 weeks left to go, I know that this post is border on last minute (and right as the sales are ending). But I couldn’t end 2021 without showing you my top gift ideas.

Now, for part one of my gift guide, we are talking about the bougiest of the bougie. The fanciest of the fancy. The high end/luxury beauty products that I would love to see under my tree (if I didn’t already own them). I’ll be breaking these into three categories. Makeup, skincare, and fragrances. Most of these are in stock online. And if not, I would definitely check instore if you’re able to do so safely. So, let’s get right into it!

PART 1 – MAKEUP

When it comes to drool worthy palettes, no one does it better than PAT MCGRATH. Her Mothership series of palettes are all beautiful in their own way and the quality of the shadows are second to none. While I feel like you can’t go with any of these, my current fave would have to be the MOTHERSHIP IX – HUETOPIA DREAMS – $195.00. It’s giving all of the spring/summer vibes.

On the topic of spring/summer vibes, EM COSMETICS. I have been truly impressed with everything that I have tried so far from them. And because I’m such a sucker for pinks and mauvy tones right now, my top pick from them has to be the DIVINE SKIES EYESHADOW PALETTE in VENETIAN ROSE – $40.00US. Em Cosmetics also has a bunch of adorable holiday sets that are well worth checking out.

Finally for the pinky toned palettes, the brand new HUDA BEAUTY ROSE QUARTZ EYESHADOW PALETTE – $103.00. Again, HUDA BEAUTY is one of those brands that I could easily recommend everything. But this palette is so much prettier in person and so wearable too!

One brand that always nails their holiday releases is NARS COSMETICS. They also have a great range of gift ideas from little stocking stuffer bundles to giant palettes. And this years palette, the BIJOUX EYESHADOW PALETTE – $84.00 is utterly spectacular! This is their first 16 pan palette and a few of the shades are a brand new glitter based formula that is all sparkle without the fallout. I’m especially obsessed with the greens and golds here. Very Christmasy!

If you’re more of an fan of the basic neutrals however, these next two palettes are probably more up your alley. First up, the NATASHA DENONA BRONZE PALETTE – $100.00. Having said that, NATASHA DENONA has so many amazing neutral palettes now that would make fantastic gifts (I personally have my eye on the mauvy Retro palette).

The other neutral palette choice I have for you is from MAKEUP BY MARIO. Namely, the MASTER MATTES EYESHADOW PALETTE – $74.00. Out of all the palettes I’ve talked about, this is the one I would recommend the strongest for anyone who is just starting out with makeup. These are the kinds of shades that I would consider essential for anyone who uses eyeshadow on the daily.

Finally for eyeshadow, VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY. By far, one of the fancier brands that I’ll be recommending today. And the SMOKEY EYE BRICK in TUXEDO – $90.00 has been my go to for when I want to add a little smokey drama to my eyes. But I would adore any of these stunning little palettes if they made their way under my tree!

Getting into face palettes and I have two that would be absolutely amazing options. The first is from DIOR BEAUTY. And sing it with me, the BACKSTAGE GLOW FACE PALETTE – $76.00 . They have released a few of these now (the one pictured above is 01- Universal). And any one of them would be perfect for anyone who loves glow.

The second is from CHARLOTTE TILBURY. And I had a hard time choosing my top pick because I legitimately love everything that woman has bought out. But in terms of gift ideas, I couldn’t go past the LOOK OF LOVE IN A PALETTE – $99.00. Like the Dior, there are quite a few palettes to choose from here (the one pictured above is Pretty Blushed Beauty). And they are just so practical for day to day use.

Lastly for makeup, we have GUCCI BEAUTY. Oh, Gucci. Again, super hard to narrow down a favourite pick from them. But I decided to go small and pick the ROUGE A LEVRED SATIN LIPSTICKS – $64.00. I know that lipsticks might not be the most exciting thing to get as a gift, but the formula of these ones is absolutely incredible! So silky smooth and luxurious on the lips.

PART 2 – SKINCARE

Getting into skincare, first up, FENTY SKIN. They launched too late last year for me to recommend anything. But they have made up for it this year by having a whole bunch of amazing holiday sets. My top pick from what I’ve seen would have to be the BEFORE BED SKINCARE SET – $74.00. This set contains a mini of the INSTANT RESET NIGHT CREAM (pictured above) and full sizes of the FAT WATER TONER and the PRO KISS’R LIP BALM

Next up, probably my favourite skincare range of the moment, GLOW RECIPE! I have, no BS, loved everything that I have tried from Glow Recipe and they have so many amazing sets. I definitely would have my eye on the WATERMELON GLOW UP – $70.00. Which contains a full size WATERMELON GLOW TONER and deluxe minis of the WATERMELON GLOW MOISTURISER and the WATERMELON GLOW NIACINAMIDE GLOW DROPS. If, however, you wanted to go super bougie, might I recommend the GLOW CAFE VAULT SKIN SET – $507.00. A $778.00 value, it contains pretty much everything in the Glow Recipe range!

Finally for skin, as always, ULTRA VIOLETTE. I don’t think that a year will pass that I won’t recommend them. And as far as my top pick goes, the ALL I WANT IS EVERYTHING SKINCARE SET – $175.00 is hard to go past. It contains full sizes of all their skinscreens, a full sized SHEEN SCREEN LIP BALM, and a deluxe mini of the EXTREME SCREEN BODY SUNSCREEN.

PART 3 – FRAGRANCES

If you saw my favourites on Friday, you knew this was going to be here. The SMOKESHOW EAU DE PARFUM – $109.00. I won’t spend too much time here, but SSAINT PARFUM has three other fragrances in their range that are also stunning!

Sticking with locally owned perfumes, few things delighted me more than GLASSHOUSE FRAGRANCES turning their most popular candles into perfumes. I have the full size of FOREVER FLORENCE – $99.95 which is just so subtle and feminine. But I also have to give a special shoutout to A TAHAA AFFAIR. Which I can only describe as caramel heaven in a bottle.

My other most worn fragrances of the moment come from the amazing ladies over at SUMMER FRIDAYS. And THE TRIO PERFUME OIL’S – $55.00 are truly something special. It’s like they took the essence of summer and distilled it into these tubes. I know that the Coconut one has gotten a lot of hype online, but my favourite is easily the CRISP CITRUS. Seriously, if they sell that individually, consider it sold.

Finally, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t recommend a few candles. And swinging back to GLASSHOUSE FRAGRANCES, their holiday collection is so good this year. Alongside returning favourites like NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS and GINGERBREAD HOUSE, we have MERRY & BRIGHT – $54.95. This was limited edition to Peter Alexander last year and this year, it’s part of the holiday collection! It legit smells like the best pineapple punch you have ever had!

If, however, you maybe are a little more extra, you can’t go past DIPTYQUE. They released three new candles for their holiday collection. And by far, the standout is the BISCUIT CANDLE – $111.00. It is similar to the aforementioned Gingerbread House candle from Glasshouse. But definitely leveled up. I do feel bad for recommending this one because I’m pretty sure it has long since sold out. But if you can find it, it’ll be amazing!

And we are done with part one! Wowsa, what a list! Now, go forth and shop. You only have 24 days to go!

Cheers and love
Emily xo