Tuesday, December 9, 2014

The Big Christmas Gift Guide (Round II)

Christmas gift guide 2014 1 I've already put together a Christmas gift guide for Him & Her, but I wanted to put together a second one a) because I love Christmas almost as much as Michael Buble and b) I thought it'd be nice to make one up of things I actually own myself or have bought for other people so that you guys can see what the products look like in real life. There's a little bit of everything; from toiletries, to shoes, to jewellery, to... socks, so buckle your seatbelts and get ready to be taken on the Christmas ride of your life. Ahem.

JEWELZ, JEWELZ, JEWELZ
(Plus discount codes, shh)
Christmas gift guide 2014 22 Beaverbrooks limited edition Christmas box

Beaverbrooks very kindly sent me over one of their limited edition Christmas boxes and I couldn't have been happier with what was inside. Below layers of tissue paper and confetti, suave I know, lay three little velvet bags containing three b-e-a-utiful pieces. Rose gold's a favourite of mine and - I have a feeling I'll be saying this a lot throughout this post - I can't resist a good bit of sparkle at this time of year, so it couldn't have been a better fit. It's only £79 for all three pieces (plus cleaning cloths for you mucky pups out there) as opposed to £141 if you were to buy them individually but, word of warning, as it's limited edition there's only 100 of each box available!

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DANIEL WELLINGTON watch | URBAN OUTFITTERS crystal necklace

Daniel Wellington's a brand that pops up time and time again in the blogosphere, but not without good reason. I own two myself, and also bought one last year as a gift for an amigo, because I love them so much, and they're so well made too. I tend to prefer the men's ones (this one pictured is the men's St Andrews) as I like a big face, but the ladies ones are equally beautiful if you're after something slightly more delicate. If you're thinking of ordering one then use the code 'holidaymagpie' at the checkout to get 15% off your order right up until the 31st of December!

I also couldn't help but include this big chunky badboy from Urban Outfitters - how amazing is it? Well I'll tell you - it's very amazing. I understand that it might be a little big for some people's taste, so I've linked some simpler, smaller crystal pieces below too.



BAGS, SHOES & SOCKS

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These platforms also featured in my last gift guide so I'm cheating a little bit here, but they're hands down my favourite shoes I've bought this year and so comfy too, so I couldn't help but include them again. Continuing on with the red theme, I've also popped in these stripy socks with contrast toe and heel from Gap; socks are one of my favourite presents to receive at Christmas (just call me Grandpa) and Gap do the best socks of all in my eyes. They don't have many funky ones on the website just now (they must be more of an in-store thing) so I've linked some fun alternatives below.

No gift guide would be complete without a novelty festive clutch, and today's comes in the form of this amazing pink fluffy clutch from River Island, which is softer even than the plushest teddy bear you can imagine. It also doubles up as a muff so you can keep those paws toasty on nights out!




MUGS, BOOKS & WRAPPING PAPER

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Caitlin Moran's one of my favourite writers ever; her first novel, How to be a Woman, had me in tears from the word go and her second book certainly hasn't let the standard down, so if you fancy giving someone the gift of giggles this Christmas then this is the one for you. Also included in this slightly random category are two shamazing Anthropologie mugs - if I could include just 'Anthrolopogie' as a whole then I would but common sense told me to narrow it down a little. Every time I go in I buy myself a new mug, these two being my recent favourites, but it's worth having a good browse of their whole selection.



Last but not least is this personalised wrapping paper, which arrived on my doorstep in a surprise parcel from Wrap.Me. You can make someone their very own personalised wrapping paper just by uploading a selection of photos to the site; it's all very easy and very, very snazzy. Wrapping something I take great pleasure in doing (I'd even go as far as to say I'm its number one fan) so this appealed to me as soon as I saw it.

MAKE-UP & TOILETRIES

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I love popping a party on my nails all year round, but I'd say it's almost obligatory to have jazzy nails at Christmas. These are my two favourite shades at the moment, which'd make very nice stocking fillers (well, maybe not for your ten year old brother), or you can even go the whole hog and buy the full Alexa for Nails Inc kit - or a Barry M gift set - should the generosity of Christmas spirit overcome you.

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TOM FORD eyeshadow quad in Ice Queen & lipstick in Negligee

Tom Ford's one of those make-up brands I've always wanted to try but have never quite got round to, so I'm so glad I finally did. I think the eyeshadow palette in particular would make an amazing gift as it comes in a little luxe velvet gift bag (plus the glittery silver shade, top right, is my idea of a dream eyeshadow), but I have to hand it to the lipsticks too as, not only are they nice and creamy, but they last all day too. Plus the casing couldn't look more regal if it tried.

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Oh my goodness, this shit's bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S. I originally went into the MAC store to buy a lipstick, but as always, left with something totally different. All the girls in store had this on (very clever) and every single one of them suited it so, being the ideal little consumer I am, I snapped it right up. Again it'd make such a lovely stocking filler or, if you fancy treating yourself - don't be ashamed ladies, we've all been there - it makes for a really striking Christmas night out look. You ca take my, and apparently all the girls at MAC's, word for it. Told you I liked sparkly things; magpie by name, magpie by nature and all that.





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Khiels has been my favourite skincare for a long time, but Liz Earle recently sneaked into joint top place after my friend introduced me to the hot cloth cleanser which left my skin feeling like it'd been spa-ified. This limited edition hot cloth cleanser's a little update on the classic version, combining sweet orange oil and crushed peppermint for a new, uplifting smell and the superskin beauty gift box contains unfragranced superskin moisturiser and hand serum (perfect either for mature or for dry skin), so there's something for everyone. These limited edition sets are ripe for Christmas gift picking as I couldn't really see them going down badly with any ladyfriends. Plus, they come beautifully boxed and in tissue paper so the hard work's been done for you! Liz Earle's just popped up a blog post saying stock's now running low - limited edition woes strike again - so get in there fast!

And there we have it, my second (and last, yes, I'll calm down now) Christmas gift guide. Like I was saying in the last one, please leave links below if you've done one of your own so I can have a browse and feel all nice and festive.

Amy

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