If you thought Beauty Advent Calendars was as fabulous as it got, think again. More brands are thinking outside of the box when it comes to Christmas, and giving festive baubles and crackers a beauty makeover.
The good news is they’re excellent for gifting bridesmaids or just as fun décor for end-of-year parties. Packed with skincare and beauty minis, use them to trial before the Big Day or as a tiny handbag hero.
Here’s a look at some of the ingenious versions available for 2017.
L'Occitane en Provence
Great things comes in small packages - especially when they're from L'Occitane! There's a variety of crackers on offer this year, each containing three deliciously scented minis.
Upgrade your tree game with a star-inspired bauble, featuring some of the brand’s iconic scents. The zesty Verbena set includes hand cream, body lotion and a soap shaped like a leaf. Lush!
L’Occitane Cracker Trio, £25: Red Cracker contains: Cherry Blossom Bath and Shower Gel 35ml, Cherry Blossom Shimmering Lotion 35ml, Cherry Blossom Hand Cream 10ml. Yellow Cracker contains: Almond Shower Oil 35ml, Almond Milk Concentrate 20ml, Almond Hand Cream 10ml. Orange cracker contains: Relaxing Shower Gel 35ml, Effervescent Revitalising Sugar Cube 33g, Lavender Hand Cream 10ml
uk.Loccitane.com
Eve Lom
The skincare legend has released a cracker and bauble. The rose gold cracker (so on trend, darlings) is filled with Kiss Mix Original and Kiss Mix Demure products to leave them juicier than a Christmas turkey.
An Eve Lom Cleanser and a muslin cloth are encased in the diamond-shaped bauble, helping kick start New Year’s skincare regimes.
www.EveLom.com
Benefit Cosmetics
The San Francisco brand has gone home this season with the Wonderglam collection, inspired by SF’s psychedelic Summer of Love. There are 11 standalone ‘snow globes’ to choose from, all filled with beauty bestsellers.
Eye Heart SF, £39.50, includes three full-size products (they’re real! Masacra, goof proof brow pencil, gimme brow).
Golden Gate Glam, £29.50, contains rockateur, and fun-size gimme brow, they’re real mascara and they’re real lip colour. Check out the full range: www.BenefitCosmetics.com
Decléor Paris
Bring a pop of orange to your tree with Decléor's diamond-shaped bauble. It contains a highly nourishing balm packed with shea butter, Macadamia oil and Marjoram essential oil. Now, where's that mistletoe?
£12, www.Decleor.co.uk
ghd
Good hair isn't just for Christmas, and GHD's 2017 beauty bauble makes sure of it. Containing a 50ml Advanced Split End Therapy, it's the perfect gift for hanging on the Christmas tree.
£15, www.ghdHair.com
Jo Malone
Make Christmas come early by setting one of these covetable crackers by your plates this December. Each Crazy Colourful design contains three adorable minis, so there’s plenty to share - whoever wins the cracker pull!
From £34, www.JoMalone.co.uk
Elemis
Having an intimate family dinner? Give it a decadent edge with Elemis’ crackers.We love The Gift of Glow Cracker, £15, which includes Nourishing Omega-Rich Cleansing Oil 50ml and Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm 15ml. The Festive Frangipani Cracker, £15, is also lovely and features Exotic Frangipani Monoi Shower Cream 50ml and Frangipani Monoi Body Oil 35ml.
£15 each, www.Elemis.com
OMOROVICZA
This Christmas cracker is all about promoting healthy skin, since it contains a Refining Facial Polisher and Moor Cream Cleanser. Use together for the promise of brighter, purified skin (much-need after NYE festivities). £25, www.LibertyLondon.com
Soap & Glory Pout-y Popper
Made for the party-loving beauty-addict, this clever popper not only shoots out glittery ‘let’s celebrate!’ confetti but two limited edition super mini Sexy Mother Pucker Lip-glosses in Pink Stardust and Bare Enough too!
£6, www.Boots.com
The Body Shop x House Of Holland
One of the things The Body Shop’s collab with House of Holland has yielded is this Limited Edition Butter Bauble Shea filled with deliciously nourishing Shea butter for the lips and body.That that, chapped winter lips!
£9, www.TheBodyShop.com
Marc Jacobs
Double delights from Mr Jacobs this year, and both crackers pack quite a beauty punch. The first, ‘The Night Owl’, £24, comes in a snazzy animal-print box and hides a mascara, liquid eyeliner and crayon liner.
Meanwhile ‘The Sex Kitten’, a bargain at just £13, will reveal a pretty pinky nude lipstick and clutch-sized mascara when pulled apart.
Both available at www.JohnLewis.com
Cowshed
You can’t leave your groom out of the fun, which is why Cowshed’s Bullocks cracker, £12, is the perfect way to include him in the festivities.It contains a travel sized body wash and moisturizer in very manly scents.
£12, www.Mankind.co.uk
