Top Picks: The Body Shop Christmas Gifts 2016!

Here's a beauty backstory for you to start your day off right! 

My eldest sister worked in The Body Shop in London during the 80's and with her staff discount, she often bought us the little animal soaps, shower gel for our bubble baths and of course, strawberry lip balms. And we loved them. I grew up with a fondness for the store and have always considered their body butters to be in my 'holy grail' list of beauty products. In the last few years I feel like The Body Shop has grown up with me though and it's now a highly coveted beauty/skincare destination. 

Every Christmas I eagerly await their new releases because they always bring it. 

This year is no different and so I popped along to their Christmas gifts launch a couple of weeks ago. They've loads of great ideas for men, women and children so everyone is covered but for reasons including time and space, I won't be going through them all!
Instead, these are my top picks:

First up; anything from the Oils of Life range. These are skin-replenshing oils and this particular set (Ultimate Skincare Collection) comes with an Intensely Revitalising Cream, essence lotion, facial oil and sleeping cream (I'm mad into overnight masks these days) and a twin ball massager to get the most out of the facial oil. This is €140 but is particularly good value for all full size products in a great presentation box. 

I'm guilty of buying candles as gifts a lot but they are an ideal present- sure who doesn't like a candle?! These are paraffin-free with an unbleached cotton wick and a blend of essential oils. 

Japanese Camelia or Meditteranean Sea Salt get my vote.

These face masks have been big best sellers for The Body Shop over the last year and you can get two of the most popular ones (Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask and British Rose Fresh Plumping mask) in a beautiful presentation box for only €42.50. Given that these are €25 each on their own, that's a good saving. The idea with that box set is you use the two together- the charcoal on your t-zone and the rose on your cheeks, tapping nicely into the multi-masking trend that's so big at the minute. 

Every year The Body Shop has three fragrance ranges in everything from body scrubs, lotion, body butter, lip balm, hand cream etc. This year we have Frosted berries, Vanilla Chai and Spiced Apple. While all three are lovely, I'd recommend Vanilla Chai; it's surprisingly festive but also mild enough that you won't smell like a walking Christmas tree and you could definitely wear this one well into the new year and beyond. 

Alternatively, you could also just get this set of all three of the body butter, for the perpetually indecisive person! 

Make-up wise there's a whole limited edition collection of vegan/vegetarian friendly cosmetics out for Christmas. I'm gonna need most of this to be honest. On the left are matte liquid lipsticks, again, these have been huge this year and look set to continue as the preferred lipstick finish. These are €13.50 while the matte tube lipsticks on the right are €15.95. The lipsticks are Vegetarian friendly, rather than vegan (the only product in this particular range that isn't vegan also) and are packed with coconut oil so they won't be drying the way matte lipsticks often are. Bonus!

Also in the limited edition range are eyeshadow palettes, you can choose from three different quads at €13.50 each. There's a set of cruelty free brushes at €50 and this larger palette (above).

Lastly from the make-up range are these Eye Colour Sticks, €13.50 each. I had a bit of a play with these on the night and honestly, these do not budge once they're on the skin. I washed my hands with soap and water several times and those swatches were still there the next day. You'll need an oil based make-up remover for these, which is great for those of us who put their make-up on at the crack of dawn before work and pray it'll stay put till the end of the day! I have the palest gold but will be going back for the bronze shade for sure- that's an all round winner for every eye colour and looks like you've gone to a lot more effort than you actually have. 

The piece de resistance however, is as always the advent calendar. This year there's a few different ones depending on your budget, as well as a gift box of the Body Shop's bestsellers from over the last 40 years. That's The Iconic Collection- the full size of €140 for 11 full size products, while The Iconic Collection Mini is €65 for 7 products, all full sizes bar one. I think either of those would be a great introduction to the brand. 

Back to the deluxe advent calendar though! This has 24 days of treats to open, and at €135 you're doing really well price wise considering how much you're getting. These tend to sell out pretty fast so if you're hoping to get one this year, start dropping hints now!
Alternatively, you could also just treat yo'self!

And that's my lot! As I said there's loads more gifts in store so it's worth popping in yourself to check them out.

Anything here catching your eye? 

Is poor auld Santa gonna have the back broken from carrying all of your Body Shop gift sets?!

To the comments!

XX

*This is not a paid or sponsored post and all opinions are my own, as always!