Great Gift Sets for Christmas

By: Kim Myers

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to focus on some great gift ideas that are incorporated into sets. These are some of my favorites that, mostly, I’ve tried and used myself so therefore, I can vouch for their authenticity. Since they are combined into sets, the prices are a better value than if you chose to buy the item individually.

1. Carol’s Daughter "For the Love of Almond Cookie Gift Set" ($45) contains an Eau de Toilette and Body Souffle in the Almond Cookie scent that consists of sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. This is so long-lasting on the skin and the products are made from natural ingredients. The smell is indescribable. It’s a bit like spicy marzipan (hsn.com or 800-284-3100).
2. Carol’s Daughter "Shea Souffle Trio Gift Set" ($35) contains three body creams in Almond Cookie, Ocean, and Mango Me’lange. These soufflés are light, fluffy, and very moisturizing for the body (sephora.com).
3. "Clean Winter Holiday Gift Set" ($48.95) by Clean Fragrances is a wonderful limited edition set made exclusively for the holidays and comes with 2.14 oz EDP and Body Lotion in a jar. Like
all the Clean fragrances this one is just as fresh and crisp as the rest. It starts out with a soapy eucalyptus scent and dries down soft and powdery fresh(hsn.com).
4. "Clean Coffret Set" ($65) consists of the same soapy, sudsy, just out of the shower scents as the entire line. You get four EDP in Clean Original, Warm Cotton, Ultimate Clean, and Shower Fresh. Each and every one leaves your skin smelling fresh and clean. You’ll probably receive comments on how nice you smell (sephora.com, cleanfragrances.com).
5. "Philosophy 3 in 1 Bubble Bath, Shower Gel, and Shampoos" ($30 -$35) are always a hit year round. During the holidays there are always limited edition sets. My favorite one this year is "Celebrate" which contains Pink Bubbly, Lavender Bubbly, and Pomegranate Bubbly. This is for those wine/champagne lovers in the family. Other sets are "Cookie Exchange" which contains Oatmeal Raisin, Sugar Cookie, Snickerdoodle, and Chocolate Chip. For those of you who have a constant sweet tooth, this one is awesome. I love the Snickerdoodle. "Holiday Cookbook" contains Red Velvet Cake (Hubby’s favorite), Cinnamon Buns, Spicy Pear Cobbler, Pumpkin Spice Muffin, Gingerbread, and Double Rich Cocoa and "Just Because" is for the chocolate lover and contains Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, and Dark Chocolate. Remember, these can be split up as teacher’s gifts, stocking stuffers, etc. There are many more choices online (sephora.com, philosophy.com).
6. "Laura Mercier Souffle Sampler Set" ($50) body crèmes come in a variety such as French Vanilla, Crème Brul’ee, and Almond Coconut Milk. The last two are to die for. You feel as if you could just eat them (sephora.com, lauramercier.com).
7. "Aquolina Pink Sugar Luxury Gift Set" ($95) includes perfumed massage oil, an EDT spray, hair perfume, body mousse, and body scrub. This is an excellent set for Pink Sugar lovers. Imagine layering a product on your skin that’s notes consists of bergamot, Sicilian orange, raspberry, fig leaves, lily of the valley, licorice, strawberry, red fruits, cotton candy, vanilla, caramel, musk, wood, and powder. This scent is heavenly and has its own cult following. Its male counterpart "Blue Sugar" ($35) smells just as great. I gave this to my nephew for Christmas one year because he loves it. He said he got so many compliments on the sample I gave him so I decided he needed the full size bottle. Ladies, your guy will probably love it too. I do. To just give you an idea, Blue Sugar’s notes are caramelized sugar, vanilla, cedar, tonka bean, licorice, patchouli, lavender, coriander, bergamot, mandarin, and anise. I’m loving it. It’s a fun and energetic smooth fragrance, yet surprisingly quite masculine (sephora.com, some dept. stores).
Next week, be sure to tune in for more great gift sets. There will be some totally terrific makeup and skin care too.