ARgENTUM Apothecary | Caregiver Eau de Parfum
Scent plays a huge role in self-care, so, if you have a generous budget this Christmas, Caregiver Eau de Parfum (£228 argentumapothecary.com) will make for the most indulgent gift. Caregiver is a scent crafted by luxury British brand, Argentum. It is part of the brand’s Les Parfums Infinis, a collection of alcohol-free fragrances that are kind to skin and hair. Described as an ‘earth sweet wood’, Caregiver features warm and powdery top notes of Haitian vetiver and tonka bean, delicate floral heart notes of neroli and Sicilian bergamot, and earthy base notes of patchouli. The scent has great projection and impressive lasting power. The unique fragrance is housed in a sustainable ultraviolet glass bottle to protect and preserve it from natural light. It is also presented in a beautifully crafted box that takes the form of a classic book, adding an extra luxe touch to this already exquisite gift.
Achieving a good night sleep is a huge goal for any self-care gal, so gifting a calming sleep set is sure to be appreciated this Christmas. My favourite is the NEOM Spectacular Sleep Heroes (£38 beautybay.com), a gift set featuring the brand's much-loved Bedtime Hero Pillow Mist (30ml) and Bath Foam (200ml). Both products sit in the NEOM Scent To Sleep range, which has been specially formulated with natural fragrances to not only smell wonderful but have a relaxing effect on the mind and body. Bedtime Hero's blend of 11 of the purest essential oils, including chamomile, ylang ylang, and cedarwood, is expertly created to help you feel relaxed and ready for bedtime.
If you're looking for a truly indulgent treat, I recommend gifting the Sisley Nutritive Lip Balm (£59 John Lewis). Formulated with nourishing oils and butters, this best-selling lip balm provides instant moisture and comfort to chapped, dry, and cracked lips. With a luxuriously creamy texture that glides on easily, it leaves lips smoother, softer, and more plump in appearance. It is formulated with mango butter, shea oil, jojoba oil, padina pavonica extract, kokum butter, plum kernel oil, and a blend of sweet white lupin oil and wheat germ oil concentrate. These ingredients work together to nourish and smooth the lips, strengthen the skin barrier, and protect against external aggressors. With a non-sticky finish, the Nutritive Lip Balm is also ideal for prepping lips before makeup application.
For the self-care women that love to be pampered, the Pathology Best In Snow Hand & Foot Moisturizing Kit (£18 feelunique.com) will go down a treat. Featuring one Perfect Ten Hand & Cuticle Mask and one Best Foot Forward Softening Heel & Foot Mask, this moisturising kit will overhaul dull and dehydrated hands and feet. Both masks feature self-warming technology that locks-in natural body heat to allow the nourishing formulas to better penetrate skin for beautifully soft and rejuvenated hands. The Hand & Cuticle Mask features an intensely moisturising blend of nourishing macadamia oil, to help repair damaged, scarred, or sagging skin, ultra-rich shea butter, to support healthy cell turnover and promote healing, and rosehip oil, to improve elasticity. The Heel & Foot Mask incorporates coconut oil, to leave skin baby-soft, Japanese cypress, to soothe and dispense anti-fungal properties, and intensely-rich shea butter to nourish and promote healing.
Another great at-home treatment worth gifting this year is the Bloomeffects all-new cooling Black Tulip Cryotherapy Tools (£112 oxygenboutique.com), a set of skin-toning, stainless-steel beauty tools designed to help skin benefit from the body's natural response to changes in temperature. These luxury tools deliver the next level in luxury, sustainable youth-preserving skincare As the temperature drops, blood vessels constrict, improving circulation and causing a tightening effect on the skin. Just a few minutes of massaging these multi-tasking tools onto the face improves lymphatic drainage and circulation to instantly smooth, firm, and revitalise tired skin.
For the self-care lovers who cherish a weekly Sunday soak in the tub, you can't go wrong with gifting the Christmas Candy Box from Lush (£35 Lush). This festive confectionary classic features six bath must-haves, including a Candy Cane reusable bubble bar, Sweet Pudding bath bomb, Creamy Candy bubble bar, Snow Fairy bath bomb, Butterbear bath bomb, and Snow Fairy Wand bubble blower. Each bubble bar and bath bomb features a candy-inspired scent that is guaranteed to be loved by just about anyone with a sweet tooth.
For the self-care concious women that love their locks, I recommend the Manta Pulse (£55 Sephora), an innovative scalp brush that rejuvenates the hair and scalp to create the perfect conditions for hair growth. It’s the first brush to mould to the shape of the palm of the hand and scalp, and this flexibility creates less tension to gently free knots and minimise breakage, with minimum damage and maximum shine, for fuller healthier hair. The Manta Pulse features two modes - the first mode delivers a pulse perfect for relaxing stress and tension relief, and the second mode delivers a pulse to increase blood-flow and circulation. In addition to being used on dry hair, this scalp brush can support shampooing, providing a thorough, salon professional cleanse whilst also gently exfoliating the scalp to remove build up and dead skin. It is 100% waterproof, has a long lasting charge of up to 90 minutes, and comes with a handy travel pouch.