Best Last-Minute Holiday Gift Ideas You Can Pick Up Locally

Christmas is less than two weeks away! Shipping deadlines for online purchases are approaching quickly so today I shared last-minute gift ideas you can pick up locally on Fox 2 News. Below are the interview on Fox and more details on everything I recommended.

Here in St. Louis we’re fortunate to have some outstanding beauty companies making great natural skin care and even some makeup too.

KIND Soap Company is based in Webster Groves in St. Louis. Their products are formulated to be free of all the “bad” stuff in traditional skin care products. They only use the most natural, high-quality and benign ingredients with proven track records many of which are organic or wild harvested. They do not use any skin and eye irritants like sulfates, synthetic fragrances, phthalates or parabens.

KIND has some amazing all-natural items, including many holiday-themed gifts:

• Sugar Plums (sets of cherry almond, bourbon vanilla and chocolate orange solid sugar scrubs, $10)
• Merry & Bright Bath Salt & Milk Soak Duos (an uplifting bath salt and skin brightening bath soak)
• Seasonal soaps in scents like Frankincense & Myrrh, Spiced Rum and Lavender Pine
• Vanilla Buttercream Sugar Scrub and Chocolate Buttercream Body Frosting
• A new Snowberry scent made with black currant and vanilla available in an Artisan Soap, Lotion Bar, Foaming Bath Salts and Lip Balm
• And for guys, grab the new The Block Beer & Bacon Fat line with a Beard Balm ($16), Soap ($10) and Lip Balm ($6) – all made with bacon fat from the popular restaurant and butcher shop The Block – don’t worry the products don’t smell like bacon or beer
• And the uber popular classic Bulgarian Rose scent is now available in a Bath Tea and Linen & Body Spray

KIND Soap products are available at their headquarters in Webster Groves, at Whole Foods and Schnucks stores and at kindsoap.com.

Bee Naturals has wonderful natural skin care and makeup. Bee Naturals was started by a nurse who wanted to heal and protect her hands from chemicals like parabens found at the hospital. She began by developing Skin Creme Bars and went on to create a whole range of natural products for face, body and hair for adults and children.

Bee Naturals products are made in small batches with pure, natural, high-quality ingredients, including honey and bee pollen. Barbara Chappuis’ Bee Naturals line is available at her shops in Maplewood and Clarksville, MO, and at online at beenaturals.com.

Here are some of my top picks for holiday gifts:

• For dry hands and feet: Ultra-Rich Hand Creme ($13), Ultimate Foot Creme ($13), and Skin Creme Sticks and Bars ($10-$14)
• For an at-home spa experience: Aromatherapy Mineral Bath Salts ($13), Aromatherapy Foaming Foot Bath & Soak ($10), Ultra Rich Body Shampoo Bar ($9) and Luxury Creme Body Wash ($17-$33)
• For the softest skin from head to toe: Honey Sugar Scrub ($15) and Sweet Tease Body Souffle ($22)
• Bee Naturals also now offers custom makeup. You can take in your favorite color and get it matched; and they’re offering a Groupon so you can get a super good deal on this service now through January. You can get a lipstick, nail polish, eye shadow, brow color or blush.

 

You can also get some great finds at the local mall. Following on the unprecedented success of the Naked Palettes, Urban Decay has come out with the Naked Ultimate Basics palette ($54) with twelve exclusive, must-have, neutral, matte shadows in cool to warm hues. The shadows are buttery soft, richly pigmented and offer excellent staying power.

Urban Decay also offers the Naked Illuminated Trio ($36), a limited edition set featuring three shades of Naked Illuminated Shimmering Power for Face and Body, a sophisticated baked powder with light-reflecting, microfine shimmer to give skin a radiant glow from head to toe (available at Sephora stores).

Bobbi Brown also has a gorgeous Holiday Collection, just as she does every holiday season. A couple winning choices are:

• Party to Go Lips and Eyes – Rich and effortlessly pretty —a warm, rose-gold eye plus a pop of deep rose for lips make this little palette a gorgeous, fresh take on a classic holiday look. Features three powder shadows in soft cream and rosy shades, a deep liner shade and Bobbi’s original mini Lip Color in True Rose (a $94 value for just $42, available at Bobbi Brown counters and at bobbibrowncosmetics.com).

• Glow to Go Blush & Illuminate – A radiant duo featuring Bobbi’s best-selling powder Blush in limited edition French Pink and NEW Sparkle Illuminator, a liquid highlighter that delivers luminous skin on contact. Comes in a party-friendly, gold mini compact with a faux-leather finish and mirror ($36).

You can also get some delightful, affordable finds at drug stores. Walmart offers the Flowerful by FLOWER Collection from Drew Barrymore. They have a huge selection of holiday sets at amazing prices (just $5-$10):

• Color Kiss Collection – Achieve the perfect lip this holiday with Flowerful’s Color Kiss Collection. This set contains a Mini Lip Chubby, six Pan-Lip Palette, two Lip Glosses and two Lip Pencils ($10).
• On The Line Collection – The perfect holiday gift for the makeup junkie, this set includes 5 eyeliner pencils in Electric Blue, Bright Purple, Dark Green, Bronze and Black ($5, available at Walmart stores).
• Eye’m Ready Collection – This holiday set of mini eyeshadow chubbies comes in two different shade options. This first one includes a more neutral containing 5 eyeliner pencils in Beige, Taupe, Dark Grey, gold and Dark Green. The second collection creates more of a smoky look with Silver, Pinky Beige, Purple, Dark Blue and Dark Grey ($5)

  

• Eyes on You Collection – The Eyes on You Holiday collection helps create the perfect eye for any holiday party. The set includes Mascara, Liquid Eyeliner, Eyeliner Pencil and a 12-Pan Eyeshadow Palette ($10).
• Shadow Art Palette – Brighten up your holiday festivities with Flowerful’s 24-Pan Eyeshadow with a range of colors from neutral beiges to sparkling silvers ($10).
• Colorful Nail Collection – A versatile holiday nail collection with eight shades varying from nudes to reds, as well as two nail files ($10).

Burt’s Bees also has several fabulous holiday gift sets that are also excellent buys:

• Burt’s Bees Face Essentials ($15) – Features White Tea Towelettes, Peach & Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub, Soap Bark & Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream and Coconut & Pear Lip Balm ($15)

  

• Burt’s Bees Honey Pot – Features Body Lotion with Milk & Honey, Honey & Grapeseed Hand Cream, Honey Lip Balm with Vitamin E ($15, available at grocery and drug stores and mass retailers like Target and at burtsbees.com)
• Burt’s Bees Mani Pedi – Features Peppermint Foot Lotion, Ultimate Care Hand Cream, Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream and EcoTools Foot Brush and Pumice ($15)
• Endless Shine Trio – Features three Mini Lip Shines in Blush, Wine and Flutter ($10)
• Kissable Color Gift Set – Features a trio of best-selling Lip Shimmers, so she always has the right color on hand for every festive occasion. Available in two shade options: A cool trio of Apricot, Grapefruit, and Watermelon Lip Shimmers or a warm trio of Peony, Rhubarb, and Fig Lip Shimmers ($10)