Frugal Christmas: Budget gifts for women

by Chiara Cavaglieri on 12 December 2011  |  0 comments
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Highlights today include Babyliss hair straighteners for £8.21, a Cath Kidston stationery box for £8.28, a stocking filler beauty box for £4.95, the new Nina Ricci eau de parfum for £26, 25% off ELF Studio make-up products which are already only £3.50 each and half-price Thorntons festive hampers.

Gifts for under £30  

Beauty

For perfume under £30 head to Feel Unique for Ghost Deep Night eau de toilette spray 50ml for £24.80 (RRP £32.50), Nina Ricci Nina eau de toilette spray 30ml for £20.99 (RRP £49) or the more evening-y Nina Ricci L’Elixir eau de parfum 30ml for £26.04 (RRP £40.85). And remember to use code STOCKINGFILLER for another £2 off orders over £25, XMASWISH for £3 off when you spend £50 and FIVESTARXMAS for £5 off when you spend over £75 (expire 19th December). 

Gadgets and electricals

According to RankTank.com (which lists the best sellers across various strategies) the number one straighteners this year are the Babyliss Pro230 and you can find them cheapest at John Lewis right now where they are currently half-price at £27.19. 

Fashion and accessories

If you spend £35 on full price items at Accessorize right now they will knock £10 off your order at the checkout. So, you could buy these 925 Sterling silver crazy woven earrings (£8), this 3D cube pendant (£9), some spotty knee high socks (£6) and a pretty wallet (£12) but only pay £25.

Something a bit different 

Christmas hampers at Thorntons have up to 50% off, so you can save £10 on this I Love Christmas Hamper, reduced from £35 to £25. It contains a fair bit including 225g Christmas Milk Chocolate Collection, 300g Original Special Toffee and a 150g Milk Chocolate Santa.

Or spend £5 more and you get more bang for your buck with the half-price Festive Delights Hamper, now £30. Tthe big ticket items include a 322g Mint Collection, 214g Premium Collection 214g, 380gVanilla Fudge Box, 625g Original Special Toffee and 225g Christmas Milk Chocolate Collection.

Gifts for under £15

Beauty

For de-tangling long hair without tears, the Tangle Teezer now has something of a cult status because it doesn’t pull hair at all and can be used on wet or dry hair (I wish they had these in the 80s when my mum insisted on yanking my hair into a side ponytail!). Get one for £8.95 from Bodycare2000 or £9.98 on Amazon.

Right now you can save 25% on Studio products when you spend £15 or more at Eyes Lips Face – most of these products are only £1 each but their Studio products are still a bargain (and better quality) at £3.50 each. Use the voucher code LADIES25OFF to get the discount – or save 50% when you spend £15 on Christmas gifts with the code PARTRIDGE – but move quickly as both codes end at 9.30am on Tuesday 13th December.

Gadgets and electricals

If the Babyliss Pro230 mentioned above are out of your price range, these green Babyliss Pro200 straighteners are only £8.21 (RRP £15) on Amazon (other colours are available for a few quid more).

You also pick up some quality earphones for under a tenner. These Creative EP-630 Noise Isolating Earphones are only £8.60 (RRP £24.99) at Play saving you over £16.

Fashion and accessories

Give your sister or mum some luxury tights this year. If they’re anything like me they usually buy cheapo tights from Primark and H&M but for a Christmas treat the Mary & Charnos range at House of Fraser is a good bet with prices starting from £9.50 for opaque tights of various colours and these lovely sheer spotty tights for £10.

Or check out some of the brands on sale House of Fraser – these Therapy heart tights are reduced from £8 to £5.60, these Hobbs tights have £2 off at £6 and these Untold back leg seam tights are £6.30 (was £9).

Jumping on the night bus in heels isn’t much fun so I often shove a pair of flats in my bag but to save on space check out the fold-up ballerina flats from Butterfly Twists – who also sell clever fold up boots from £39.99 – which are available in lots of cute designs with prices starting from £14.99.

Something a bit different

This gorgeous Cath Kidston stationery box is a lovely gift for mums and older sisters. It comes with 30 sheets of lovely paper (printed on one side and blank on the other) and is only £8.28 (RRP £12) on Amazon. 

Gifts for £5 or less

The idea behind Latest in Beauty is that you get to try before you buy full-sized products of new beauty items. A few weeks ago I got the fragrance box for £4.95 which included a 15ml Space NK Laughter spray which alone was worth paying a fiver for. Right now the Stocking Fillers Box is £4.99 delivered and comes with 3ml ThisWorks No Wrinkles Extreme Moisturiser, 50ml of DP London Firming and Smoothing Cream, Dove Express Treatment Conditioner and  Richard Ward Couture Hair Optimiser Style Revival, plus 2ml Orla Kiely EDP and a Yardley English Rose Refreshing Tissue. Together these are all worth £24 but only get this if they will like the vast majority of the items inside.

For another cheap pampering treat, The Denman Be-Bop Massager is only £2.75 at Look Fantastic (free delivery) and will give her a gentle massage when she’s washing her hair.

Finally, for a good read, get her One Day by David Nicholls for only £3.67 (RRP £7.99) and Sarah Winman’s When God Was a Rabbit for £3.85 (RRP £7.99), both at The Book Depository, or Dead and Gone: A True Blood Novel (Sookie Stackhouse Vampire 9) from Play Trade for £4.60 (RRP £6.99).

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