I'm so excited to be sharing with you my bumper gift guide for Christmas 2021 and this post is all about the best beauty and wellness gifts you can find this year.
From skincare heroes to scented candle must-haves, most of us will have a beauty fanatic to buy for this Christmas and I've compiled some of the small businesses that champion kind and gentle well being gifts that everyone can enjoy. Who knows you might even add something to your own Christmas list!
When you support a local independently owned business you are not only getting to buy into a little bit of the magic they create but you are also more likely to find new and unique products that can't be found on the high street, which make them a little bit more magical, would you agree?
I would love to see if you've added any of these beauty gifts to your own Christmas list or if you've found the perfect gift for the beauty lover in your life. Don't forget to tag me and the brand over on Instagram, you can find me at @small_business_collaborative.
Olor
After over a year of training with award-winning chandeliers and experimenting to make the perfect scents often inspired by the places Louise and Jonathan enjoy visiting with their children as a family they launched Olor.
Olor make extraordinary, design led products using only the finest ingredients in beautifully packaging produced in the most sustainable way possible.
Everything we make is completely hand made by us in Glossop UK
I love the vibrancy of their packaging and the calmness of the white vessel of their candles, it's the perfect balance of fun and design-led.
Fun Fact from Louise and Jonathan: In 2019, we visited the beautiful city of Barcelona.
As we first approached our hotel reception, all around us was a beautiful aroma. At the entrance, along the hallway and into our amazing room.... the wonderful woody scent gave an uplifting feeling of contentment, and it became so refreshing to return to after enjoying long and fascinating days of exploring.... and that's where Olor began.
Price Range: £6-£38
Website: https://olor.co.uk
Follow: @olor.co.uk
Slow Moon
Slow Moon is all about bringing joy to your life through vibrant patterns and bright colours.
Through her products and design, Priscilla encourages you to find some time for self-care and to help you relax. All the textiles products are made in the UK from natural and organic fabric.
Priscilla's designs are so vibrant and her use of colour is so refreshing and beautiful. I love that her eye pillow is unscented so I can use whichever sent I feel drawn to on the day or no scent if I have a bit of a headache. I pop mine in the oven to heat up since I don't have a microwave and it works a treat.
Fun Fact from Priscilla: Eye pillows for Slow Moon first began as gifts made from scraps of my own designed fabric. They were a hit! It all started whilst using an eye pillow during a pregnancy yoga class. I was hooked! I had to make one for myself immediately.
Price Range: £12- £30
Website: https://www.slow-moon.com/
Follow: @slowmoon_design
Sarka Botanicals
Sarka botanicals is a botanical-led skincare brand that combines traditional plant wisdom with potent botanical extracts and functional, nutrient-dense ingredients to bring your skin to its healthiest, most vibrant state. Positive messaging around ageing is central to what we do at Sarka Botanicals and we focus on ageless beauty over anti-ageing.
The products are handmade in South London using whole plant extracts in all of their products and organic ingredients as much as possible. They use upcycled ingredients and directly contribute to reducing waste through extending the lifecycle of these ingredients (they would otherwise be discarded).
With the weather turning colder Phytonutrient Recovery Face Oil sounds exactly like the thing I need for my skin.
Fun Fact from Sarka: Late motherhood, coupled with turning 40, dramatically changed my skin; acne, persistent dryness, hyperpigmentation due to hormones and sun exposure, were just a few of the concurrent issues I had. I rarely had time for an overcomplicated and multi-step routine, and Sarka Botanicals came from a personal need for multipurpose, deep care that would deliver the right phytonutrients in high-performance, results-driven, and directional skincare.
Price Range: £15- £70
Website: https://sarkabotanicals.com/
Follow: sarkabotanicals
Clarity Blend
Clarity Blend is an award-winning aromatherapy and wellness brand for your home, bath, and body - all using 100% natural ingredients and sustainable packaging.
Their mission is to make aromatherapy more accessible so everyone can enjoy its benefits. Their vibrant formulations are created to help with specific wellness needs or to transport the user to happy places.
All the products are hand blended in small batches in their Berkshire studio and 100% natural with no synthetic ingredients, cruelty-free and vegan.
Those of you who know me, know how much I love my scented candles and I love them because how scent can change how you feel, and I want to try pretty much everything in this range.
Fun Fact from Veronika and Dimitar: Clarity Blend was born out of a need to reconnect with ourselves and nature, and achieve a more harmonious way of life. Demanding city jobs had left our energy levels depleted: we experienced muscle tension, feelings of anxiety and bouts of insomnia, and were determined to find ways to stop the cycle of stress.
Price Range: £7- £59
Website: https://www.clarityblend.com
Follow: @clarity_blend
Isabella and Us
Isabella and Us. is home to the Positive Wellbeing Zine for Mums and gifts for mums that promote self care and wellbeing. Isabella and Us. are all about celebrating your mum wins, making time for yourselves and re-awakening your magic to live the life you really want.
The Positive Wellbeing Zine for Mums, has been running for three years and Issue 14 will be published in November and was born out of Emma's experience of being a first time mum.
Made in the UK, Collaborations with mum run small businesses.
I love how beautiful and thoughtful Emma's magazine is and how open she is about running her business whilst still working a day job and having time with her family. It's so inspiring!
Fun Fact from Emma: I’m am on a mission to help mums re-awaken their magic, tune in to what they really want and where they want to be and help them take the steps to live the life they really want.
Price Range: £1.50- £20.00
Website: https://isabellaandus.com
Follow: @isabella_and_us
Vui Vui Botanic Atelier
Vui Vui Botanic Atelier creates all-natural ingredient skincare and soaps in small batches in London. 100% Pure, Cruelty Free, Organic, Sustainable & Ethical, Ocean Friendly, Synthetic Free.
I love how thoughtful and beautiful all the packaging is, it's perfect for gifting and Carl even offers a beautiful gift wrapping service if you would like to send your Christmas present straight to the recipient.
Plus when you shop with Vui Vui Botanic Atelier you are supporting Borneo Orangutan Survival UK as a portion of the profits are donated there.
Fun Fact from Carl: My initial interest in natural soaps blossomed in 2014 into a passion for making natural skincare products and Vui Vui Botanic Atelier was born.
Price Range: £10- £50
Website: https://www.vuivuibotanicatelier.com/
Follow: @vuivuibotanicatelier
The Artist Lab
Embroidery is more than just a needle and thread.
The repetitive action of coming up and down through the fabric helps you to switch off from the busy lifestyle, slows you down and you become full absorbed in creating!
It’s not only something fun to do in your free time, it helps calm an anxious mind, lets you express yourself, distracts you from your busy life. You can escape into the embroidery world and feel calmer, happier, and get lost in the creation.
I love that Lauren submitted her product to this category as I'm a firm believer that creativity and crafting is good for the soul and that it can be very healing. Plus, Lauren's kits are all made here in the UK and packaged by Lauren and her trusted assistants Hope and Mittens (her gorgeous cats).
Fun Fact from Lauren: From the first time I picked up a needle at 8yrs in school, to the moment I took a Textile Art course at Sixth form, I’ve always dabbled in a little embroidery growing up. But it wasn’t actually the thing I loved doing in my free time growing up… that goes to drawing and painting!
I never truly got into it until after a bad bout of mental health problems after I finished university. And this is when fell in love with it! And although it wasn’t my first love, it has become my go to creative passion.
Price Range: £17- £35 for the kits
Website: https://www.theartistslab.co.uk/
Follow: @theartistslabuk
Botany and Books
Botany and Books brings the magic of books to life with book inspired candles, subscriptions, workshops and journals, guiding you to bring more meaning, joy and mindfulness to your reading experience. Candles and products are designed by founder Thalia, and are handmade in Hertfordshire. There is nothing better than curling up with a good book and a candle, and Botany and Books is all about helping you bring the cosy and the calm to your reading.
All the products made using vegan and cruelty free ingredients and all the packaging is recyclable, and mostly recycled, with a jar recycle scheme to allow you to reuse your jars. All books in the gift sets and subscriptions are preloved, bringing new life and purpose to old books and supporting the circular economy.
Earlier in the year, I attended one of Thalia's online candle making workshops and I loved it, it was so much fun and I loved reading the preloved book by my lit candle that transported me to Dublin.
Fun Fact from Thalia: I used to manage a theatre in the West End, bringing escapism to large audiences. When the pandemic hit, I wanted to help people to find that escapism from their own homes, and so Botany and Books was born.
Price Range: £18- £150
Website: https://www.botanyandbooks.co.uk/
Follow: @botanyandbooksco
Kind2
KIND2 is a range of multi-award-winning solid shampoo and conditioner. Made from natural ingredients in the UK, the salon-quality bars are not only plastic-free but also vegan, cruelty free and include no sulphates, no palm oil, synthetic colours or fragrances. The future of haircare - solid, plastic-free, kind to your hair and kind to the planet.
All our four launch products have received multiple beauty industry awards!
Kind2 is the first solid shampoo bar I ever used, I love that I can wash my hair in a kinder way, both for myself and the environment.
Fun Fact from Sue: Sue has always loved travel and the great outdoors. Based in Hong Kong over the last eight years, her adventures ranged from weekend hikes and unwinding on beaches, to trekking in Laos and horse riding in Mongolia. Extraordinary and exciting as it was, her escapades bought her up close and personal with the overwhelming presence of plastic pollution … everywhere. The final catalyst came when her husband returned from a sailing race across the Pacific Ocean with tales of seeing more plastic than fish.
Price Range: £5- £37.45
Website: https://kind2.me/
Follow: @wearekind2
If you'd like to see the full Christmas gift guide for 2021 please visit this link.
I hope these wonderful unique beauty and wellness gifts will inspire you to gift your friends and family with something they may not have tried before and I would love to hear if you have supported any of the small businesses featured. Don't forget to tag me over on Instagram, @small_business_collaborative, with your unique finds - I love to see them!
Thank you so much to all the 260+ businesses that took the time to apply to this years gift guides, I really appreciate you all and it was so much fun to see everything you create. And thank you to Adele who helped me put this all together. If you need help with your online product listings for Etsy, Faire, Shopify and more, Adele can help. You can find all your details over on her website.