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The festive beauty wish list

SINGAPORE — The year-end holiday season has always been a period of brisk sales for beauty retailers, and the pursuit to further capitalise on this collective buying spree means that the bulk of the beauty brands’ holiday collections have already hit the stores. Is it about being kiasu?

SINGAPORE — The year-end holiday season has always been a period of brisk sales for beauty retailers, and the pursuit to further capitalise on this collective buying spree means that the bulk of the beauty brands’ holiday collections have already hit the stores. Is it about being kiasu?

Not really, said marketing executive Mabel Lee, who likes to do her shopping a little earlier, and not only to avoid the inevitable shopping crush in December.

“Also, you want to make sure that you get those items that are offered exclusively for the year-end, and sometimes there are good deals that you can take advantage of,” she added.

PR executive Yan Li agreed, adding that festive coffrets were usually “safe to give as gifts ... and are value-for-money”. “Some of these are quite popular and when I tried to get them in December, they had run out,” she said.

These coffrets indeed often offer good value, with prices of sets going for an average of 20 to 30 per cent below the retail prices of the individual products within. But it is the race for the brands to one-up each other on the collections’ covetability and uniqueness that gives festive shoppers who are not only out for a bargain a cause to celebrate.

In fact, all of the limited editions on our list are so irresistible, we are tempted to gift them all to ourselves. Get your hands on these before they fly off the shelves.

THE COOL KIT

Nars founder Francois Nars has an uncanny ability to zero in on the purveyors of cool, and this provocative, limited-edition collaboration between cult fashion photographer Steven Klein and design maestro Fabien Baron is so achingly hip, it hurts. The Nars x Steven Klein Colour Collection for Holiday 2015 Humoresque Audacious Lipstick Coffret goes for S$220, while the Nars x Steven Klein Colour Collection for Holiday 2015 Dead Of Summer Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow Palette is priced at S$85.

EAST MEETS WEST

The Maison Kitsune for Shu Uemura sees music-inspired fashion label Maison Kitsune team up with the Japanese beauty giant for this cheeky collection. It combines both Parisian and Japanese sensibilities (the deliberately kitschy main packaging visual combines iconic French and Japanese motifs such as a croissant, beret and kimono) for makeup palettes that blends the Parisian smokey eye with the Tokyo girl’s high cheek looks. Maison Kitsune for Shu Uemura Beauty Remix Smokey Eye & Cheek Palette in #Indigo is priced at S$98

CULT CLASSICS

The go-to brand for make-up professionals plays to its strengths with a small selection of four carefully curated sets of its bestsellers. The Cult Make Up Set features six of its “essential cult favourites”, but we’ve really got our eye on the Make Up For Ever Holiday Treasures Cult Brush Set (S$135), which consists of six travel-sized make-up brushes in a gorgeous red pouch with an embossed lip.

SOLID GOLD

Estee Lauder’s delicately crafted annual collection of solid perfume and powder compacts is a tradition unto itself. It has a dedicated following of collectors who populate the pre-order list for these miniature sculptures. We recommend the Estee Lauder Solid Perfume Compact in Pleasures (S$600), which is available exclusively at Robinsons The Heeren.

JUST DESSERTS

If you are worried about putting on the pounds, you can at least indulge without guilt in this zero-calorie treat. Laura Mercier is well-known for its make-up, but the American beauty brand’s sweetly decadent body and bath line, inspired by beloved Parisian desserts, is a little-known gem. Try the Laura Mercier Holiday Collection Sweet Temptations Creme Brulee Duet (S$78), The wooden honey dipper that comes with the Creme Brulee Honey Bath is pure rustic-chic.

THE EVERGREEN GIFT

You can’t go wrong with giving someone their first addictive whiff of Chanel No 5, and this petite, limited-edition 35ml-sized bottle (S$108), made exclusively available for the festive season, also means that you’ll never have to leave home without it.

STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT

Aesop’s festive gift sets are renowned for their arty designs and esoteric concepts, and this year’s minimalist collection is named after constellations and inspired by Greek mythology. The Aesop Perseus Gift Set (S$121) is sure to make design fiends swoon.

POP ART BEAUTY

Each year, Kiehl’s collaborates with a Pop Art artist or graphic designer for its limited-edition packaging. This year, it’s New York-based visual artist Peter Max who gets to adorn the brand’s holiday collection with his whimsical, colourful illustrations depicting the beauty of nature. Check out the Kiehl’s x Peter Max Holiday Collection, with prices starting from a very affordable S$17.

THE BLOCKBUSTER

Featuring a combined 130 eyeshadow shades, lip glosses, cream eyeliners and blushes, this whopper of a make-up palette by Sephora called the Brilliant Makeup Palette (S$69) is created with the make-up addict in mind. (And if you get it for yourself, you still have time to expreiment with all the different looks you can have for all those year-end parties.)

A FRESH TREAT

New York-based beauty label Fresh boasts one of the most imaginative packaging in the market for its holiday gift sets. This adorable option — consisting of two of its bestselling Sugar Lip products — beats having chocolates and oranges any time. Plus, it even doubles up as a tree ornament. The Fresh Holiday Sugar Desire Gift Set goes for S$42.

SEOUL SEARCHING

These two limited-edition ShineClassic Makeup Compacts (S$188 each) from Sulwhasoo boast the use of precious mother-of-pearl and are adoringly decorated by hand using a traditional Korean “line-engraving” technique. Definitely one for the shopping list.

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