The Best Makeup & Skincare Gifts for Every Friend on Your List This Holiday Season
Not sure what to get the skincare obsessive, the sparkle lover, or the friend who refuses to skip their nighttime routine? This personality-based holiday gift guide pairs every type of person on your list with a vegan, cruelty-free e.l.f. makeup or skincare gift — from advent calendars and brush sets to skincare kits and lip sets — so you can check off everyone (and treat yourself, too).
Every e.l.f. product is 100% vegan and cruelty-free, so you can shop the whole list guilt-free!
Best Holiday Gift for a Best Friend
The pick: 24 Day Advent Calendar
Give your BFF something that literally counts down the love. Our 24 Day Advent Calendar is packed with 24 days of skincare and makeup surprises, including mini and full-size makeup essentials — lip items, eyeshadows, brow products, and tools, some in limited-edition holiday shades. It’s the gift that keeps giving all the way to the holiday, and it tells your best friend they mean the world to you.
Why it’s a great gift: 24 full days of surprises in one box makes it feel like a gift that lasts, not a single moment.
Vegan & Cruelty-Free Holiday Gifts
Shopping for an animal lover? Good news: our makeup and skincare products are 100% vegan and cruelty-free, as well as double certified by both PETA and Leaping Bunny! That means you can shop our entire product lineup guilt-free, for every person on your list, with no compromises.
Where to start: Our bestsellers page is packed with viral and holy grail products that have won awards, broken the internet, or become instant fan favorites. From primers and concealers to lip oils and setting powders, these are the products people keep coming back for and they’re all vegan and cruelty-free!
Why e.l.f. makeup and skincare makes a great gift: At e.l.f. you're not limited to a handful of “green” picks — all of our products are vegan and cruelty-free!
Best Secret Santa & White Elephant Gifts
The pick: Glossy Lip Stain 4-Piece Set — $24
The secret to winning Secret Santa or White Elephant is a gift juicy enough that everyone wants to steal it, but universal enough that everyone can actually use it. The Glossy Lip Stain 4-Piece Set nails both: it’s a fan-favorite, viral-worthy shade range, and with 4 shades in one set, everyone at the exchange can find their perfect shade (and maybe even share one with their new favorite friend).
Why it’s a great gift: A multi-shade set means it works for anyone — the safest bet when you don’t know who’ll end up with it.
Holiday Gifts for Someone Who Loves Glitter
The pick: Fine as Fleck Glitter Eyeshadow in Certified Platinum — $7
For the friend who wants to out-sparkle the disco ball, it’s got to be glitter, glitter, everywhere. Our fine as Fleck is a sheer glitter eyeshadow topper packed with micro-fine glitter flecks that can be worn alone for a subtle shimmer or layered over your go-to e.l.f. eyeshadows to amp up the glitz. The soft, smooth formula delivers all the glitz without the grit, and it builds to a long-lasting, party-ready sparkle.
Why it’s a great gift: One little topper works over any eye look they already love — the easiest way to gift a little (or a lot of) sparkle.
Best Skincare Gifts for the Holidays
The pick: Holy Hydration! Hydrated Ever After Skincare Mini Kit — $20 (a $33 value!)
For the friend who never goes to bed without washing their face, it’s got to be skincare — and hard-hitting, hydrating skincare at that. Our Holy Hydration! Hydrated Ever After Skincare Mini Kit is a complete hydrating regimen in one travel-friendly box: a Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm, Daily Cleanser, Hydrating Booster Drops, Face Cream, and Eye Cream. Infused with skin-loving ingredients like hyaluronic acid, peptides, and ceramides, it leaves skin feeling clean, soft, and nourished. At $20 for a $33 value, it’s an easy, high-impact gift for winter skin.
Why it’s a great gift: A full step-by-step routine in minis — they get the whole regimen without committing to full sizes, and the value makes it a no-brainer gift.
Portable Makeup Gifts for Travel & On-the-Go
The pick: Spicy Bundt Nice Taste of Tromsø Fragrance Kit, POP Tromsø Collection — $12
For the friend who likes to stay polished and perfumed while on the go, give them a travel-ready duo they can toss in any bag. Our Spicy Bundt Nice Taste of Tromsø Kit is a limited-edition mini travel kit featuring a lightweight, lasting body fragrance mist and a hydrating, silky body cream in an irresistible Holiday Spice Cake + Orange Zest scent. Layer the mist and cream together to make the scent pop, and help leave skin soft, smooth, and smelling irresistible. It’s 100% vegan and cruelty-free, and at $12 it’s an easy stocking stuffer or add-on gift.
Want more value sets? Check out our other value kits & gifts for more bundle-and-save sets.
Why it’s a great gift: A coordinated scent duo in travel sizes — perfect for gym bags, carry-ons, and on-the-go touch-ups, with more value sets to explore if you want to bundle up.
