December 2002

Beauty -
BEAUTY-ful Baskets

Kim Colwyn

Still haven't made all your holiday purchases? Shopping days are numbered, but luckily some of Chicago's best stores have already done the legwork for us by combining their favorite products into great holiday packages. Here are some of our favorites that won't fail to please or make you work too hard to find.

For the Gals…

Kiehls - You can't go wrong with any of the super-enriched products of Kiehls. Lavish someone with the Luxury Suite filled with grapefruit bath & shower body cleanser, Lip Balm #1, "Simply Mahvelous Legs" Shave Cream, Creme de Corps (the heavy duty moisturizer), Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub, Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado, and lavender bath oil - all for $85. You can also custom make your own gift and have it wrapped for free. Kiehls is available at Neiman Marcus, Barneys or at www.kiehls.com. (photo link..go to site for kiehls logo)

Lancôme's Juicy Tubes may remind your favorite girl of those bygone days of flavored lip-glosses from her youth. A "juice box" set includes seven mini Juicy Tubes (one for each day of the week) each with a unique lip shade, fragrance, and taste due to the fruit extract in the gloss. Available at Bloomingdales Lancôme counter for $32.50.

Chanel Parfum- Anything Chanel is elegant and for the holidays you can buy a sampling of Coco's famous scents. Chanel's fragrance wardrobe contains five classic12 oz eau de parfums for $65. Available at Bloomingdales.

Borghese - Okay guys, imagine a toolbox filled with gadgets and tools, fun huh? Well the equivalent for us girls might possibly be the Stile Di Milano holiday gift bag by Borghese. Filled with concealers, blushes, lipsticks, makeup brushes, mascara and more, it comes with a three-part cosmetic bag that would be a great gift by itself. Available at Bloomingdales for $37.50.

Bobbi Brown- Bobbi Brown offers some great holiday packages from her fall makeup line, and they go fast. Last season the Shimmerbrick for eyes and face ($35), a compact with five hot colors that can pose as shadows or an all-over-face shimmer, sold out and could only be found on e-bay for $100. They're stocked again this season and so is the Classic Face Palette, a slim-lined case that houses the essential shades that create Bobbi's elegant holiday look. It comes with wash eye shadow, bone & smoked eye shadows, blushed blush, and rosebud lip shimmer for $50.00. Available at the Bobbi Brown make-up counter at all major department stores.

Philosophy- It's smells so good you could eat it, but we don't recommend you snack on the Gingerbread Man - a ginger hot salt scrub for the tub and shower that heats up as you scrub. Available at Sephora. 520 N. Michigan, 1st floor,312.494.9598.

Issey Miyake - L'Eau d'Issey Essential Travel Kit ($65) is the perfect way to pamper when you're away from your cozy abode. The travel kit includes L'Eau d'Issey Clear Bath and Shower Gel, Body Lotion, and the light, floral fragrance of the Eau de Toilette Spray. Only available at Sephora.

L'Occitane - An upscale line of products based on natural oils and plants, L'Occitane products are rich, fragrant and designed so that each individual jar looks like a gift. One of the most popular lines is Shea Butter, and we love "The Delights of Shea Butter" gift box of hand cream, body lotion, mini shea butter balm, milk shower cream, and milk soap. Their newest line is entirely honey based and gentle enough to work with even the most sensitive skin. The Sweet Treasures ($65) gift box is filled with these bee-assisted essentials of body balm, foaming jelly for hair and body, bee soap and a scented honey candle.

For the Gents…

Since men deserve to be pampered too, L'Occitane also has a great line of products geared toward men. We love a smooth-shaven man, but men need skin care and repair just like the rest of us to keep their skin super soft. The Nature of Man ($65) is packaged in a rustic looking gift box and filled with a shaving cream, after shave balm, Betyver bath and shower gel and a sandalwood soap. Best of all, L'Occitane will gift-wrap and ship anywhere. Available at L'Occitane, 900 N. Michigan, 1st Floor, 312.202.0906.

Jack Black - Shaving is most men's only beauty ritual so it's no surprise that shaving kits are a hot holiday item. Help the man in your life get a clean shave with the "Shave in a Bag" by upscale men's line Jack Black. The kit includes a 3.3oz post shave cooling gel, 6.0oz beard lube conditioning shave, 3.0 oz face buff energizing scrub and a .25 oz intense therapy lip balm. It also comes with a masculine travel pack that is water repellent and can be hung when opened. Available at Bloomingdales and Nordstrom.

Zirh - For the traveling gent, check out the Zirh Travel Kit. The kit includes six Zirh essentials; 2 oz. lightweight plastic bottles of cleanser, shave cream, post shave soothing lotion, shampoo, conditioner and smooth moisturizer. The set comes with a hanging silver travel bag. Available at Bloomingdales and Nordstrom for $49.

Calvin Klein - The fresh clean smell of Truth by Calvin Klein is the reason we chose this cologne, but we loved the pairing of the cologne with deodorant for this holiday set. It may not catch him in a lie, but at least he'll smell good. Available at Sephora.

Add these to your holiday shopping list and while you're at it, pick one up for yourself. Whether you've been naughty or nice we all deserve a little treat, don't we?