Bluemercury Holiday Gifts: Limited Edition Candles, Skincare Sets and Makeup Kits

Bluemercury began in 1999, when Marla and Barry Beck bought a small shop in Georgetown, Washington, DC, that sold Kiehl's and Nars. As CNBC told it, the idea was a neighborhood alternative to the department store beauty floor: smaller, friendlier, staffed by people who actually used the products. The name is Marla's favorite color plus Mercury. Macy's bought the company in 2015 for $210 million, and the shops still feel like the place you pop into on a Saturday rather than a mall you brace yourself for.

 

That is why I go to Bluemercury for holiday gifts. The edit is tight, the brands are the good ones, and the holiday sets are where the value hides, because brands bundle their best sellers into one box with a bow already on it.

 

Everything in this edit is a limited edition holiday piece, which means it will not be around in February. In our fashion dreams, she is wrapping presents on the floor in a robe, a candle lit, a cup of tea going cold, and she has already done the whole list in one shop. That is the plan here: candles for the host, skincare for the skincare person, makeup kits for everyone else.

A candle is the easiest gift there is, and the holiday editions are the ones worth buying, because the boxes are half the present. This grid runs $38 to $102.

 

Apotheke's Norman Rockwell candles are my favorite find here. Cardamom Chestnut and Peppermint Taffy come in decorated glass vessels printed with Rockwell's holiday illustrations, so they look like something your grandmother kept on the mantel. Diptyque's Sapin, French for pine tree, is the classic choice for anyone who loves a real tree. D.S. & Durga's Winter Solstice Pine leans darker and smokier, and The New Savant's California Christmas is the sunny, citrusy one for the friend who left the East Coast and never looked back.

 

Glasshouse does the theatrical boxes: the Kyoto In Bloom Candle comes with a spinning carousel, and Night Before Christmas smells of blackcurrant, plum, lemon and lavender, in a box that looks like a little Christmas village. The Nest New York x Pierre Marie Birchwood Pine 3-Wick Candle is the big one, the one you buy for a host who throws real parties. A practical note: match the scent to the house. Pine for a cabin person, citrus for a beach person, spice for someone who bakes. What I would skip is a three-wick for a small apartment; it will fill the room in ten minutes.

Skincare sets are the best value at Bluemercury during the holidays, and the hardest to choose between, because they range from $39 to $555 in this grid alone. The trick is to buy for the person, not the price.

 

For the friend who already has a routine, the Chantecaille Bio Lifting Serum+ Duo and the Dr. Diamond's Metacine Plasma + HYDR/O Duo are the serious ones, both $350. The RéVive Renewal Holiday Set at $390 is the luxurious gift for someone who would never buy it for herself. The 111SKIN 11 Days Of Radiance at $555 holds 13 of the brand's skincare discoveries, and it is a splurge in every sense.

 

Then the easy ones. The Bluemercury 31 Days of Dazzle 2026 is the shop's own holiday beauty calendar at $300, with brands like Augustinus Bader, Oribe and Parfums de Marly inside, and it is the best way to try a little of everything the store carries. The Charlotte Tilbury Revive, Glow + Set Duo at $39 and the 111SKIN Jetsetter at $40 are perfect for a coworker or a sister-in-law, and The Micro Dose from Metacine at $160 sits in the middle. Picture her opening one door of the beauty calendar every morning in December. What I would skip is gifting a strong active serum to someone with sensitive skin. Go for a mask set instead.

The makeup sets are the fun end of the list. They run $32 to $325, and most of them are the kind of thing you slip into a stocking or hand over at the office party.

 

Charlotte Tilbury is the safe bet. The Pillow Talk Lip + Cheek Kit at $36 and the Hollywood Superstar Glow Kit at $32 put her Pillow Talk and glow formulas in a smaller box, and they flatter almost everyone. Ogee does Rosy All Day at $80, a face stick, lip gloss and tinted lip oil all in rose tones, and The Lip Duet at $39, both in pretty ribboned boxes. Chantecaille's Ultimate Lip Kit and Longest Lash Duet are the luxe choice for the friend who loves a gold compact.

 

The showpiece is the Trish McEvoy Bluemercury Exclusive Holiday Makeup Wardrobe at $325, a whole kit in a travel case that you can only get here. And the Beautyblender Golden Essentials Blending Duo at $32 is the gift nobody buys for themselves but everyone uses. In our fashion dreams, the whole family is getting ready for the holiday party in one mirror, sharing one kit. My last tip: when in doubt, buy the lip set. Shade matching foundation is risky; a good lip color almost never is.