It feels like every year Christmas gets earlier and earlier.
Over at ES Best, we like to be prepared; our first festive gift guide went up in mid-August! We could even swear we heard Christmas music start to be played around that time. The annual lights around Oxford Street were illuminated before Halloween and the traditional Home Alone and Love Actually viewings were scheduled before we even needed to layer up our outerwear.
While we are given an elongated seasonal celebration, for many of us, the actual shopping process doesn’t begin until a week or two before December 25. If you need a tight deadline to kickstart you into action, consider this your official warning. The countdown has begun and the time to tick off your ‘to buy’ list is now.
With the enduring postal strikes and sold out merch, leaving it to Christmas Eve is not an option this year - but even with mere days before the event, there is no need to stress. Consult our edit below of items anyone will be pleased to receieve under the tree - and best of all, next or same day delivery or the ability to immediately email over the voucher means no-one will ever know of your last minute purchases.
Shop the best gifts that will arrive quickly here
The CATCH Camera
There’s something about physically being able to hold your treasured snaps that makes them all the more special, and that is no doubt why the popularity of disposable cameras is enduring. You have one chance to get the shot and, once printed, you have a meaningful moment that you can frame. They’re also given a retro sepia tint that makes them that extra bit Instagram friendly. The only problem? The wasteful nature of the single-use casing. That’s where The CATCH Camera comes in.
It’s a disposable camera without the disposable quality, meaning you can purchase film to reuse the exterior over and over again, all while making the most of the 35mm vintage aesthetic of the snaps produced. It couldn’t be easier to use, just point and shoot, and the exterior has throwback quality. A film camera, no expertise required.
Buy now £60.00, The CATCH Camera
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Beautifying Lip Kit
Known for creating glowy complexions and its instantly recognisable Pillow Talk lipstick, Charlotte Tilbury is one of the most sought-after makeup labels on the market and so will always go down well with any giftee with a penchant for beauty.
For the cosmetics connoisseur, the Pillow Talk Beautifying Lip Kit will ignite squeals of excitement with the lipstick, lip gloss, lip balm and lip liner, all in the universally flattering shade.
Buy now £39.00, Sephora
BLEU DE CHANEL Eau de Parfum with gift box
If it’s not for the ability to catch a whiff of the addictive aromatic woody aroma every single time that you run into your giftee, then the sophisticated gold gift box won’t fail to draw you in. Chanel’s Bleu de Chanel masculine scent is a timeless fragrance that will sure to become their signature.
Buy now £103.00, Boots
tonies Toniebox Disney Mega Bundle
Take storytime to the next level with tonies. The innovative audio player puts kids in the front seat of bedtime entertainment where they choose the figure to place on the box and the story begins automatically. This is a bumper pack with Disney favourites like Woody from Toy Story, Elsa from Frozen and Baloo from The Jungle Book as well as Aladdin and Winnie the Pooh. The idea is to make it uncomplicated for them to operate themselves and not too stimulating so that they can drift off.
Buy now £119.99, Amazon
Sony SRS-XG300 Waterproof Bluetooth Portable Speaker with Lights, Black
Turn up the volume of their New Year’s celebration with this small but mighty portable speaker from Sony. It boasts the room-filling eardrum-booming sound that the label is known for packed within a waterproof exterior and set alongside lighting that syncs up with the earworm tune of choice.
Buy now £169.00, John Lewis
PLAYMOBIL 1.2.3 71156 Everyday Heroes
This Playmobil set pays homage to the key workers who got us through the pandemic years. In this set for children aged 18 months to four years, you will find police, firefighters and doctor figures represented with accessories that reflect their occupation. The policeman comes with a set of traffic lights, firefighter with a motorbike and the doctor is accessorised with a trailer and suitcase for their instruments.
Buy now £20.00, Amazon
Sephora Favorites The (Sk)indulgence Collection
Sephora made a splash on UK soil earlier this year and brings with the retailer’s signature way of collating coveted beauty essentials into a box worth far more than the RRP. Encouraging a moment of self-care during the feasting season, The (Sk)indulgence Collection contains labels like Medik8, Farmacy and Elemis as well as products from masks to serums. Valued at £535.
Buy now £95.00, Sephora
The Christmas at Piccadilly Gift Box
Fortnum & Mason is best known for its wicker baskets but the boxes, in the signature F&M colourway, are equally as desireable. This all-encompassing offering contains everything they’ll need to celebrate the holidays with a small feast of mouth-watering treats.
See the Christmas Tea Biscuits to dunk into the Christmas Black Tea, the Christmas Reindeer Treats Vegan Carrot Sweets and the Reindeer Noses as well as the interactive Mini Musical Tin that spins and sings as they dive into the biscuits within.
Buy now £70.00, F&M
Five Guys Gift Cards
As far as fast food chains go, Five Guys has established itself as one of the best on the market, rivalling more established brands for that coveted ‘best burger’ title. So popular is the restaurant that its merch that launched back in July is often spotted on the streets of London. While you can still get your hands on the collection that includes varsity jackets, t-shirts, caps and socks embroided or branded with the chain’s’ signature logo, it’s the gift card that’s the last minute win. Treat your loved one to a free lunch and they’ll be sure to thank you.
The vouchers are also available at ASDA and Sainsbury’s stores.
Buy now, Five Guys
Hendrick's Gin Limited Release Giftset
Add to their curated drinks trolley with this Hendrick’s Gin bottle that has been wrapped in a suitably festive cracker design that gives it gifting appeal for all the over 18s on your shopping list. It has the brand’s signature infusion of Bulgarian Rosa Damascena rose petals and fine cucumber that will be a refreshing break from all the celebratory champagne.
Buy now £27.00, Amazon
APPLE iPhone 14 - 128 GB, Blue
If you’re going all out on the gifting this year, you can’t go wrong with Apple’s latest handset, the iPhone 14. For the person who’s been badly hinting at an upgrade, or the tech fan or budding photographer, the tech giant’s latest device has the 12MP dual camera system, action mode, night mode, 4k HDR video and cinematic mode, while the battery life has been bumped up to 20 hours.
Buy now £849.00, Currys
Maison MM Zodiac Candle
For the astrology enthusiast that’s such a Taurus or is always giving Virgo, they’ll be smitten with this candle from independent label Maisom MM. It comes in two vessels, the pared-back black or a show-stopping iridescent jar, the first of which is a floral-woody scent and the latter an oriental floral. But for us, it looks too good to burn.
Buy now £40.00, Wolf & Badger
Music Icons: From Abba to The Who. Photographed by Michael Putland
This coffee table book catalogues imagery of the biggest artists over the last 50 years, all taken by legendary photographer Michael Putland. His portraits, still life and atmospheric shots capture the artists during their tours and performances set alongside anecdotes detailing the stories behind these iconic moments. A must-have for music fans.
Buy now £38.04, Amazon
LEGO Harry Potter Fawkes Dumbledore's Phoenix Set
One of the lower-key heroes of the Harry Potter series, Fawkes is now available in LEGO form. The phoenix comes complete with fiery feather detailing as well as flapping wings through a specialised mechanism. Alongside the larger creation, there’s a mini figure of Dumbledore so they can recreate iconic scenes between the duo.
Buy now £35.00, Argos
Vtech Toot Toot Driver's Garage
There’s something about a garage that seems to capture little one’s attentions and with this set from Vtech, there is so much to see, do and play with that they’ll be occupied for hours. The cars can be serviced, fueled up or can take a trip to the car wash with ramps that they can race down. There’s lights and sounds in various locations with three songs and six melodies to give parents that welcomed variety.
Buy now £40.00, Argos
Liberty 12 Days of Christmas Pre-Filled Stocking
If you have left it to the last minute to create an entire stocking filler set-up, look to Liberty who has done the hardwork for you and is offering this reusable and attractive printed option. Inside, they’ll find classics given a tasty twist - lumps of coal are created with honeycomb, satsumas are made of milk chocolate and there’s a sprinkle of everyone’s favourite candy canes.
Buy now £40.00, Liberty
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum Skincare Gift Set
Lauded by beauty editors the world over, Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair range is a bestseller for a reason. The serum in particular with its renewing properties for the complexion makes it an anti-ageing hero. In this gift set worth £110, there’s the full-sized version of the product as well as two travel-sized 15ml options for them to slip into their washbag when on the go.
Buy now £64.00, Boots
Harvey Nichols Winter Wonderland Hamper
Your eyes are likely immediately drawn in this gift set to the always popular Snow Globe gin that is a show-stopper in its own right. In this hamper from luxury department store Harvey Nichols, it is set alongside champagne, gin-infused white truffles, shortbread, marshmallows, chocolate and White Tea and housed in a sleek black wicker basket.
Buy now £150.00, Harvey Nichols
