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14 best skincare gift sets to please every skin type and budget, picked by beauty editors
From Medik8 to The Ordinary, we have chosen out the very best
Don’t get us wrong, we like love makeup, but there’s something oh-so special about a skincare gift set. Nothing says me-time like a looong skin-pampering sesh and, frankly, we’d rather slather our face with a luxe face mask than spend over an hour making up our base.
What’s great about a skincare gift set is that everyone needs one – we all have skin and we all need to look after it. So when it comes to gifting – whether for a birthday, special celebration or just to say “I love you” – you can’t go wrong with giving a loved one a bundle of skincare goodies to keep their skin happy n’ healthy.
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We’ve trawled the internet (and our all-time favourite beauty brands) to find the very best selection of skincare sets out there. Cleansers, moisturisers, masks and serums: these have all been hand-picked, thanks to their premium ingredients. So you know every bottle will be used down to the final dollop.
There’s also a skincare gift to suit a range of skin types and concerns, so whether your recipient has dry, oily or acne-prone skin, there’s something for them! And as for price tag, we’re girlies on a budget, so we’ve ensured there’s a kit for every price point.
From Rhode and Medik8 to the The Ordinary, these are the best skincare treats out there. You’re welcome.
Best skincare gift sets for a range of skin types and budgets...
Perhaps the most coveted skincare set among the rhode-initiated, this trio contains the much-loved Glazing Milk, Peptide Glazing Fluid and Barrier Restore Cream, all designed to protect and hydrate the skin barrier. Slather on the routine before you go to sleep and wake up looking like a glazed donut à la Hailey Bieber.
The Ordinary The Clear Set
The beauty of The Ordinary is that it suits all skin types and ages, meaning you can never go wrong. But if acne is your biggest skincare woe, The Clear Set features a cleanser, salicylic acid serum, and a moisturiser to tackle pesky blemishes and prevent future ones from popping up.
ICYDK, Fenty does incredible skincare – and this is the perfect set to introduce your friend/loved one to the brand’s best-selling items. It contains everything you need for a complete skincare routine: the Total Cleans'r Remove-It-All Cleanser, the Fat Water Pore-Refining Toner Serum, the Hydra Vizor Invisible Moisturiser SPF 30 Sunscreen and the Hydra Vizor SPF moisturiser.
This watermelon-inspired gift set from K-Beauty brand Glow Recipe is packed with cult-favourite products (hi, Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops), designed to instantly plump and hydrate parched skin. You can’t help but love the adorable, pink packaging too.
Don’t let this chilly weather take its toll on your loved ones lips! This adorable Glossier set contains three Balm Dotcoms (which you can personalise the scents, btw) and seeing as a tiny amount of this stuff goes a mile too, you may not need to buy them another present for a very loooong time.
If you’re not already familiar with Charlotte Tilbury skincare, now’s the time. The Hydration Revival Skincare Discovery Set is packed with glow-boosting essentials that leave your complexion hydrated, plump, and prepped for seamless makeup application. Any skincare obsessive will be over the moon with this kit – and honestly, we wouldn’t blame you if you decided to keep it for yourself.
Garnier’s skincare bits are not only affordable, but they work too. This set comes with their famous Brightening Serum and Daily UV Glow SPF, both of which are jam-packed with vitamin C to brighten and smooth areas of pigmentation.
Christmas may be over, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be stocking up on the delish Holiday Trio from Summer Fridays. Featuring a new toasted marshmallow lip butter, alongside the viral sensation Hot Cocoa lip butter and the Jet Lag Mask, this is the ultimate kit to get you through the cosy season.
Merit may have won us over with its wonderfully chic yet minimalist makeup essentials, but you may not know the brand also has a range of hard-working skincare that’s designed to keep your skin hydrated, plump and glowing. Featuring three best-sellers, this cleanser, serum and moisturiser kit is all you need to create a radiant canvas before makeup.
Beauty Pie’s Youthbomb serum – plus every iteration that has followed, be is a moisturiser or eye cream – remains a firm favourite in many beauty editor’s skincare routine. This kit not only contains the OG Youthbomb serum, but also the Breakthrough Repair Double Vitamin Cream. Stick to this duo and you’ll notice brighter, more youthful skin in weeks.
If you’ve been sleeping on Charlotte Tilbury’s extensive skincare line, this kit would be a great intro to the range.
It features travel-sized versions of the iconic Magic Cream to the much-hyped Magic Serum Crystal Elixir (packed with vitamin C and polyglutamic acid, this stuff is seriously good) and the Glow Toner.
So many things can take a toll on our skin (read: pesky breakouts) from diet and alcohol consumption, to stress and hormones. TBH, many of these causes are tricky to control, but this acne-fighting trio will come to the rescue.
The set contains mini versions of the brand’s Pore Normalizing Cleanser, their iconic 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant and their 10% Azelaic Acid Booster (my personal fave), so your loved one (or you) can head into 2026 with spot-free skin.
We can rave about Fenty Beauty until Rihanna drops that new album – that’s a long time. If you’ve been debating what to try from Fenty Skin, this basics set has got you covered.
All products are vegan and noncomedogenic (meaning they won’t clog pores) and aim to target everything from minimising the look of pores to banishing dryness.
How we test:
It’s not easy finding the best skincare sets. While, yes we all have skin that needs looking after, everyone has different preferences and needs. Some like no-frills formulas for their dry skin, while others enjoy something more fun and sensorial for their combination skin.
Luckily, you have the best in the business doing the work for you. Each kit in this edit has been hand-picked by Cosmo beauty editors, so they know which ones are truly the best. They took everything into consideration, including product, packaging and price point.
Keeks Reid is the Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan UK. While she loves all things beauty, Keeks is a hair fanatic through and through. She started her career in beauty journalism in 2013 as editorial assistant at Blackhair and Hair magazines working her way to Acting Editor of Blackhair magazine at 23 years old. She spent much of her career working in trade hairdressing media at Hairdressers Journal, Salon International and the British Hairdressing Awards. Which is why she is a regular contributor to Cosmo's Curl Up franchise. Now, alongside her Cosmo work, she presents, creates content on social media and works with a range of beauty companies; from magazines and websites to beauty brands and salons.
Charlotte Bitmead (she/her) is the Senior Beauty Writer at Cosmopolitan UK. She has over six years experience writing about beauty and has previously written for ELLE and The Sunday Times Style, covering everything from politics to sustainability to inclusivity within the beauty industry. When she’s not writing in-depth features, testing out the newest skincare fad or trying to decide what nail art to get, you can find her overspending in bookshops or shouting at Arsenal matches. Find her on LinkedIn
Clare Stephenson is the Senior Fashion and Beauty E-commerce Writer for Cosmopolitan, ELLE and Harper’s Bazaar. She has been an e-commerce writer since 2022, creating matter-of-fact reviews and shopping pages filled with her favourite products for every budget and need – whether that’s a glow-giving foundation, a high-tech LED face mask or the perfect wear-with-everything blazer.
Alongside writing, Clare loves to be in front of the camera creating shopping content, putting viral products to the test to see which ones are truly worth the hype. Through her work, she has interviewed leading dermatologists, makeup artists and industry experts to bring readers trusted advice and product recommendations.
Clare has contributed to titles across the Hearst UK portfolio, including Women’s Health, Good Housekeeping, Red and Prima. Prior to joining Hearst, she earned a BA in Multimedia Journalism from Bournemouth University, focusing her studies on magazines and editorial. She later worked as an editorial assistant at Voir Fashion Magazine, covering events including Fashion Week and interviewing notable brand founders.
Outside of work? You can find Clare strolling through London’s Columbia Road Market, pouring her fourth coffee of the day or heading to a Pilates class.
Follow Clare on Instagram @clarefrancesstephenson.
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