by Anne-Marie Jones
Living in the South Island, postage from Auckland can be a lot slower this time of year, especially with recent Covid changes. With postage deadlines approaching quickly, here’s a guide to some of South Islands hidden gems for you to grab some Christmas gifts from!
Take A Whiff Shower Steamer Sample Packs and Boxes
These shower steamers are a personal favourite of mine! Take A Whiff shower steamers come in a standard size (for 2-3 showers), or cute sample sizes suitable for a single shower.
For Christmas gifts, the Shower Steamer Packs ($7) and Boxes ($20) are perfect for just about anyone! These are handmade by a family-owned small business in Christchurch, and if you live locally you can even pop in and see their store.
As well as Shower Steamers, Take A Whiff makes gorgeous bath products, lip balm, foot soaks, gift sets and more! Lots of lovely scents too.
Earlier in the year I had the chance to try two of Nelson Honeys face masks (gifted for review), and wow! The Premium one in particular makes you feel like a queen, with its 24K gold shimmer. These are luxurious NZ made products that would make a great gift for someone special in your life.
I also tried the Original Face Mask which I really liked, it has a nice thick texture which is very nourishing to dry skin.
I have had the pleasure of working with Linden Leaves on some product reviews this year, and have loved trying lots of new products in their extensive range. Linden Leaves are an NZ business who have been in the beauty industry a long time.
Linden Leaves are in pharmacies and stores across NZ and also have a website you can order from. Their new fragrance range is ideal for gifting, featuring diffusers, candles and more, in 3 great new scents (check out my Things We’re Lovin’ review).
Meltsy candles are pretty new in my life (see my recent Things We’re Lovin’ review), but they quickly blew me away with their beautiful presentation and amazing scents!
Meltsy is a small, Christchurch-based business focusing on candles and wax melts. They are in a range of scents that smell good enough to eat (but please don’t), including Nana’s Banana Pudding, Strawberry Cheesecake and more.
And now for something completely different : CHOCOLATE.
Actually, there’s beauty products like Chocolate Scrubs on Megan’s site as well, For those with a sweet tooth, you can’t go past Megan Fairley’s site of gift boxes, featuring delicious NZ-made chocolate and more, as well as her range of Chocolate Queen clothing.
We all know a chocolate queen in our lives!
HAPA are two stores in Christchurch (BNZ Centre and The Tannery) who stock local artisan products, with a strong focus on Maori and Christchurch-based creators. They also sell online if you can’t get in to their stores.
With Prince Charles and Camilla visiting HAPA on their 2012 visit to Christchurch, HAPA literally stocks gifts that are good enough for royalty!
This list has been compiled independently from brands I genuinely love, no compensation has been given in exchange for this post.
