I Test Beauty Products for a Living—Here's What My Dream Gift List Would Include

Beauty Director Gift Guide 2025
(Image credit: Who What Wear)

Every holiday season, I tell myself that I shall not, will not, cannot accrue any more beauty products. (For context, I wish I were being dramatic when I tell you there are parts of my bathroom floor I've never seen thanks to the constant mountain of products in my "to-test" pile.) However, somehow, some way, I always manage to break my well-intentioned rule. I write about beauty products for a living—can you blame me?

This year, I'm giving my "please no more beauty products" schtick a rest and am happy to admit that I have a very healthy, very luxe wish list waiting patiently in my notes app. Curious? Keep scrolling to find out which products I have my eye on and am personally recommending for any beauty lover on your holiday shopping list.

Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.