From the middle of November it's impossible to avoid the inevitable: the onset of the festive gift guide, designed to help you pick great gifts for your loved ones ahead of the Christmas season. Whether it's edits of premium treats, recommendations on bargain buys, stuff you think your mum would love or just inspiration as to what to get your other half, there's so much content out there - that is, if you're looking for it. Historically speaking, opening up a seasonal catalogue from Boots or Superdrug was the highlight of my season; I'd circle my faves and look to pick up some bargains in the sales ones Christmas was over, as well as taking full advantage of in store offers and those brilliant '3 for 2s' that we all know and love. Picking up the December issues of my favourite magazines would give me lots of ideas and leave me itching to get out onto the high street, but with the decline of traditional print and the increase in digital media these moments have been replaced with tonnes of online alternatives.
A few years ago I was fully immersed in the gift guide world, thoroughly enjoying creating edits of beauty treats and finding great buys that I know my readers would love. I spend an age creating festive inspired imagery and researching the best deals out there, but the response to the posts became limited as the blogging world became saturated with so much of the same kind of content. In a nutshell, what started as a great way to bring together edits of treats other...