Beauty Christmas crackers for all budgets

For many years, my memories of Christmas crackers used to involve a paper hat, crappy joke and some sort of plastic toy. They were an essential part of Christmas lunch, despite large protests on my part about the whole family having to sit there in our paper hats until the meal was finished.

Over the past few years there's been a massive increase in beauty filled Christmas crackers, with the likes of Lancome, Clarins and Space NK all producing luxury versions jam packed with products. The high street has also caught on and there are some great options for under £10 a set.

My favourite budget beauty crackers come from Studio*, which a Superdrug own brand. These each come with a Studio nail polish inside and six crackers are currently on offer for just £8. There are a mix of wintery shades inside and are a great option for any beauty addicts.

M&S and Primark also have good budget options for under a fiver, although both of these only contain 3 crackers each, so you'll need to stock up if there are lots of ladies in your house this Christmas.

On the luxury side of things, Space NK's The Best of Space NK* are probably my favourite, purely down to the range of brands they've managed to squeeze inside the crackers! There's a full-sized Rococco nail polish, Oribe Supershine Moisturising Cream 50ml, Life NK 100ml body wash, Laura Mercier Foundation Primer 30ml, Caudalie Beauty Elixir 30ml and a Lipstick Queen Big Bang Illusion Gloss. The contents together are worth £82, so while the crackers are definitely on the pricey side at £48 a set you get a lot more product for your money.

Harvey Nichols, Lancome and Clarins have also launched their own Christmas crackers all around the £50 price tag. Lancome and Clarins are own brand only, whereas Harvey Nichols have included a selection of key products from their beauty halls from Bare Minerals, Deborah Lippmann, ESPA and more.

If you're not willing to share, then I think these cracker sets would also make fantastic gift ideas for Christmas. My family is quite small (and mostly male!) so I think my mum and I will be splitting the Space NK ones between us!

What do you think of beauty filled Christmas crackers?

*PR samples