Okay, team, it's time for a little holiday shopping check-in. How's it going? While I encourage you to maintain your sanity by all means during this wild time, I also want to remind

you that it's closing in quickly. If you haven't started shopping yet, it's not too late! It is time to take action, though, and there are no better options than beauty gift sets to really get cooking on that shopping list.

I. Love. Beauty. Gift. Sets. Seriously, they're a passion of mine. Not only are they an easy intro to brands we're curious about, but they also make for the most thoughtful gifts (hence the name). But of course, all gift sets are not created equal. Among the many compelling reasons to buy them for ourselves and our loved ones, there are also a handful of traps these mini product collections often employ that make them unworthy of space in our lives.

As an editor who's seen just about every variation of gift set known to humans, I consider myself particularly well-equipped to spot these scams from a mile away. Ahead, read up on the five most common gift set traps and what to buy instead.