December is the month for decadence, so fittingly our own purchases for the month were a mixed bag of indulgences big and small — from locally made gin, dresses and mugs to classic fragrances and Christmas mince pies. 

As per Ensemble tradition, this monthly column is a #gifted free zone - we bought everything here with our own hard-earned dollars, and think you might like them too.

Island Gin limited edition Tangelo Gin, $110

Any regular reader of this column will know my biggest weakness is a delicious bottle of gin. I bought Island Gin’s limited edition feijoa gin at the beginning of the year and I’m nearly at the end of it (it is far too delicious to share with guests, or to have more than one glass of in a night). I have high hopes for this tangelo tipple providing me much joy this summer. - Rebecca Wadey

Ovna Ovich 'Gala' bralette, $90

December in Auckland means one thing to me: mugginess. My go-to snug white tees have been replaced by this cotton bralette that gives better circulation. Nice enough for going somewhere, simple enough for everyday. I got it (in white) from a sample / archive sale a couple of Saturdays ago and at a dinner that night half the people around the table had also bought themselves something nice from the sale. - Tyson Beckett

Citta candles, $16 for four

Like every other bow/Sandy Liang/Lisa Says Gah/Gohar loving girlie, I am very into elegant taper candles right now and have them throughout the house — in vintage silver candelabras, and stuffed into an old Sofia Coppola rosé bottle with the wax dripping down the side like an old Italian restaurant. I know I sound twee and insufferable! I usually get mine from Flotsam and Jetsam, which have lots of fun colours (red’s my fave), but this month I also bought these white ones from Citta and they burn really well. I’ve also read somewhere that taper and pillar candles from church shops are good quality and value, and keen to try. - Zoe Walker Ahwa

Pay’s x Tysa Paulina tote bag, about $190 

I’m going to be annoying this month and share some nice things I bought in Mexico… that I have managed to find for you online! I visited a shop/gallery/cafe in Merida called Buena Vibra Forever which had an incredible array of work from local artists on display. Of course this knitted tote bag with hot pink teddy bears and rainbows immediately caught my eye - a collaboration between Mexican clothing label Pay’s and Tysa Paulina, a local artist who does super cute illustrations, murals, tattoos and more! (She’s sort of like a Latina Shelley Botticelli). This collection was inspired by her time in “Harajuku Paradise” in Tokyo. While I couldn’t find the exact double–sided one I bought, you can still grab these ones online. - Lara Daly

Rachel Mills cami maxi dress, $339

I love the ethos of Rachel Mills, who runs a storefront in Grey Lynn where you can try things before they make them to order within 7 days. No waste! Yay! I called in to try on some togs as the ones I got from there last year are so brilliant. Instead I ended up buying this dress which I am going to absolutely thrash this summer… if the weather ever warms up enough to get my shoulders out. Happily Rachel was in-store when I was there, and made a few subtle tweaks to the bodice (i.e. shortened it) to better suit. Again, very great business model I am delighted to endorse with my shopping endorphins. - RW

Candle from Florets, around $25

I’d recommend pairing a trip to Rachel Mills with the bakery next door. Florets sells incredible bread, preserves and other knick knacks, plus sandwiches and some of the best cookies in town. I got a cute honeycomb Christmas tree-esque candle as a table setting for Christmas Day, and because I love burning candles while we play cards at night over the summer. No idea how much it cost as I bought a danbo cheese and green apple relish sandwich at the same time... - RW

Zoe Isaacs floral coffee mug, $50

As frequently as Rebecca buys bottles of fancy gin, I buy a nice mug. This is the squattest in my collection, but I have hands the size of a toddler so I can still cup it between my palms like a concerned woman in a stock photo. I really like the washed out, faintly Marimekko floral decoration. - TB

Stray game for Playstation, $55

Our household recently got a Playstation (and I got a pink controller), and this was one of the first games I downloaded. I’d heard and read a lot about it, namely that you are playing a cat exploring a city – but I didn’t expect it to be so... bleak. Yes, you are a stray ginger cat making its way through a city but it’s an apocalyptic walled-in cyber-city where humans succumbed to a plague and the only ‘life’ left are robots with computer screens for faces and mutated bacteria called Zurks. Oh and your only friend is a drone. It’s not quite the cutesy cosy game I thought it was, but I’ll be playing it these holidays. - ZWA

Asepxia softening soap, about $16 each

Another discovery I made on my travels, that has left my bump-prone bod as smooth as a baby seal. Asepxia is like the leading acne brand in Latin America - I found these bars in a supermarket for about $5 but you can get them on Amazon for less than $20… not cheap for a bar of soap, but way more affordable than the Soft Services Buffing Bar I was willing to spend $50 NZD before I discovered this. I haven’t tried Soft Services, but I feel like this blue bar is a spot-on dupe: it has 2% salicylic acid as well as a gentle physical scrub, perfect for clearing stubborn ingrown hairs, keratosis pilaris, or clogged pores from sunscreen. - LD

Daily Bread Sour Cherry Fruit Mince Pie, $3

I generally only eat christmas mince tarts as a vehicle for brandy butter, but these sour cherry ones absolutely slap. Properly tart. - TB

Cacharel Anais Anais EDT, $65

I hadn’t thought about this dreamy fragrance in years until I saw it behind glass at Chemist Warehouse one weekend, next to an equally 1980s turquoise blue and red bottle of Lou Lou. It was an instant nostalgia hit: both scents remind me of my aunty, who used to wear one (or both?) back in the 80s and 90s, plus there’s the vintage pastel packaging and those Vaseline-lensed old print ads. They’ve definitely tried to yassify the imagery, but the powdery, floral romantic scent and branding remains the same, and this was a nice girly Christmas present for myself. - ZWA