There are so many reasons for gift giving. Holidays, birthdays, special events, anniversaries and more. Some of my friends have come to me saying how hard it is for them to figure out what to get for people for various events. I find the less you know someone the harder it is. Especially if you want to make sure they’ll love whatever it is you’re deciding on getting them. Gift giving, it can be a pleasure or a pain in the butt. Pain or pleasure, I believe the one thing we always have to keep in mind is the fact that “the manner of giving is worth more than the gift”, said Pierre Corneille.

So give from your heart, with genuine intentions and it won’t really matter what the gift is. Make it count by expressing how and why you went about in picking that gift. I did this every year with one of my dearest best friends, Jenny. Every year we got each other a Christmas gift and a birthday gift. But it was never just one item. It would be a bunch of items that we either saw throughout the year for one another or picked because of the significance it had to a memory we had together, interests or wants. Then in our cards to each other we would write why and the story behind each item. Maybe not each item, but you get what I mean. I actually started doing that for every gift I ever got someone. Recently, we had a Secret Santa gift exchange at our office and I had gotten a male co-worker. Lucky me, he filled out his Elfster wish list. I got him one of the items he wished for, the other was sold out. I tried to find something comparable but didn’t have any luck. So I resorted back to what I usually think you can’t go wrong with for guys, socks.

It came time to exchange gifts and sucks to be me, the gift he had wished for didn’t mail in time. So during the exchange he got a note, with the tracking number for his wished gift, socks, a dancing robot toy ( a filler gift) and a card explaining that the robot was to keep him entertained while he waited for the actual gift. But boy did I feel bad. I was so sure I’d get it in time, since I ordered it literally 2 weeks ahead. After the exchange, the male co-worker who I had last year, called me “the sock lady”. In my defense, I had got him nice socks from The Bay with a chocolate or mixed nuts set of some sort. And he’s worn them multiple times to work, #justsaying. And this year I got the other guy, socks from Banana Republic and the other stuff. My genuine intention is that guys gotta keep their feet warm and some would rarely pick out nice unique socks for themselves. The dryer always eats them, so we need an endless supply, am I right?

Below, I’m sharing my top reasonable gift ideas for him and her.

Let’s get started. For him, haha socks! Socks from Banana Republic for a more mature taste or fun socks from Happy Socks. There are more expensive brands that are like Happy Socks for you prestige loving peeps as well. For her, a nice scarf or hat. Accessorizing in the winter can get tricky, especially when trying to stay warm. So never under estimate the gift of a nice but warm scarf or hat.

LUSH has lots of products to choose from that are natural and their packaging is very neutral. Skincare is the best! Some men just love to use regular soap and call it a day, but they have no idea on what they’re missing out on until you show them. So introducing them to some simple and easy to use skincare through a gift is the best! When they continue to use that product and keep going back for more, they’ll be forever grateful that you saved them from aging prematurely. One of my favourites, (guilty of using it) that my husband has been using and loves is the Breath of Fresh Air toner water.

What’s great is that it’s for all skin types, so no worries if you have no idea what skin type the person has. Very easy to use, all you do is after cleansing your face, just spray it on and either leave it or use a cotton pad to remove any residue left behind from your cleanser. For her, check out the amazing variety of bath bombs you can get! I have some of their bath bombs sitting in a basket in my washroom and gosh if there was smell-o-vision, I’d totally insert that scent right here. You know it’s natural when it smells that good for weeks. Bath bombs are a treat to get and when I think of treating myself to something nice, they are on my top 5 list along with flowers, chocolates, new clothes and make-up. I love how pretty they look and LUSH does a fantastic job packing them in cute gift boxes too!

A new scent is always appreciated by anyone.Okay, maybe not always. Since some could be allergic or just not wear fragrance. But that’s what gift receipts are for, right? You can skim through so many options on beautyboutique.ca. Just to ensure they get the scent they want, check out the fragrance sampler for him and her, comes with a gift card for a full size cologne and a bunch of small bottle sampler to try before they decide which full size they want.  I ordered something from them recently and was pleasantly surprised at how fast shipping was and the very nice packaging everything came in. Not sure if that’s just for the holidays and for where I live, but I highly recommend.

I love gifts that are unique and conversation starters. Check out this wood watch by JORD. Definitely a show stopper and you’ll fall in love with the details more than he will. I have a wood watch and every time I wear it someone always without fail will ask me where I got it from or if they can try it on. Intrigued by the fact that it’s made from wood. P.S This is your last weekend to order to receive the watch by Christmas! 

Do you have some gift ideas? Share them below!