You’ve left it to the last minute and you need a gift idea. You’ll probably head to the mall on a frantic chase for the right gift. Here’s a quick rundown of 5 great gift ideas that I’ve tested and found to be amazing products. If you’re shopping on Boxing Day, keep an eye out for these gift ideas. If you find them on sale, snatch them for gift giving throughout the new year.
1. Gift Ideas at Shoppers Drug Mart
This season I bought a handful of toys from Shoppers Drug Mart. They have everything from big puzzles, STEM kits, stuffies, warm socks and cute hand warmers. They have gifts for everyone! For men, you can choose from fragrance, popular shaving sets and lots of gift cards. For women I highly recommend the Rodial gift sets because these sets are such a steal. I’ve tried almost all of their products and they do deliver results. You can find the below gift sets at any Beauty Boutique.
Twelve Days of Red Carpet Glam Advent Calendar ($120)
I love beauty advent calendars! This year Rodial offers the 12 Days of Red Carpet Glam Advent Calendar. This gift is perfect for that person who loves to stay in the know of trends and loves to try different products. This is a great opportunity to try so many of Rodials amazing products. The calendar includes: Magic Gel Day Deluxe, Suede Lips in Overdressed, the Soft Focus Glow Drops Deluxe, a Pink Diamond Mask, Pink Diamond Cleansing Balm Deluxe, Dragon’s Blood Eye Mask, Dragon’s Blood Essence Deluxe, Pink Diamond Serum Deluxe, Skinny Mascara, Retinol Deluxe, a Dragon’s Blood Lip Mask and a Lip Scrub.
This gift set comes with a day and night cream for $95!
The dragon blood lip, face and eye masks are amazing! I love this line and this set is a great starter kit for anyone.
The moisture boost kit is a 77% off deal for this gift set!
2. Aveda Hair Salon
If you’ve ever been to an Aveda salon for services. You’ll know that they use amazing products during the services.
With just a couple of days left, head over to either of these two places to see what you can get! Happy shopping!
Have you ever been in a LUSH store? Some of my favourite things about LUSH cosmetics are that all of their products are cruelty free, handmade and the awesome packaging. Not only are their products handmade but even the furniture in their stores is reclaimed wood, made by LUSH employees. The signs are all handwritten too. If I find a product I truly love, and know that it works, I add it to my mental list of great gift ideas!
If you were to ask me, what is the one product that you absolutely must try from LUSH for the face, it would be hands down this mask:
LUSH Mask of Magnaminty: Minty, gritty and tingly goodness.
LUSH Cosmetics: What You Should Try & Great Gift Ideas!
Whenever I find a mask that I love, I start sharing it within my tight friends circle, family and my husband of course. I love that he’s a little more adventurous than the average joe when it comes to beauty products. All it takes is a micro speech about how great kaolin is for your skin and the benefits of a mask, and he’s down like james brown to try the mask with me.
After trying this a bit more than a couple of times, I can confidently say, yes; it’s all true:
– Cleansing without being harsh or abrasive
– Exfoliates without any redness aftermath
– Soothes and moisturizes
It’s also stated on the packaging that it can be used for body as well. But personally, I’m going to savor it, and only use it on my face. I gifted this mask to three of my friends as part of their birthday present and I’ve only gotten positive feedback.
Ocean salt has been a scrub that I’ve used over the years. At checkout one day while purchasing some bath bombs, I asked if they could give me a sample of their favourite product. It happened to be Ocean Salt. Don’t be shy, if there’s a product you’re curious about, check if they have a sample. You never know, you may stumble upon a new favourite!
When used on the face, I use a small amount. Dime to nickle size, because of the serious exfoliation you get from this product. For body, go nuts! Especially after the winter season when you need a serious scrub down, this is your go to scrub at LUSH. It’s the perfect mix of fine and coarse sea salt.
Ocean Salt – Face & Body Scrub
The good stuff:
– seaweed
– avocado butter
– lime oil
– coconut oil
During my pregnancy this moisturizer was my super hero for dry skin. LUSH doesn’t really sell this hand and body lotion directly for a pregnant women’s itchy dry belly, but it worked for me! It may or may not work for you, but I loved the fresh banana’s scent and the cooling sensation of the lotion. Bonus, it’s all natural ingredients that you’re applying to your skin during pregnancy.
The jersey bounce shampoo is only being used by him. (Husband) He loves it! There’s also a shampoo in the form of a soap bar. I’ve actually used it as a body soap bar and realized it would be great to pack when travelling! Use it as a shampoo and body soap bar.
He’s also using the breath of fresh air toner water and I’ve been secretly using it too!
They had me at aloe vera. (see above image) Aloe vera is high in vitamins, has healing properties and excellent for hydrating the skin.
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!
Happy Plugs – I just got my first set last month and I love them! They really are jewellery and headphones combined! I have the rose gold and they look so good with my rose gold accessories. If you have a favourite colour or have a friend who loves a particular print, I’m certain you can find matching Happy Plugs for him or her. Makes for a great Secret Santa gift.
Vitabath Holiday Scents – Lathering yumminess. I love these holiday scents and they make for great presents because they come in a duo set.
Jelly Doughnuts – Instead of the usual box of chocolates, why not get that someone gourmet doughnuts? They have an amazing selection for the holiday season too! Check their website for locations in Toronto.
Marsala – You heard the big news right? Pantones colour for 2015 is Marsala. So why not give your fashionista friends a head start and get them something in Marsala to rock right into the new year? I know there has been some backlash of why this colour was chosen. But you can’t impress everyone. I personally love the colour and it can be worn through your outfits to your everyday make-up looks.
Cuppies – Here are my fave sites to get a special someone that unique cup they’ll be using all winter season long for their hot coco’s and lattes: Creature cups, Davids Tea & Royal Albert for the dainty.
