By Bernard Freeman
For the Fashionista
Snag the picture-perfect gift for your loved one that’s always on-trend. We’re saving you the trouble of sifting through Amazon or, even worse, social media.
Hair
Picture-perfect hair starts at the roots. Olaplex’s Perfector No. 3 Repairing Treatment ($30) treats all hair types with visible damage with once-a-week treatments. Detangle your hair and blow dry it fast with the T3 Dry Vent hair brush ($28). The vented design allows the air to circulate freely while smoothing your strands. Keep that hair smooth as silk with a satin pillowcase ($19, Kitsch) in colors to match any décor. Bring back the 1990s with the hair accessory du jour, the claw clip. Get a set in on-trend colors from Amazon from Shalac ($8.99).
Skin
This mini fridge looks luxe and will keep your skincare routine cold as ice. The QUBI mini fridge ($169.95, Amazon) features an automatic climate control system to eliminate water left inside the fridge. HIME SAMA’s LED face mask ($139.99) provides seven colors of light therapy to improve pores, calm skin, smooth fine lines and repair skin using natural light waves. Clean all the makeup off your face using just water — no harsh cleansers here — with the Original Make Up Eraser ($20) in several colors. Smooth puffy skin and give your face a luxe massage with Sephora’s cooling wands ($28).
Makeup
Gift sets are where it’s at for makeup gifts. That way, your recipient gets a variety of products and you don’t drop a ton of cash. Grab a set of travel-sized lip plumpers from Too Faced that hydrate, nourish and visibly plumps lips ($36, Sephora). Bring the drama with the Lancome Monsieur Big Mascara & Drama Liqui-Pencil Liner Gift Set ($39). It comes with 24-hour mascara and eyeliner. Smashbox’s On-Set Essentials: Primer and Setting Spray Trio ($34) comes with a full-size eye shadow primer, mini blurring primer and mini setting spray.
Nails
Here are the new nail (gifts)! Dip powder is the latest way to get color on your nails, and this Azure gift set has everything you need to get started, including tools and a variety of dips. It’s less than $30 at Amazon. Burts Bees offers up a Tips N Toes Hands and Feet Kit ($26.05) that includes hand cream, lip balm, hand cream, foot cream and hand salve. Nail polish, as beautiful as it is, can do a number on your nails, but this recovery system can help. Get a Dermelect Nail Recovery System ($44.25) that includes a nail strengthener, ridge filler, nail thickener and cuticle treatment.
For the Sports Fan
Three cheers for these gifts, that are sure to score with your sports fans. Even if you don’t know about the sports, fool them all.
At the Tailgate
Pregame is the best game for some sports fans. Get the party started with this cornhole set that comes with its own carrying case and eight bean bags ($99.99). Get smoking with the Coleman RoadTrip X-Cursion Propane Grill ($219.99). It comes in blue, green and red to match your team’s colors. Even-Temp burners heat the grill evenly and it features a push-button start for matchless ignition. Crank the fight song for more than six hours with the JBL Partybox Encore ($199.95), a 100-watt Bluetooth speaker that brings its own lightshow. When you start tossing the ball around, make sure it’s the official football. Wilson’s The Duke ($149.95) is the official all-leather football of the NFL.
Memorabilia
Keep track of your memories with the Just the Ticket ticket stub organizer ($13.79), a ring-bound book that will help you organize and preserve your tickets on 20 archival, acid-free plastic pages. Or set your drink on one of the greatest plays in sports with a set of leatherette coasters featuring some of the best plays from football, basketball, baseball, hockey or soccer (Playbook Products, $30 for a set of four). For hockey fans, score a bottle opener made from an NHL game-used hockey stick ($125-$155, Uncommon Goods). You can also get them in baseball bats ($135, Uncommon Goods).
Food
Sports and food go hand-in-hand. Grab a custom cutting board from Etsy personalized with team logos and more (starting around $65). Or celebrate game day with a chip and dip tray in your team’s colors. Magnolia Lane offers some adorable options for Auburn, Florida and Georgia fans for $28.95. If charcuterie is your chosen game fare, the SEC store offers the Concerto cheese board ($109.99) with serving stage and cheese tools. For carrying your drinks and snacks with you, Igloo offers a limited collection of coolers and drinkware with team-licensed logos (starting at $39.99).
Books
The New York Times offers a variety of books that memorialize sports and teams alike. “Golf’s Greatest Moments” ($80) is a leather-bound coffee table book that traces golf’s best players and biggest tournaments. Remember basketball great Kobe Bryant with his book, “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” ($18.29). Or read about 65 Marines in World War II who played a brutal football game called the Mosquito Bowl. Buzz Bissinger tells the story in “The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II,” ($32.50).
For the Gardener
Plant some smiles with these gifts for the green thumbs on your gift list. Keep good feelings blooming with these gardening gifts.
Décor
Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can still give great gifts that will liven up their garden. These adorable ducks from Uncommon Goods ($30-$40 per duck) are wearing cheery blue spotted boots. Or grab a set of six reusable plant markers ($29.99). These fade-proof, smudge-proof 32-inch markers are available from Gardener’s Supply Company.
Staying Comfy in the Garden
Gardeners can spend all day outside and you can keep them more comfortable with these accessories. Harbor Freight has a rolling work seat with a tool tray that looks like an old-fashioned tractor seat ($74.99). It has a 300-pound capacity and 10-inch tires to handle any terrain. Womanswork, a woman-owned business that makes accessories designed to fit women, offers gloves that are extra long to protect your arms from bugs and scratches. Get them for $39.95 from Williams Sonoma.
Wildlife
Many gardeners love to see wildlife in their garden. These gifts encourage the birds and the bees to visit their garden. Hummingbirds are not only beautiful, but they’re pollinators that help our gardens grow. Clad in sleek copper, the Perky Pet Elegant Copper Hummingbird Feeder ($52.99) has a wide opening to make filling and cleaning easier. It holds 12 ounces of hummingbird food. You can also bring all the bees to the yard with the Nature’s Way Green Pine Flush-mount Bee House ($10.98). It attracts solitary bees to hollow bamboo tubes and pre-drilled blocks.
Plants
For the gardener, plants are always a welcome gift. But holiday weather isn’t always kind to plants. Look for grow kits and other plants that can, at least temporarily, live inside. Uncommon Goods offers the grow indoor and outdoor olive tree that, eventually, will even produce olives ($75). The Amazing Creation Stackable Planter ($39.99) is a vertical planter that lets your garden grow up. Each pod in the planter accommodates a 5-inch plant, making it perfect for veggies, flowers, herbs, succulents and more. For plant parents that like to make propagate, look for a trendy propagation station like the Renmxj Plant Propagation Station ($13.99). It has three bulb vases made of boron silicon heat-resistant glass.
