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Education

Gift Guide 2019: Something for Everyone on Your List

With Black Friday madness giving way to Cyber Monday shopping sprees, we’ve been conditioned to buy gifts early and often. And that sometimes means we’re pressured and not as thoughtful as we could be. Gift cards are always appreciated, but if you’re the type who can’t get enough of brown paper packages tied up with string, here are some guidelines to make sure your gift will truly be well received:

  • When giving food and drink, pause. You might love wine and cheese, but your friend may be a non-drinker and off dairy. Find out what their allergies or dietary restrictions will be. Otherwise, that lovely bottle of Bordeaux will probably find its way to their re-gift pile.
  • People who live in small places, and many older people, don’t need stuff. Even though she’s wild about elephants, does Aunt Helen really need another tchotchke? Sometimes services, consumables, and gift cards are better options for those who have recently Kondo’d their life—or need to.
  • A gift to kids is also for their parents. Sure, the chemistry set/drum kit/sewing machine can be an amazing present for a child but be mindful that their parents are the ones who will have to teach, set up or manage the gift long after you’ve left the party. If you do want to give an instrument or craft supplies, throw in some lessons as well so that the burden isn’t all on the parents to sort it out. And just don’t ever get anyone a pet without permission—you’re only asking for trouble.

Need some specific ideas? Here you go: 

Beauty in a bottle: It’s hard to choose from all the amazing products in the line, but right now we’re loving the Senté Bio Complete Serum, which is a retinol-powered miracle that improves the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Senté products are formulated with innovative precision and are considered a highly safe and effective physician favorite.

It’s the balm: If you’re not riding the Hurraw Balm craze yet, you should be. This coconut-based natural lip and skin products come in sustainable packaging and delectable variations such as raspberry, hazelnut, neroli-almond, and lavender-rose. With lippy tubes starting at only $4, you can stock up on a lot of stocking stuffers.

Still life with Still Life: All the high-tech in the world can’t compete with a hand-hewn piece of art you can appreciate every day. Still Life Ceramics has lovingly crafted tableware (and even gift certificates if you can’t decide).

The hottest gift of the year: There actually IS something you can get the person who has everything: Sauce Boss hot sauce. Even better, there’s a story behind each bottle. Bill “Sauce Boss” Wharton, a slide-guitar-slinging, swamp-funk-playing one-man band, cooks a pot of gumbo while performing—the audience gets a bowl after the show. But you can get his all-natural sauces (and the gumbo recipe) on his website. If you like your heat dry, try Some Like It Hott small-batch alder-roasted paprikas. 

Watch this: It’s like a gym? That you wear on your wrist? Is that even possible? Yes! The Garmin Venu GPS Smartwatch not only tracks your fitness goals and monitors your vitals, but you can also download music to it and follow more than 20 preloaded animated workouts of all types. Best of all, the battery lasts a strong six hours—probably longer than you’ll need, but it’s great to have a little juice leftover so you can … tell time or something.

Commute al-fresco style: If you think traffic jams are for suckers, the Go Trax V2 Commuter Scooter easily tackles the lumps and bumps of your ride to work (or play). You get air-filled tires, a 250-watt motor and 36v battery to go the distance—9-12 miles at 15 mph.

Add space: If there’s a man cave or she shed on your list, how about a tiny house—or garage, playhouse, and even a kennel? You choose the size, color, and trim, and the Amish Backyard Structure company delivers the quality, pre-fab houses to you directly. For an additional fee, they can build them on the spot.

Get a bird’s eye view: Go pro, practically. The Holy Stone HS 720 GPS Drone has an optimized full HD camera to see the world from a whole different perspective—create a preset flight path, or figure it out when the drone is up in the air. 

Water, baby: LifeStraw’s Give Back Program provides a student safe drinking water and hygiene education for an entire year with every item purchased. (To date, LifeStraw has helped more than 3 million kids globally.) LifeStraw’s newest product, the Home, claims to be the only water pitcher powerful enough to protect against bacteria, parasites, microplastics, chemicals (PFOS/PFAS) and heavy metals (lead and mercury) while retaining essential minerals for optimum health. 

Light the way: For camping, closets, catastrophes or even as a simple functional accent, the portable MPowered Luci Core light is only an inch thick but emits bright light (for up to 14 hours!) via three cool white LEDs. A flexible arm means you can wrap it around your body, belt or bed; you can charge it via its solar function or with a USB.

Our favorite things: Of course, you can never go wrong with an OrangeTwist gift card—or the gift that keeps on giving, a Citrus Club membership, which gives you a discount on services, complimentary Botox after six months plus other exclusive offerings. We also have tons of great ideas from our spas for you to give—or to keep to yourself as a reward for making it through another year.

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