Despite my (well-meaning) reticence, the time has just about arrived…the time for gift-giving checklists, that is. And if there’s one thing I’ve gained from the bombardment of catalogs, promo circulars, and sale emails proclaiming “what they really want this season,” it’s that fruitcake has officially—according to, mainly, me—been knocked off of its cliché-bad-present pedestal.
For the love of Christmukkah, people: No more fragrance-themed gift sets!
As grateful as your already gorgeous niece/stepson/Secret Santa is for the gesture—after all, they’d love you even if you’d given them wool socks—those conveniently packaged, yet cloyingly formulated, body lotion-gel-spray trios aren’t always cheap. Wouldn’t you rather give them what they, uh, really want? (Something that won’t leave them in a Pig Pen-like cloud of “White Diamonds,” for instance.)
Take it from someone who isn’t shy when it comes to her own personal-grooming wish list; there are plenty of equally-as-easy options that’ll deliver genuine wide-eyed excitement, like:
1. Drybar’s Blowout in a Box Kit (on sale this week on QVC)
2. Sephora Favorites Glitz & Glam set (at Sephora in White Plains or Ridge Hill)
3. Butter London’s High Tea Collection (one of Oprah’s Favorite Things this year; or ask for the Luxe Rock Fashion Size Set at Ulta in Port Chester)
4. Classic shave kits for men (at Art of Shaving in White Plains and Ridge Hill)
5. Diptyque’s super-luxe holiday candles (available at Nordstrom)
On the flip side, you’d better forward these to your kindly Aunt Ruth before she hits the department store’s cosmetics counter…or the Panettone aisle.
