The Candidly 2019 Gift Guide: Aka The Only Guide You Need This Year
by Marissa Pomerance and Audie Metcalf
Every time the holidays roll around and it comes time to show our loved ones we really know them and we really love them through impossibly thoughtful gifting, why are none of our gift options any good? Everything is too expensive, too cheap, too weird, too basic, too personal, too impersonal, too dumb.
But this holiday, we’ve done all the incredibly time consuming dirty work for you, and found all the correct options for everyone in your life. Except for little kids. You’re on your own with that howling nightmare.
For The Guy You Never Know How to Shop For
Perfect for that guy who still uses his gym bag on all his many weekend getaways, this Everlane bag is classic yet modern, and surprisingly affordable for the quality.
Price: $88
Whether he’s a coffee or tea drinker, this sleek little cup will keep his morning brew warm for hours. Plus, there are soooo many tech-y features.
Price: $150
It’s time for him to permanently break up with those chunky dad shoes. Give him the comfort and functionality he wants, but just with, ya know, actual style.
Price: $90
A polo is a classic that looks great on nearly everyone, and their custom logos come with a staggering number of options while still remaining really well priced. You can literally give him a Ralph Lauren polo with anything from his initials to a golden retriever on it. We vote golden retriever.
Price: $90+
If he’s super sportsy, he’ll love the smart, premium content on The Athletic - and no ads! Get him a full year subscription; he’ll be so thrilled, he’ll probs renew it himself.
Price: $40 for 1 year
Pricey? Yes. But also - new silicone tips, sweat-resistant, noise cancellation.
Price: $250
If he plays golf, he probably has a set of clubs and plenty of polos, golf shoes, and golf balls. But does he have a belt made for golf? Doubtful.
Price: $38
This might look like your average blazer, but this soft, stretchy travel jacket is hiding so many fun, hidden features - a detachable collar and interior zip compartments for travel documents! You’re essentially giving him the gift of feeling like James Bond every time he goes on a business trip.
Price: $150
There’s just something about a guy in a Henley, isn’t there? Everlane’s soft, waffle-knit version is a steal at only $40, and is warm, breathable, comfy, and deeply stylish.
Price: $40
A Shave at a Local Barber Shop:
A straight razor shave at a local barber shop makes for a lovely, thoughtful gift. He can get groomed and man pampered (manpered?) in a comfortable setting, and you’ll get loads of credit for such an unexpected idea.
Price: $30+
For Your Wellness-Loving Friend Who Tries Everything
Saje is one of our go-to brands for anything aromatherapy related, and their holiday diffuser set is ideal for everyone in your life who prioritizes self-care. And maybe an even better gift for those who don’t.
Price: $110
This CBD bath bomb is a “soothing soak” to wash away “tension, aches, and pains,” making it a perfect stocking stuffer for any adult in your life whose back explodes with spasms just from getting out of bed. Aka, all of us.
Price: $16.50
This CBD sheet mask from high-potency, CBD brand Beboe Therapies is like Xanax for your skin, making it another treat for that friend who desperately needs some de-stressing touchpoints in her life.
Price: $78 for a set of 5
Subscription boxes are all about the joy of discovery, and gifting this subscription to someone else will bring you both joy. They’ll receive eco-friendly products each month (beeswax wrap! wool dryer balls!), and you’ll feel smug about your environmental choices. Win win.
Price: $114 for 1 year
This hands-free fanny pack is the ideal size for all your gym essentials-- a water bottle, keys, card case, phone, and lip balm. And it’s cute enough to just wear it in life in general.
Price: $49
Outdoor Voices has made shopping for a matching workout set mindlessly easy with this Women’s Tech Kit. All you have to do is choose a color, and you’re done.
Price: $95
This ultra exclusive new food subscription is like a personal concierge for healthy food shopping. They do all the work of reading ingredient labels so you don’t have to, and have consolidated all your favorite healthy brands in one place. Whoever receives this as a gift will be living out all of their wildest, wellnessy dreams.
Price: Varies
For The Beauty Junkie Who Has Every Product On Earth
This stylish silk head wrap protects your shiny locks as you sleep - a deeply thoughtful gift for anyone who has a slightly codependent relationship with their hair.
Price: $65
Gifting a fragrance can be scarily difficult, but Glossier’s signature fragrance is always the right answer – both because of the gift itself, and the big swing you took to select something so personal.
Price: $60
This gloriously affordable serum and roller set from Versed from Target is the ultimate luxe-for-less beauty treat. It brightens! It firms! It tones! And the price is truly bonkers.
Price: $17
For the beauty-aficionado who’s already obsessed with CT’s life-changing Magic Cream, give her a chance to try a little bit of everything from this newish but already iconic brand.
Price: $200
So. We’re in love with this brand. Their clean, effective, high quality, gorgeously packaged products are all really, really excellent. We’ve even vetted them as our “best” body wash, so you know they’re gonna be good.
Ps: While you’re gifting, you should add “2” to cart, if you know what’s good for you.
Price: $60
This “Clean Skincare For A Cause” set is a heady cornucopia of beautiful brands and products, and a literal wonderland for any discerning beauty aficionado.
Price: $32
Because traveling with her infinite beauty products is impossible, this hefty vanity case from CalPak is stylish, spacious, and will protect her tinctures of hand-crafted oils and glass bottles of precious snail serums.
Price: $85
For The Clothes Horse Who Loves Online Shopping
MeUndies Women’s Lounge Pant:
These lounge pants are made from MeUndies’ famously soft micro-modal material, and they’re deliciously comfortable. MICRO-MODAL, YOU GUYS. What we’re saying is, they’re supremely soft and people like soft things.
Price: $68
Anthropologie Block Letter Monogram Necklace:
Personalized gifts are an easy way to show you’re actually thinking about someone, and this modern, sideways monogrammed necklace from Anthropologie feels like a slightly modernized version of the infamous SATC Carrie necklace. See also: we would also 100% wear that Carrie necklace right now, no problem.
Price: $38
Whether she needs a work bag, carry on, or gym bag, Dagne Dover’s Landon Carryall literally carries it all. It comes in a multitude of chic colors, so you’ve got plenty of options.
Price: $95-$215
This down travel jacket from Uniqlo has a cult following, and with good reason. It’s lightweight, incredibly warm, folds up into nothingness, and pretty much works as a sturdy yet lovely layering piece for any cold-weather situation you can think of.
$80
If she’s still wearing old ripped tee shirts and ratty shorts to bed, perhaps it might be time for you to upgrade her to this sophisticated, comfortable sleep set from Splendid.
Price: $78
The white sneaker trend is still going strong, and this version from Veja is sleek, chic, and ideal for someone refuses to sacrifice a shred of style for comfort.
Price: $120
For that friend who always wears a hat but is never going to buy a hat box (can we bring back hat boxes tho?), this hat clip elegantly secures her hat to her bag to make traveling easier. And chicer.
Price: $48
There are people who are always losing their phone, passport, keys, credit card. And this magic wallet might change all that. Imagine if your gift actually had the power to change a life. Nbd.
Price: $75
Blessedly, loafers are never not in style. And these Everlane loafers are the modern woman’s go-to everyday shoe if chicness and comfort are of equal importance to her.
Price: $168
For The Homebody Who’s Home Watching Netflix Right Now
When your breadbasket doubles as a piece of art, you’ve really entered adulthood. What a thing to be able to gift!
Price: $50
Gravity Blanket Weighted Blanket:
Who doesn’t want to feel enveloped in a very heavy, warm hug all the time? Answer? No one.
Price: $249
We all know someone who can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. This present legitimizes that habit so they don’t ever have to feel self conscious about it.
Price: $35
Williams Sonoma Marble Lazy Susan:
It works both as beautiful décor, and a functional, lazy way to serve appetizers at a crowded table.
Price: $60
Listen. A fancy coffee subscription that arrives straight to someones’ door is going to make them love you more. It’s just a fact.
Price: $120+
For the casual home-brewer who works in their love of “single origin beans” but also leans toward slight laziness, this coffee maker is the quickest way to throw together an icy, snobby drink.
Price: $30
Lunya Washable Silk Pillowcase:
Help her achieve actual beauty sleep with this hypoallergenic, soft silk pillowcase that’s easy on skin and hair.
Price: $74-$88
Lunya Restore Sleep Mask:
This soft, noise-muffling sleep mask from Lunya will shut out the world without leaving bumps in your hair or lines across your ears. Plus, look at it!
Price: $48
For The Excellent Home Cook In Your Life
Teri Turner and her Whole30-approved recipes are possibly the most watchable thing on Instagram. And now she has a cookbook! A perfectly pragmatic but elevated collection of ideas for any home cook who truly loves to eat.
Price: $15
It doesn’t get muuuuuch cuter than this lemon-patterned apron from Kate Spade.
Price: $30
If you don’t feel like dropping $150 on a Smeg toaster, this Kate Spade toaster is a stylish and functional kitchen appliance for anyone. Plus, polka dots.
Price: $50
These are The Best salt and pepper grinders. They just are. Because look at them. See also: they double as spice grinders, because there’s nothing they can’t do.
Price: $80
If you’ve also been drooling over Year & Day’s clean, Instagram-worthy ceramics, why not live vicariously through whomever you gift this gorgeous serving bowl? Slash also buy one for yourself so you don’t have to.
Price: $48
Fellow Stagg Electric Water Kettle:
Sleek, effective, and techy, this electric water kettle from Stagg is a perfect gift for a pour-over enthusiast or avid tea drinker. And its spout is designed for the optimal pour-over flow rate. So…
Price: $150
First of all, it’s $6. But the value it brings any serious home cook is priceless. The frothiest eggs, the most delicately emulsified salad dressings, this whisk is a game changer. Fine, tie it on the bow for another present so you’re not a cheapskate, but whatever else you buy them, they won’t love it or use it more than this whisk.
Price: $6
Global knives are sharp, precise, beautiful, and actually feel good to hold. Any home cook, of any caliber, would be thrilled to have one of these shining, gleaming beacons of possibility in their kitchen.
Price: $100
You’ve undoubtedly seen 478 million cheeseboards already. But this one comes with a secret drawer THAT SLIDES OUT to reveal 4 cheese knives. You’re welcome.
Price: $55
Everything Le Creuset makes is beloved, and this adorable honey pot (complete with a silicone honey dipper!) is no exception. It’s also a smart way to get a gift for a Le-Creuset obsessive without needing to remortgage your house.
Price: $45
For That Woman Who’s High Key Impossible to Shop For
Like our Lululemon suggestion, only, you know, better. Plus, you can get it monogrammed, which is always a surefire way to get someone to squeal when they open the box.
Price: $299
Have we mentioned that monogramming is a great way to personalize a gift and make it special? Oh, we did?
Price: Varies
That woman who is impossible to shop for probably already has champagne flutes because she already has everything. But does she have a pair this beautiful? We think not.
Price: $24
A surprise box of beauty products on your doorstep each month is the gift that keeps on giving. Since you don’t know what in the hell to buy this woman, let Ipsy do the work for you.
Price: Varies
A herringbone throw, a travel-sized pillow, and an eye mask; an ideal trio for a hard-to-please frequent traveler.
Price: $175
SpaceNK’s annual holiday advent calendar is a beauty hound’s dream come true, bursting at the seams with a mix of full-size and sample-size versions of the most interesting brands and products of the year. It comes in a beautiful set of secret doors and compartments, so the unboxing experience is like Christmas morning 25 times over.
Price: $265
Any and every human could use a coat this sleek, sophisticated, and gorgeous, including that person who’s impossible to shop for. At $300, it’s a bit more of a splurge, but it’s a virtually-guaranteed hit.
Price: $298
Ok, this is another splurge item, but guys. This is a PINK CAST IRON DUTCH OVEN. Actually, they call their pink color “macaron” and we’re, as the kids say, here for it. If anyone wants to get anything on this list for US, this is our pick, please and thank you.
Price: $145
Does anyone need a smart oven? Eh. But this Amazon version is a convection oven, microwave, air fryer, and food warmer in one. Plus, it works with Alexa so you can control it with your voice. Like magic.
Price: $250
When in doubt, an on-demand massage is a go-to option for anyone who loves for strangers to rub their unclothed skin. You can easily book on their (very well designed) app or website, and they will come straight to your giftee, set up a massage table, and get to work.
Price: $100+
Is it necessary to spend $120 on an essential oil diffuser? No, as demonstrated by the perfectly lovely Saje diffuser we recommended above. But for the woman who is impossible to shop for, this beautiful stone Vitruvi diffuser will double as an objet d’art she can display on her bookshelf. Did we mention it comes in the MOST gorgeous blush color?
Price: $119
And, listen.
Buy some of this stuff for yourself, too.
If something is on this list that you’ve always wanted, or that you’ve always wanted since the 7 minutes reading this article, just get it. The holidays can be a screaming vortex of stress and sadness and being underwater and impossible scheduling and getting enough work done before the break to actually spend time with your kids and writing 17 lists for all the ingredients to make something special for Aunt Ruth who can’t eat dairy, so get the pink dutch oven. Get the camel coat.
Treat yourself to the love and care and thoughtfulness you give others. You deserve it.
Happy holidays.
Marissa Pomerance is the Managing Editor of The Candidly. She’s a Los Angeles native and lover of all things food, style, beauty, and wellness. You can find more of her articles here.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
