This gift guide is sponsored by We-Vibe and contains affiliate links and product samples.
Every year, I struggle to arrange my gift guide compendium cohesively. Which lipsticks are the best ones to feature; which body butters are the creamiest? So, this year, I’m doing something a little different: posting one large, comprehensive gift guide of all of the items that I’m loving and all of the little luxuries that I think are the most giftable for 2018.
This year’s theme is something new: unexpected items, like the We-Vibe Discover Gift Box. These are products that don’t always scream “HOLIDAYS!” but make an amazing holiday gift regardless. From shampoos to lip balms, they’re gift ideas that you or your loved one can enjoy all year round; gift ideas that you probably haven’t seen on any other gift guides.
Here’s what I’m loving.
Holiday hair (and a couple extra gift guide ideas)
My top gift pick of the year is the Kérastase Aura Botanica Riche line ($23 to $65 CAD) that I reviewed this winter. I can’t get enough of this shampoo and conditioner duo, which smells amazing (like botanicals and coconut) and leave my hair so, so soft. The shampoo is rich and foamy without being stripping, and the conditioner is buttery and hydrating.
To pair with your new Aura Botanica products, I recommend the NuMe Fashionista Hair Straightener ($119 USD), a one-inch wonder. I now own four straighteners (don’t look at me like that), and this is by far my favourite. Its tourmaline ceramic plates are super-smooth, it’s easy to grip, and it’s non-digital—so there’s no accidental pushing of buttons or high-pitched beeping noises. If you usually opt for CHI or ghd, I wholeheartedly recommend asking for a NuMe this Christmas instead!
I love playing with new brushes, and Real Techniques offers two cool, travel-friendly ones this season: the Real Techniques Brush Crush Diamond Sponge ($13.99 CAD) looks super cool and blends out foundation like a dream, no matter how dry or humid your destination is. Then, for your cheeks, the Mini Multitask Brush ($8.99) is tiny enough to fit in your clutch, but features a full-sized head. (It’s even small enough to hang on the tree as an ornament, if you’re gifting to someone you’ll be travelling with after the holidays.)
And, for your day-after-the-party needs, I love the squishy Sephora Glitter & Chill Cooling Mask ($8 USD). This one is already sold out online, so snap it up in-store if you still can!
The extras
For bedroom extras, we have a super-cool Sephora #MOOD Lash Vault ($60 USD), which houses eight sets of false lashes in a lovely gold box. I started wearing lashes for date night last year, and I kind of love it—even just the act of putting them on helps put me in the “date night” headspace, now. Coach Platinum ($92 CAD) sets the mood, with clean notes of black pepper, geranium, and sandalwood.
For a little later on in the night, there’s the We-Vibe Match ($159 CAD) — read more about it here. It’s a unique sex toy in an unexpected colour, designed with partnered play in mind. (For a gift, I’d actually scale up to the We-Vibe Sync, but I find the sensation of the two to be almost identical.) The Match is waterproof and rechargeable, with ten vibration modes at a medium intensity.
And finally, from my neuroses, the most ridiculous thing that I own and love… Poo-Pourri ($14.99 USD+). I’m in two camps: on one hand, I think that Poo-Pourri is the physical manifestation of everything that’s wrong with the world. On the other, it helps with my weird bathroom anxieties, and I choose to believe that it helps keeps my love life alive. I don’t want the person who I’m playing with my Match with to be all up in my business, you know?
(If I’m wrong and it doesn’t actually work, I don’t want to know. Please, never tell me. Just get your spritz on and LET ME POOP IN PEACE!!)
The classic gift guide: Brushes, blindfolds, and bougie lip balms
These picks are a little more traditional: lipsticks, fragrances, and buttery-soft feathers. But they have one thing in common: I haven’t seen any of these items in any other gift guides this year, even though they make amazing gifts!
Take the Rodial Rose Gold Lip Balm ($20 USD, available at Murale in Canada), for instance. It’s literally everything that you’d want out of a holiday present: it’s not too expensive, it’s practical, and it’s super luxe. Castor seed oil and shea butter are richly hydrating (I can wear this for up to six hours), while the lip balm’s rose gold cap and brush-tip applicator make it unique enough to be a special treat. Then there’s Thierry Mugler’s Alien ($96 CAD), just to make things weird—it has an interesting bottle and hits you in the face with a bouquet of jasmine sambac and ambergris. (It smells like lilacs to me, which always breaks my heart.)
For your face, two little special somethings: the Sephora Rising Star Canister Brush Set ($49 CAD; the super-dense brushes are here), along with a few insanely soft, mermaid vibe-y Real Techniques Brush Crush ($17.99 CAD) brushes.
Unwind with the We-Vibe Discover Gift Box
And finally, the big kahuna: the We-Vibe Discover Gift Box ($289 CAD). I know I’ve talked so much about this already, but you guys, I legitimately love it. It’s such a good way to give your partner the gift of pleasure, without any risk. There are so many different options in the box, and even if they don’t like any of the vibrating toys (which would be unlikely; the three included in this are all really different), there are sensual items to indulge in as well. I love the discreet rumble of the Tango, the soft touches of the feather tickler, and the sweet vanilla scent of the massage wax candle.
The Discover Gift Box would be a super fun advent calendar, but it’s a great way to spice up a long-term relationship, too. Just slip into something comfortable, smooth on a Lise Watier Rouge Gourmand Lipstick ($25 CAD; these ones are Acai Berry, Red Delight, and Dragon Fruit), and open up one new Discover box per date night, starting on January 1st.
