Last Minute Stocking Stuffers and Small Gifts

When it comes to the big gifts, you know what you want to spend your hard earned money on. So you don’t really need ideas from me on that. Except one thing. If you have thick hair that’s time consuming to dry, consider asking for the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer (reviewed here). It has cut my hair drying time in half. At $399, it is no small purchase, I know, but you’ll have it for years so you can amortize the cost. LOL. Right now, you can use your 20% off coupon at Ulta to buy it and get 5x the Ulta points in the bargain which is worth about $60, I think, or that’s what it was when I bought mine during the spring.

Now that that’s out of the way, let me suggest a few small gift ideas that I love. Some are classics that I’ve suggested before, and others are new.

Mont Bleu Glass Nail Files

Mont Bleu Glass Nail Files are the best gift around for nail enthusiasts or for anyone who wants to keep their nails looking good (reviewed here & here). What’s great about glass files is that you can do the back and forth motion on the nail tip, and it won’t harm the nail. Glass nail files give you an incredibly smooth edge. And they’re so pretty to look at. IMHO, I think Mont Bleu Glass Nail Files from the Czech Republic known for all things glass makes the highest quality files. They comes in three sizes – purse, regular and large – and in jeweled and plain versions in a variety of colors. You can buy them singly, in bundles of 2, 3 and 6 at a time. Very affordable on Amazon in prices ranging from $9.95 on up. Free delivery for Prime members.

Derma E Perfect Travel Kit

A couple of days ago (reviewed here), I wrote about Derma E Perfect Travel Kit, the natural, cruelty-free, vegan cotton makeup bag filled with three TSA-approved skincare products that is perfect for the traveler or for any skincare enthusiast who needs to be introduced to this terrific, efficacious and affordable brand. The products include their iconic Charcoal Cleanser, Vitamin C Serum in an airless pump that protects the serum from degrading, and Hydrating Night Cream with hyaluronic acid, plant oils and other skin-loving goodies. There’s also a cute floral purse size mirror. It is on sale at Ulta now for $10.99 and on the Derma E website for $12.99.

Ministry of Oils Essential Oils

Ministry of Oils is one of my favorite brands of natural, organic , therapeutic grade essential oils. Right now, they are doing 12 Days of Giveaways on their website where each day a lucky entrant will win the bundle of the day. You only have to enter once to be entered for every day’s drawing. Plus there is special pricing for the bundles where a winner has already been chosen. Check it out and enter! The bundles range from $8.95 for 2 bottles of eucalyptus oil on up for bundles of 3 essential oils in other scents. Single bottles of Ministry of Oils Essential Oils range from $6.95 and up depending on the particular essential oil and the size of the bottle.

I also want to mention an amazing trial promotion from Ministry of Oils that is available only through a different MOO website, 3oilsfor3.com. If you use my code NEVERSAYDIEBEAUTY, you can order a set of 3 10ml bottles for $3. Yes, 3 dollars! You can choose from 4 different scent trios: Pain-away, Mood Magic, Relax-ify, and Love-alicious. I am using Lemongrass from the Love-alicious trio right now!  Honestly, this is a deal you can’t pass up if you like 100% pure therapeutic grade essential oils or you have someone to gift who does. In fact, I just used my code to enter the Relaxify trio. If you do take advantage of this offer, would you let me know? I want to make sure it works!

Guru Nanda Portable Essential Oil Diffuser

I adore my Guru Nanda Portable Essential Oil Diffuser (reviewed here). I think it’s the handiest diffuser ever created! It is small and it plugs either into a wall outlet or into a laptop USB port. You just turn your bottle of essential oil upside down and screw it into the diffuser – no water, no measuring drops into a full size diffuser, and so small it’s easy to store though I leave mine plugged in so I can use it all the time. It’s a must-have for essential oil lovers. It’s sold at Target, Amazon, Walgreens.com, and the Guru Nanda website for $14.99-$20 depending on the retailer. Free shipping with Amazon Prime.

Ann Voyage Fashion Jewelry

Last week, I wrote about my Ann Voyage Star and Moon Dangle Earrings as well as their super cute crystal cherry studs (reviewed here). Every day, the Ann Voyage website has a different piece on deep discount. Today’s earrings are being sold for $10 shipped. The Ann Voyage website sells earrings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, jewelry boxes, and hair accessories, all affordable. If you sign up for emails, you get a discount code.

Rituals Gift Sets

I’ve written about my love for Rituals Bath, Body, Fragrance, and Home products many times. They are affordable and come in a large variety of scent families. My favorite are Sakura (cherry blossom), Ayurveda (spicy, deep scent) and Dao (white lotus blossom), but there are oodles more that are appropriate for women, men or gender neutral scents. You can buy the products individually, but the duos, trios and travel size sets are the most cost efficient plus you or your giftee gets to try more than one lovely product. Rituals is sold at Rituals stores throughout the US and Europe, on the Rituals website, at Macys and Ulta.

Molton Brown Bath and Body Products Especially Muddled Plum

Molton Brown is my other favorite bath and body brand. I have tried a number of scents, but my all-time favorite is Muddled Plum that I discovered last holiday season (reviewed here). I found Muddled Plum in a trio of ornament-shaped baubles that I bought on sale right after Christmas in 2018. I found myself addicted to the scent that has notes of Victoria plums, dark rum and spiced warm saffron. During 2019, the scent was no longer available on the Molton Brown website, but I tracked down a full size bottle of bath gel, body lotion and fragrance spray. Much to my delight, Molton Brown has brought the scent back, and I purchased back up bottles of all three products. The scent is perfect for autumn and winter, though I love it so much I use it all year round. It’s plummy and spicy and not too strong. It’s kind of like a delicious holiday punch. Check it out at Molton Brown stores and website as well as Lookfantastic.com, Lord & Taylor and other retailers that carry Molton Brown. Muddled Plum Bath Gel comes in a set of 3 full size bottles called Merry & Bright that includes this year’s limited edition Bizarre Brandy as well as Vintage with Elderflower as well as this year’s trio of baubles called Festive Bauble Gift Set. Actually, Muddled Plum products come in a host of other gift sets as well as individually. The Muddled Plum Bath & Shower Gel is on sale for $28 on the Molton Brown website. The MP Bath & Shower Gel and Body Lotion duo is on sale for $63.20. Everything (all scents and products) including all things Muddled Plum is now on sale for 20% off on the MB website. And I just got an email that Molton Brown is 25% off on Lookfantastic.com, though the only Muddled Plum product left is the Scented Glitter Spray.

Aquis Rapid Dry Lisse Hair Towels and Turbans

I am a true believer in the efficacy of specialized hair towels. IMHO, they really remove much more water than a regular towel and cut down on drying time. I have one Aquis hair towel that is 20 years old! Since Aquis has updated over the 20 years, I got a turban a couple of years ago (reviewed here) made from a different even more absorbent fabric that’s also easier to twist. I also like the fact that it has a button and loop that makes it easy for the turban to stay on my head. There are lots of different colors now and even a couple of patterned turbans. Aquis towels and turbans are sold on the Aquis website where there’s a buy one get one at 50% off with code DECEMBER2019BOGO, at Sephora where if you’re a VIB member it may be helpful for you to get to the $75 level to get $20/25 back, and on Amazon.

Baskets of Africa

I’m a huge fan of handmade items of all kinds. So no surprise that I love African baskets. I’ve given them as gifts on a number of occasions, and they have always been well received. Baskets of Africa has a huge variety of different styles, patterns and colors of African baskets from a variety of nations. Prices starts at around $16.50 and go up from there based on size and complexity. Definitely worth a look for a distinctive gift.

Breakups to Make Up Bag

Any beauty enthusiast can always use another makeup bag especially one that holds a lot of stuff. Breakups to Make Up makeup bags, with witty makeup-related sayings on the front, are a fun and useful choice. I was hoping that Sephora had glittery ones like they have in years past, but the ones I saw on Sephora.com this year have adorable lining adorned with either red or white hearts on black. You can find the glittery bags as well as other sizes on the Breakups To Make Up website.  $26 and up

7th Heaven Face Masks

Put together a variety basket of affordable, natural, CF face masks from 7th Heaven (reviewed here & here). These single use masks come in so many different types, and they’re fun to use. They’re priced at about $2 a mask and even less in packs. You can find them at Ulta (I think), Walmart.com and Bed Bath & Beyond. Yikes, Walmart.com has the Peel-off Tea Tree Oil mask for $1.86 and the Argan Oil Mud Mask on clearance for $0.86!

Skincare and Bath and Body Products from Farmhouse Fresh

Anything from natural, organic and cruelty-free Farmhouse Fresh is sure to delight any skincare or bath and body enthusiast. Their charmingly packaged and deliciously scented products are truly to die for. My favorites are the Vanilla Bourbon Body Oil (reviewed here) the Chocolate Fig Face Serum (reviewed here), and the Fluffy Bunny and Chai Tea Steeped Milk hand creams (reviewed here), but I’m sure you’ll have favorites of your own.

I hope if you’re in a quandary about some last minute gifts or stocking stuffers, you will have found a few ideas to consider from my gift guide. On the other hand, if you’re finished shopping, bravo! Now you can enjoy the holidays!

Today's Author

Allison Cohen

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