15 Inspiring Christmas gift ideas
11th Dec 2018 Christmas
7 min read
This festive season we've taken the hard work out of Christmas shopping by selecting 15 unusual and inspiring gifts that'll look perfect under your tree
1. The Royal Salute 21-Year-Old Masquerade Ball Festive Gift Pack, £160
If you want to delight and astonish the whiskey lover in your life, look no further than this luxurious 21-year-old blended scotch. The aroma of the cork itself will make your mouth water before you even taste it: sweet and candy-like, it’ll give you hints of peaches and oranges, with the most subtle touch of smokiness.
And then there’s the flavour itself: sumptuous, delicate, and smooth beyond belief, it’ll linger on your palette for hours to come. Bonus: the decadent ceramic bottle and velvet pouch make the drinking experience all the more special!
2. Pinkster Gin, £36 for 70cl
It’s felt like you couldn’t enter a bar in 2018 without bumping into some variety of gin festival or craft distillery—the spirit has never been more popular. If a loved one is a fan of the drink formerly known as “mother’s ruin”, treat them to this dainty pink spirit.
Flavoured with fresh raspberries grown just outside of Cambridge, it comes in a stylish bottle and makes for particularly pretty G&Ts.
3. Ormonde Jayne candle, £75
Nothing ties a room together like a velvety aroma and warm glow of a quality candle. And if you're looking for one that's extra special, try one of Ormonde Jayne's decadent new festive candles. British and hand-poured in London, you can choose between three alluring scents: Etoile, Mystere and Nocturne. Our favourite is Mystere: a potent, distinctive blend of smokey tea notes, pine needles, bergamot and cedarwood that gently grows in intensity as it burns.
It's the perfect aroma for chilly winter months, reminiscent of winter chalets, open log fires, oranges and clementines, a glass of cognac in your hand and Frank Sinatra playing in the background. Pure wintertime bliss.
4. Charles Farris Pinetum Candle, £65
This limited edition Pinetum three wick candle will fill any home with the scent of Christmas, making it a great gift for those who want to embrace the delights of the season all year round. The scent is composed of sweet green pine needles combined with cooling eucalyptus and birch leaves over a comfortingly rich amber and sandalwood base.
It’s a great way to bring the Christmas season to the long winter nights, and will be a runaway hit with candle lovers.
5. Omron EVOLV pressure monitor, £120
Perfect for friends or family with high blood pressure, this handy little monitor allows you to check your blood pressure in the comfort of your own home. Unlike the cumbersome and fiddly pressure monitors you might be used to, Omron EVOLV is compact, light and easy to use: one Velcro strap around your arm, one button pressed and away you go!
Not only does it read and record your blood pressure on an app that you can download on your smartphone, but it also logs your heart rate and maps it on a handy graph that you can view over days, weeks or months.
6. Yoyo (L) streaming speaker by Cambridge Audio, £350
Want to make the audiophile in your life obscenely happy? You can’t go wrong with Cambridge Audio’s compact but mighty new streaming speaker, Yoyo (L).
Let’s start with the look. Sleek and elegant, Yoyo features a velvety top panel containing all main controls, as well as a 100% worsted wool cover from world-renowned Yorkshire weavers, Marton Mills. The fabric is acoustically-transparent and treated to repel dirt, water and unnecessary wear and tear, and comes in either light or dark grey for you to choose from.
Secondly, if ease of use and practicality happen to be your priorities when it comes to audio tech, Yoyo will be a godsend. Between Bluetooth, Google Chromecast and Spotify Connect, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to streaming options, with the added convenience of ARC or Optical Input to connect the speaker to your TV! To make things even better, Yoyo comes with a remote control allowing you to fine-tune every audio option to your liking without moving a muscle.
Finally, there’s the sound. You won’t be able to stop smiling the moment you play something from Yoyo for the first time. The sound is rich, all-encompassing, vibrant and bound to fill every nook and cranny of the room, allowing you to enjoy the smallest nuances of every song, podcast or movie soundtrack. The ridiculously powerful subwoofers themselves are a thing of beauty. We recommend you put on a funky, bassline-heavy track or some smoky fingerpicked blues for bone-warming, tingle-inducing reverberant bass goodness.
All in all, it’s one swanky little audio beast that’s bound to become the epicentre of your home.
7. Appleyard flower subscription, from £22 a bouquet with free delivery
If you’re craving a little bit of luxury in your everyday life, a beautiful bouquet of flowers is a sure-fire way to satisfy it. Appleyard London is a florist that’ll deliver hand-tied, meticulously styled and gorgeously arranged bouquets of seasonal flowers to your door on a monthly basis, all year round, saving you time and the hassle of doing it yourself.
You can choose between the timeless and elegant Classic Collection, or the modern and sophisticated Lux Collection, as well as pick the length of your subscription and delivery date, and you’re good to go. Receiving these beautiful floral arrangements is bound to make you feel special: bursting with colour, alluringly fresh, and tastefully decorated, they’re the very definition of luxury.
8. Sana Jardin Discovery Set, £30
This sampler set from the world’s first socially sustainable luxury fragrance house is the perfect stocking filler for the environmentally conscious. Containing seven of the brand’s evocative scents, the set is completely free from artificial colours, parabens and formaldehydes—the transparency of ingredients and production is something of a marvel amidst a perfume market that’s notorious for harsh ingredients and secrecy.
Our favourite scent is the enchantingly named Tiger By Her Side, which Sana Jardin describes as “Seductive, mysterious, connect and unleash your true power and innate wildness.”
9. Furi knife Santoku gift set, £79.95
If you want to surprise the passionate chef in your life, these Furi kitchen knives are bound to send them over the moon! Furi is an Australian brand dedicated to creating state of the art knives with a focus on comfort, high performance and innovation.
The two knives in the Santoku gift set can be used for varied cutting tasks from fine chopping to dicing and paper-thin slicing. Scalloped indentations on the blade reduce cutting friction to make slicing faster and easier. Plus, they come in an elegant acacia wood box, making them a very eye-catching present for your loved one!
10. Vax Blade 2 Max vacuum cleaner, £249.99
If you're tired of dragging your hoover around and plugging and unplugging it as you go from room to room, this cordless vacuum will change the way you clean your house. Vax Blade 2 Max is lightweight and easy to manoeuver, while the boost function increases the suction to pick up dust from every nook and cranny.
The head of the vacuum is practical and flexible making it easy to navigate it around furniture and difficult-to-reach spots in your flat, while the added toolkit and a variety of brushes will make it easy to handle any kind of area or type of dirt.
11. Votary Darlings, £105
Treat the skincare aficionado in your life to a selection of luxury brand Votary’s best products, in a neat travel carry all—a perfect mini stress reliever for those who are always on the go. The set includes Rose Geranium and Apricot Cleansing Oil, Super Seed Facial Oil, Intense Night Oil, Intense Eye Oil, a face cloth and cotton carry bag.
The luxurious formulas of the specialised oils will leave their skin softer, suppler and refreshed for the new year.
12. Tarte Cosmetics: Passport to Paradise Collector's set, £46
Makeup gift sets don’t get better than this. With Passport to Paradise Collector’s set, not only do you get a gorgeous, shimmering eyeshadow palette consisting of Tarte’s 15 exclusive, vibrant shades, but it’s also accompanied by a beautifully delicate blush, the brand’s trusty Sex Kitten eyeliner, a 4-in-1 mascara and a sumptuous peachy nude lip paint.
They all come conveniently packaged in a pretty little box complete with a mirror that you can take with you when you travel, making sure you’re always fully equipped with all the makeup essentials to make you look cute for any occasion. The delicate nudes are perfect for a business/work look, while the shimmering pinks and metallic greens will ensure you’re ready for a fun night out.
13. Mermaid Shine Metallic Seaglass Eyeshadow Set, £28
These beautiful little tubes of glittery goodness are full to the brim with sparkles. The colours are densely packed with pigment and glitter, so only one swipe is needed for the full effect, but add a few more layers for a dramatic look.
They wipe off easily and without scratching (compared to many glitter products that do) which is great news for when it comes to taking it off, but also means the staying-power isn’t great if you happen to get wet.
14. Zatchels Empire leather Sugarcube bag, £90
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Simple, elegant, understated and compact, this Zatchels bag makes a perfect accessory that'll add a dash of sophistication to any outfit.
Carefully handmade out of real leather in England, it features an adjustable and detachable strap that allows you to wear it on your shoulder, crossbody or carry it as a clutch, as well as a charming leather tassel, a push lock and a little handle.
15. Chelsea Candle, £16.95
Inspired by the scents that evoke our nostalgia—from freshly mown grass to picnics in the Kentish Countryside—these candles are a great way to honour a treasured memory with a loved one. Think back to your favourite day together and select a scent to match. And why not include a thoughtful note about the memory, if you're feeling particularly sentimental. Our favourite scents from the collection are sea salt & wood sage and English tea and cedarwood.
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