Unique gifts year-round

I didn’t want to do a Christmas gift guide this year… mostly because my own Inbox has been inundated with them, and I don’t see the point of adding to yours.  However, here are a handful of unique items that I think would make amazing presents, for Christmas or for any future occasion… my not-necessarily-a-Christmas-gift guide.

I’ll start with my favourite, the Rauk Heavy Tumbler.  Now first things first, I do not drink whisky on the rocks; any self-respecting whisky drinker knows ice kills the flavour. However, this is such a beautiful vessel I want it anyway.  I’ll just drink my whisky neat in this glass, thankyouverymuch.  If you know anyone who loves bourbon, whisky, gin or any other spirit that deserves to be savoured slowly and carefully, this glass is the perfect shrine for it.  They do another one, this double walled Norlan Whisky glass which is almost as beautiful, but the Rauk has my heart.

A lovely reader (thanks Lynne) alerted me to these robes on Instagram.  I know some of you are going to love them as much as I do.  The independent brand One Hundred Stars makes THE most charming dressing gowns I’ve ever seen, in map prints of various cities.  There is one for Venice, Paris, London, New York, Rome, Edinburgh, and Europe.  My favourite is the pink and aqua Paris version.

My love of perfume comes from my mother, who like me, has a very keen sense of smell.   I recently discovered Floral Street, a new woman-owned independent perfume brand.  I tried the a few of the perfumes in this line and the one that knocks my socks off (I’ve worn only this perfume since I discovered it) is the  Ylang Ylang and Espresso one.  It changes kaleidoscopically throughout the day as you wear it, like no other perfume I’ve ever worn.  When my mom was visiting a few weeks ago she (predictably!) appreciated these perfumes and bought Wild Vanilla Orchid, London Poppy, and several candles.   I’ll be covering this brand further on an upcoming London post, but in a nutshell it ticks every box for me: quality product, woman owned, sustainable, ethical sourcing, and recyclable glass packaging.  Oh, and if you’re a candle freak like I am, they are VERY reasonably priced and burn evenly and beautifully.

The brand, Messages in Metal, sent me one of their necklaces a few months ago.  The quality is great, and I think the U.S. State necklaces make lovely presents for people who are crazy about what state they live in (we all know several of those, don’t we?).  In my personal experience, people from Texas, Florida, California, and North Carolina are particularly loyal and think their state can do very little wrong!

When all else fails, one of my most people-pleasing gifts is a tin of iced biscuits from Biscuiteers.  They ship internationally, and have an ever-changing selection of tins to cover any occasion: royal weddings, beach holidays, Hanukkah, birthdays, etc.  Unlike most iced biscuits, they don’t just look pretty; they have lots of vanilla bean specks in the dough, so they taste delicious as well.  Also, they come so well packed I’ve never had one of my recipients experience a broken cookie.

As convenient as it is to shop Amazon and online in general, I hope you’ll take a second to think if there is a smaller brand (like these I’ve found) that you could support with a similar (and often better) purchase.  Christmas season can be make or break for some brands, and your dollars/pounds/euros really count.