Whenever this time of year comes around, I feel a mix of anxiety and excitement over the opportunity to give gifts to the ones I love. Like many, I get inspired all year long through social media posts, Black Friday sales, local finds while traveling, and just paying attention to what the people in my life say they want or need. But then comes the time to deliver on all of my hype and I often feel like I fall short due to timing, finances, or just getting worked up with my own wild expectations. In order to navigate this expectation, it’s important for me to consider what may be causing the anxious side of me in the first place. Here are a few questions I ask myself:

Will this gift be purposeful?
Will this gift be meaningful?
Will the intention of this gift be received?
How will this gift benefit beyond just a singular use?
Will this gift negatively impact the environment or eventually attribute to waste?

Once I navigate these thoughts, it helps me determine what is really causing any fear or block I have towards fulfilling an item on someone’s wish list. From this point, I take the opportunity to let my creativity flow here.

What would feel ethical for me to give and fulfilling for the recipient to receive?

Recently, I was texting with my sister-in-law and realized we were on the same page with something really important. She told me how this year she wanted to gift her sons experiences rather than material gifts and the reason why is because she wants to teach them what really matters in life. Because the truth is that I don’t really remember many of the gifts I got growing up, but rather the experience of opening them with my family. One of the most memorable holidays was when my dad had been laid off and we were trying to save money so instead of tons of gifts, my parents converted old home movies to DVDs for my sister and I (which if you’re looking to do - check out this site).

That’s when it hit me that if there is any experience I might be great at gifting, it would be gifting self-care.

Every year my clients comment on how easy it must be for me to come up with gift ideas for family members because I could just restock all of their skincare. But the truth is that buying skincare for someone may seem like a great gift, but not everyone on the receiving end finds it to be as useful or thoughtful as you may think. Buying someone anything that has to do with their self-care, healthcare, or beauty care can be a little tricky. If you’re not careful, the gift can come off a bit offensive regardless of how well thought out you may feel the intent was.

There are a few things I’ve learned over the years that may help you navigate giving the gift of self-care this year.

Consider what the recipient loves but doesn’t get to do enough of. This may seem super simple but buying someone a facial who prefers massages may feel like you’ve missed the mark, even if you know they would love your facialist. This ranges for everyone so it’s important to take note and listen when your loved one speaks on what makes them feel good or what they wish they had more time for.
Just because a skincare product works for you, doesn’t mean it’ll work for someone else. If you’ve got a friend or family member who loves skincare and you want to get them a gift within the beauty realm, consider helping them with a mindful investment by setting them up with an educational skincare class or a tool to help enhance their routine. The only issue with buying product is that you’re not sure if it will be of use to them or not considering they may have a different response than you. A consultation or skincare lesson with a holistic facialist will help them get a customized regimen based on their specific needs, concerns, and health history.
Consider creating an experience! Perhaps self-care doesn’t have to just be a specific product or treatment, but rather an experience that can be incorporated at any time. Such as a subscription to a meditation app, a cleansing bundle of sage and/or palo santo, and a bath soak. Or if your loved one is more interested in an active experience, craft together a day full of outdoor activities with all the necessary goods packed and ready to go. Like a new water bottle, healthy snacks, and new tube of SPF. Either way, it’s an opportunity to spend time together or gift them the chance to finally unwind. Here are some of my top picks:
EXTRA! If you’re set on purchasing a physical item, consider the gift of a self-care ritual such as a gua sha tool with the TSC skincare rituals series. Here is my favorite new tool from Treatment by Lanshin that pairs very well with my tutorial available on my series.

I hope this inspires you to think a little outside the box during this holiday season. Especially with the current state of the world, I really believe that gift giving can often become a little more of a wasteful activity than it’s initial intent. You can also consider supporting companies like the ones listed here and do your research on which businesses are both sustainable and give back.

When you tap into the essence of who you’re giving to, it becomes much more meaningful what that individual could benefit from in terms of self-care. This helps establish a renewed sense of self-love that can help them stay motivated towards bettering themselves throughout the new year so they can feel their most abundant and vibrant. Now is your cue to download the Holiday She and Him album and get creative with some fun gift wrapping like in this video! The rest of the year is going to fly by, so make sure to slow down and enjoy this part. You deserve it!

Please comment below with any of your ideas for gifting self-care.

Have a beautiful week everyone and as always, thank you for reading!

Warmly,

Hayley

Find more ways to discover Your Best Skin, Your Best Self with Therapeutic Skin Coach