When you’re giving a gift, the most important thing is that it has meaning for the recipient. It needs to be something you’ve put thought into, and that’s been inspired by some insight into their life. Almost nothing that is marketed and packaged specifically as a ‘gift’ will do the job: from novelty desk toys to ‘gift sets’ of shower gel and deodorant, these all scream ‘office Secret Santa’ or distant relative. They’re not personal, they’re not appreciated and they’re not meaningful.
What we need to do is find the secret of giving gifts that actually have significance for the recipient, and today we’re looking at exactly that.
Getting Personal
There is no one perfect gift: you need to get really personal to match a gift to a recipient in a way that will put a smile on their face when they open it.
For your friend who’s fanatical about grooming, and devotes time to their morning routine, a shaving brush set is a perfect gift. It takes something that’s a part of their lives, recognises how much they care about it and improves it. When they open their gift, a smile will break over their face, and that feeling of being truly seen, understood and appreciated will echo through them every time they use it.
Of course, to your friend with permanent five o’clock shadow, that same gift would go straight to the back of a cupboard, possibly to be regifted when they think you’ve forgotten about it.
Subscriptions
A good way to give a gift that has an impact beyond the day it’s given to look at the subscriptions that are available that fit your loved one’s loves. A magazine subscription for whatever publication covers their passions might well be appreciated, but that’s just where it starts!
Monthly or weekly subscription boxes are available for almost any interest group, however niche. If they’re a coffee connoisseur then there are several services that provide a weekly or monthly dose of delicious coffee, while for budding chefs ingredient boxes have been a fixture for a while.
There are even subscriptions for razors and other shaving products, as well as ‘loot boxes’ packed with merchandise for fans of any given franchise, so if you think a subscription is a good for a gift, you have a whole world of choice that will let you pick one that appeals precisely to the tastes of te person you’re buying for.