The Nice List: Gifts For Girl Friends

This homage to the great Slim Aarons was staged at the beautiful Belvedere Mykonos hotel.

As much as I enjoy the festive sparkle of the season, it’s the coziness, as exemplified by these cosseting, mostly beauty-related gifts for friends, that I love the most.

The Biossance Love, Joy and Bestsellers gift set, now on sale at Sephora for only $56, is a tremendous value and a lifesaver for anyone whose skin is just assaulted this time of year by the dry air, wind and cold. (The entire Biossance line is built around squalane, a fruit-derived version of a natural substance produced by the sebaceous glands that accounts for 10% of your skin's oil.) There’s lactic acid in the Resurfacing Serum to gently smooth skin while it moisturizes and you get a full-sized pot of Squalane + Omega Repair cream to soothe winter-battered skin. There’s even a soft pink sleep mask so no uninvited light messes with your sleep!

These Martine bracelets from Suetables are the grown up version of a string friendship bracelet, but they’ll last longer as they are made with genuine semi-precious stones. At $36 each, (fashion pack must-have Carolina Bucci Forte Bead bracelets run close to eight hundred dollars a pop) these are well-priced enough that your friend can go back and buy more if she prefers the multiple bracelet look.

Crémant, a type of sparkling wine made around the champagne region of France, is, according to the booze snobs, subtler than champagne and softer than prosecco which has been the go-to now for a decade plus. Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Réserve Bailly Lapierre, $22.95, lcbo, with its beautiful orange label, is a favourite to drink straight or change up your Negroni Spagliato.

Who are those people running around with smooth, shiny, non-frizzy hair in the winter? They may be using both the gifts in this Kérastase Hydration Essentials kit, $87.75, Sephora.com. The overnight serum does its non-pillow-staining hair-nourishing magic while you sleep and the hands down, best smelling hair smoother there is, keeps your hair controlled for day. (Seriously, I wish the scent was a perfume/body lotion/hair mist.) Not only does it keep hair smooth, but it does it with that wonderful and let’s face it, very high end scent.

The Hugs & Kisses Classic Shea Butter duo, $24, loccitane.com is so much more than a tree ornament, It’s your best shot at keeping your hands from becoming all lobster-red and horribly dry and your lips from getting cracked and peeling off in painful little flakes this winter. L’Occitane’s beloved shea butter hand creme is protective and soothing yet magically lightweight. And when paired with L’Occitane Ultra Rich lip balm, which contains all the shea butter and beeswax you could need, you are now protected against everything winter can throw at you.

In my dreams, I go to a spa for a week with girlfriends and we spend our days having relaxing treatments, hiking and lolling by the pool, reading all the books that had accumulated on our nightstands back home.

To mimic a sensorial spa bath at some imaginary spa, Bathorium’s Amber Glow Mineral Clay Bath Soak, $48 for three ‘servings’, bathorium.com, is a soak-until-your-brain-melts wonder. It’s both relaxing and energizing with sea salt, red clay, papaya seed oil and a gentle floral scent to turn a bath into a detox spa treatment. Rinse off and then stagger to bed for an uninterrupted eight hours.

The model in the original photo was Aarons’ wife, Rita, and apparently she was quite cold and unhappy whilst posing for this shot.

The Nice List: A Free(ish) Seasons x Caudalie Diffuser

In its signature Caudalie Bordeaux shade, this Seasons x Caudalie diffuser is a beautiful addition to any table.

Looking like a ceramic vase or art objet, the Seasons x Caudalie diffuser may be the best Gift With Purchase ever.

If it’s getting a little too fireplace candle-scented in your home, this diffuser, that you load up with the stress-busting scent of Caudalie Beauty Elixir, is what you need to see you through the coming dark winter months.

Caudalie have partnered with Seasons to create this striking diffuser in the signature Caudalie Bordeaux shade to gently and continuously scent your air with Beauty Elixir’s famous “garden’s worth of rose, orange blossom, rosemary and aromatic myrrh” like a magical, unseen house fairy. And because you charge the unit with a USB cable, there’s no ugly power cord attaching it to a wall.

As a free gift with purchase in stores at Sephora through Caudalie, it requires a minimum spend of $300, which I know sounds steep, but a Seasons diffuser retails for around $180 Canadian on its own. So buy everyone on your list a Caudalie gift set (not even joking) and finish off your holiday gift buying in one fell swoop.

It’s just so beautiful. So many diffusers are pretty enough (I’m lying. I loathe most of them) but their ‘spa vibe’ only looks right on a shelf in your yoga room or in the bathroom.) But Seasons x Caudalie is chic and looks at home on a stack of books or on the coffee table. It really ties the room together. (100 points if you know where that quote comes from.)

Here are some favourite Caudalie gift sets from Sephora to reach that $300 mark:

The Vinotherapist Body Moisturizing Duo in just the prettiest pale purple hatbox contains Caudalie’s newest Vinotherapist Hand and Nail cream and a giant jar of their new, heavenly smelling, quick absorbing, vegan Replenishing Body Butter, $95. Sephora.com

The Caudalie Vinoperfect Dark Spot Brightening Solution Set, $95, Sephora.com, contains brand stars like the Brightening Glycolic Essence (a staple no matter what other brands you use) and the very effective yet quite gentle Brightening Moisturizer.

This is a great deal: a bottle of Beauty Elixir to spray in the air, on yourself and to use in the diffuser, along with a pore-clearing Vinergetic C+ Instant Detox mask, $25, Sephora.com. It’s your serene Saturday movie night, sorted.

(Semi-related aside: I am particularly fond of the tableau in the photo at the top of this story, because that is Craig’s winning entry to the New Yorker cartoon caption contest. mic drop.)

The Nice List: Better Gifts For Men

Colin Firth in Bridget Jones’s Diary, which, if you think about it, was a Christmas movie.

This bit of snark courtesy of Instagram..

Men get a lot of nonsense at Christmas, and not just holiday-themed sweaters. A recent gift guide go-to was whiskey stones — cubes of frozen soapstone used as ice cubes that wouldn’t melt and dilute an expensive single malt.

But despite the fact that they don’t really work, they refused to go gentle into that good night, and are now shorthand for silly men’s presents, along with beard oil and anything leather (see chart.)

The gifts below tread the line between silly and practical. They’re also pretty genderless. I’d be happy to receive any one of them.

Instead of, say, a monogrammed leather passport cover*, give him his initial filled with an assortment of delicious Scandinavian candy from Sukker Baby Toronto, ($69 plus cost of letter.) These high fructose corn syrup-free scandi treats make for a gift that will be greeted with true delight instead of polite smiles.

*We all know you have to remove the cover when you reach passport control, so that’s one item that always puzzled me.

Why are contemplative baths only for women? Everyone needs to hide out in a steamy room, submerged in hot, fragrant water. Steeping in a Dr. Hauschka Spruce Warming Bath, $35, Drhauschka.ca, is a powerful sense memory of being in a forest and the bathroom will stay beautifully scented for hours afterwards.

Give a guy a break and prevent him from pulling something when cleaning off the car this winter. The Karcher electric ice scraper, $79, Canadian Tire, will make quick work of that impenetrable ice glaze that covers the windows when the car sits outside overnight and the temperatures rise and then drop precipitously.

We love a shacket, and this toasty, quilted fleece version from Brixton, $180, Brixton.com, comes in pure orange for your favourite peacocking gentleman or in a clutch of more neutral shades if standing out is not his thing.

Now that everyone uses their phone to tell time, luxury watches serve mainly as a way to spend a truckload of money. But an oversized, brightly coloured G-Shock, thebay.com, is fun, a tiny bit silly and has the childlike appeal of a hard-won midway prize.

If your family doesn’t have their Scrabble tiles in a Crown Royal bag, buy a bottle of the famous Gimli, Manitoba whiskey now, ($46.45, lcbo.com), while they are offering the signature purple drawstring bag as a gift-with-purchase. Then drink it with ice, not whiskey stones, or add a generous slug to liven up everyone’s cup of grocery store eggnog.

The Nice List: The Gift of Sleep

Bedtime bliss: fresh linens, a reading lamp and an unimpeded path to the bathroom.

Apparently sleep is the new sex. And while I don’t want to delve into this too deeply, I do know that amongst my friends, an uninterrupted eight hours can be elusive. So here are some holiday gifts to help anyone set the stage for a restful night.

You don’t see lab mice hunched over their phones, doom-scrolling before bed. According to a 2022 study in Biology, copying mouse behaviour and “adopting a regular behavioral pre-sleep routine was found to be more efficient in facilitating sleep than medication”.

And just look at the helpful illustration that accompanied the study. Isn’t the fluffy mouse bed inspiring?

For a human nesting ritual, spray this heavenly-scented and relaxing Body Shop Sleep calming pillow mist, $18, bodyshop.ca, (made from 100% natural lavender and vetiver ) on your pillows and linens. Then throw open the window for that blissful ‘warm bed in a cold room’ sleep.

Simplest solutions are often the best. The Slip silk sleepmask ($70, Sephora.com) completely blocks out all light because even the faintest amount can muck with your circadian rhythms. This unbelievably soft mask is made from pure mulberry silk for breathability and even the filler is silk, as this is no time for polyester to be anywhere near your face.

I loved Flintstone vitamins as a kid so I was charmed by Nature’s Bounty Hair, Skin and Nails gummies. Their latest release, Nature's Bounty Sleep VitaBeans soft chews, $19, amazon.ca contain melatonin, the natural hormone found in our bodies that has a role in our wake and sleep cycle. Each generously-sized VitaBean contains 2 mg of melatonin and they’re a great occasional aid for insomnia or jet lag.

If your insomniac friends ‘partake’, then have them try a THC/CBN combo edible before bed, as CBN acts as a sedative by helping the body raise serotonin and melatonin levels. These sugar free Blackcurrant CBN Gems from Olli, $8.95, are designed to be low enough dose to take during the week with no after-effects the following day.

An epsom salt bath can soothe and relax on its own but the added lavender, chamomile and melatonin found in Dr. Teal’s Melatonin Sleep Soak, ($10.49, Shoppers Drug Mart) will help to calm even the chattiest of brains before bed.

All soothing, all the time. After your bath, the last thing you need is some tastebud-searing toothpaste to wake you up just as you’re trying to wind down. Hello Goodnight lavender & chamomile toothpaste, $6.97, Walmart.ca, is a naturally flavoured, dye-free, fluoride-free paste with lavender and chamomile that harmonize with the subtle mint flavour. It’s an unexpected flavour pairing that works, and a fun way to get more ‘time for bed’ cues.

No screens before bed! Instead, spend some quality time with this reissue of Hotel Splendide, a charming collection of vignettes by Ludwig Bemelmans about his life as a waiter at the New York City Ritz the 1920s, before he hit it big with the Madeline books.

Then turn out the lights and instead of counting sheep, just recite Madeline’s famous opening lines:

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines

Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines…