Skincare is deeply personal, but if you, like me, are a skincare fanatic (or, realistically, just if you’re reading this), chances are it’s one of the principal things you want to gift people, whether this upcoming holiday season or year around. I know with 99% certainty that everything I’m gifting is skincare (or cooking) adjacent, and everything I’m receiving is skincare (or mountain-biking) adjacent, and so I’ve been giving this a fair bit of thought as I watch the sales at Soko Glam, Sephora, Ulta, Yesstyle, Glow Recipe, Farmacy … oh, I have a problem. If you do too, hopefully this gives you some answers:

Questions to Answer Before “Adding to Cart”

Given that the sales are going in earnest, I wanted to cover some key things to think about when buying skincare for other people.

🤗 What’s my relationship with the recipient?

Close friends are alway easier to give gifts to, though you may be interested in expanding that circle or doing a Secret Santa, which can affect how intimate of a skincare gift you’re getting (see categories below). If you’re close to the recipient, I also recommend a “gift buyback” agreement, where if they don’t care for what you got them (but you do, importantly — no reason to take back skincare you won’t use), they can give it back and you can give the gifting another attempt. How close you are will also, typically, affect your budget. Being closer also means you’re more apt to know their skin concerns and skin type, which will dramatically increase your success in selecting skincare for them.

🤔 What sort of skincare user is the recipient?

It can be really tempting to get someone who is not into skincare, well, into skincare. But realistically, if you haven’t had conversations about skincare with that person yet, you don’t know if they’d want try a new routine, or how much of one they’d be able to stick with. If you’ve had long conversations with that person, know they want to try skincare, and know their skin type and concerns, go for it! Get them that new routine (more guidance on how to do THAT below). But if you’re not sure? Tread carefully. Folks can be sensitive about their skin, and gifting a new routine might imply that what they’re doing right now isn’t working for them. You might also run up against their health or lifestyle constraints, if they’re vegan, prone to allergies, sensitive to fragrance, etc. Learning what they’re already using can help you figure out what to avoid — both in terms of product type and ingredients — and what they might be open to using.

💸 What are our budgets?

Sales can really tempt us to overextend ourselves financially, because the deals are Just So Good. But ideally you have a benchmark for what you can spend for everyone on your list, and you need to stick to it. If you’re buying a whole routine, or what you hope might become a staple item for the recipient, you also need to make sure they’ll be able to budget to repurchase: if you’re on a SK-II budget but they’re on an Inkey List budget, maybe that whole new routine of top-shelf j-beauty isn’t a good gifting idea, and you should go back to the drawing board. On the flip-side, if you know they’re spending big bucks on beauty products, you may need to be a bit creative on how you spend your coin.

Categories of Skincare Gifting

Now that you’ve thought a bit about who you’re buying for and what you might be buying, let’s get into the different types of skincare you might be gifting. Categories are enumerated from riskiest gift to least risky:

🆕 The New Routine

If you’re in for a penny in for a pound, and have talked to the recipient about skincare, you’re getting someone a new routine. This means you know their skin type and concerns. If you’re starting from scratch, I highly recommend getting minis — this lets the recipient try a lot, without committing to a whole swathe of bottles of their vanity. I generally don’t recommend buying all from one brand, but if this is someone’s first foray into skincare, it will make it easier for you to initially buy and for them to later rebuy. Many brands offer discovery kits with minis of every item in their line, making it a no-brainer, and they usually come in cute packaging so all you need is to pop a ribbon on it. The new routine can be the most expensive option here, if you let it, though buying directly from the brand can help defray costs a bit.

🌟 The New Staple

Ideally they’re already using some skincare, so you’re just fleshing out what they’re using currently with some well-targeted options. The new staple can also be good if you’re trying to get someone into skincare but maybe they’ve been resistant in the past. For example, if you know someone who hates sunscreen because they hate the feel of it, you might get them the k-beauty sunscreen you’ve been loving. Or if they’re a makeup wearer who only does skincare to get their foundation to lie nicer, you might consider a mist or a moisturizer. The good thing about this category is it may enable you to spend a bit more per item, so it’s a fancier gift, plus potentially go for less accessible (financially or geographically) options, since it’s more of a one-off.

🛀 The Self-Care Package / Stocking Stuffers

If you really have no idea if they’re into skincare, or you know they are but have no idea what they don’t have already (oops, it’s me). I know I, personally, was into masks long before I was into any other skincare, and masks are still many people’s entry into skincare. This is now the second year I’m doing my Twelve Days of Sheet Masks for, well, everyone on my list, but you don’t have to do something elaborate. A few sheet masks, a lip balm and/or hand cream, and a bath bomb or two can really come together for a nice gift. They also serve as great stocking stuffers as one-off gifts, if skincare isn’t the centerpiece of your gift. If it IS the centerpiece of your gift AND you know the person is really into skincare AND you yourself are not, you can also really make their holidays with one of the many skincare advent calendars floating around.

My Gifting Recommendations

Basically everywhere is running sales right now, or will be soon. If this post already give you the inspiration you need and you’re not waiting for your next paycheck to hit — QUICK ADD THINGS TO YOUR CART, SUPPLY CHAINS ARE A MESS AND THINGS MAY NOT RESTOCK. If that’s not your situation, here are some thoughtful things I would pick for each category:

🆕 The New Routine

I’ve recently gotten into Farmacy, and they do some super cute kits. They also run some particularly good sales through their website, so check there before Sephora.

If you don’t want to go all one brand, Soko Glam does 10 step skincare kits per skin type. It’s more expensive because it’s more (full-size) products, but they are doing 30% off all November.

🌟 The New Staple

If it’s a product you love that you want someone else to love, you probably know exactly what to get them and where to get it from. If you need some ideas, the below options are almost all on sale somewhere right now, if only through their own brand site:

Sunscreen for the sunscreen hater: Isntree Watery Sun Gel or Hyggee Vegan Sun Cream

Moisturizer for the person who thinks they don’t need a moisturizer: Versed Skin Dew Point Moisturizer, iUNIK Centella Calming Gel Cream or Rovectin Lotus Water Cream

High-impact actives for minimal skincare user: Stratia Night Shift, Versed The Shortcut Facial Peel, Good Skin Days C’s the Day Serum. Make sure they’re already using sunscreen!

Skincare for the makeup wearer: Isntree Cica Relief Cream, Peach & Lily Glass Skin Mist or Banila Co Clean-it-Zero

🛀 The Self-Care Package / Stocking Stuffers

I love curating a self-care package. If that’s not your jam, you may want to go for something already in existence (like the advent calendar from Soko Glam, Stylevana or Beekman 1802). But if it is, I recommend these sorts of things:

Masks: Sheet masks can be expensive and wasteful, but that can make them a good splurge. If you’re buying for multiple people, you can also get them by the box, which drops the price per unit a lot. You can also get cute mini wash-off masks, like the ones from I Dew Care, which are more cost-effective and better for the environment — and also more apt to be repurchaed.

Bath and shower fizzes: If you know the person has a bathtub — and uses it — nothing feels more luxurious than a bath bomb. Many people love the ones from Lush, but you can find better, more local options. A company local to me whose bath bombs I always rave about is Salus, since they smell great, moisturize my skin AND don’t stain the tub. Salus also carries shower bombs, which work for anyone on your list who can handle essential oils or parfum.

Creams and balms: As we get into the colder weather, it can also be nice to have small hand and lip products readily available. This is another great option to shop locally, if possible, though otherwise I recommend going for travel-size options of hand creams and lip balms you already love.

Other self-care bits: Candles and chocolate also go well in a self-care package, in my book. I love buying candles from the farmer’s market or local boutiques and then pairing with Nuance Chocolate, which I’m also blessed to have nearby, but really anything you think might enhance that person’s experience, and is small and fits in your budget, would be great to include.

P.S.: A Skincare Blogger’s Confessions

Yes, this is my tree skirt. I dug it out of the closet just for this shot.

No, I should not be using this SK-II for pictures yet because I have not yet received it as a gift! I picked it up from Costco at Santa’s behest and have it set aside.

No, I frequently don’t take my own advice, and DO get people things they wind up not using. But I feel better by having tried.