NOT JUST NOT AT CHRISTMAS
What not to give
Don’t worry, we don’t want to spoil the joy of giving.
But nobody needs gifts that end up in the basement and in the garbage or that cause trouble.
7 tips on what NOT to give for Easter, Christmas and other occasions:
1 COSMETICS
I’ll never forget the look on that classmate’s secret Santa at school, who was expectantly unwrapping her gift and staring at a hair shampoo and deodorant with a horrified face.
Another teenager in our class thought she should use both more often. Knowing her further path in life, I suspect that this gift has left deep scars on her.
Therein lies the fundamental problem with cosmetic gifts. The recipient is slightly irritated by the possible potential for self-optimization.
Unless…
You know that your girlfriend loves the perfume Portrait of a Lady by perfumer Dominique Ropion. Since you also know that she saves this perfume for special moments, since the Frederic Malle Edition perfumes are expensive due to the high-quality ingredients, this generous gift is a wonderful gesture.
Your girlfriend realizes that you have listened to her and are not giving the perfume away because it was featured in a glossy magazine as a gift recommendation.
2 HOME INTERIOR
Even if you would like to give away what you would like to have yourself, this is not a good idea for furnishings such as a throw blanket, a vase, a cushion or even a work of art. Nothing is as individual as your own home furnishings.
A gift for furnishing is often perceived by the recipient as a far-reaching intervention in their own design.
My home is my castle also applies to everything that can or cannot be seen there. Particularly polite people put the name of the recipient on such a gift, which they don’t really like, store it in the cellar and bring it out for occasional visitors.
Unless…
They give something for the living area that can be used up: scented candles or scented matches. You can’t go wrong with this. If you have found the perfect taste, the recipient will place the scented candle on the desk or next to the bathtub and enjoy the scent.
If the recipient doesn’t like the smell of the candle, which you find so wonderful yourself, the scented candle for the guest toilet is already in store for the next party. A scented candle always fits.
A soap can also be a welcome gift if it is accompanied by a story that shows you have listened carefully to the recipient.
3 FLOWERS
Three reasons speak against flowers: Many types of flowers are symbolically charged. While some find white lilies in the living room elegant and stylish, others think of the cemetery when they see white lilies. You never know.
The ecological footprint is also becoming increasingly important for flowers. The recipient looks horrified at the beautiful, long-stemmed roses that you bought for a lot of money in winter and immediately thinks of air miles and unworthy working conditions on some exotic flower plantations.
Last but not least – every flower lover knows it: As beautiful as a bouquet is, it always ends with work. The withered flowers need to be disposed of properly and the vase needs to be cleaned afterwards. The last impression of your flower gift is therefore additional work and mostly when you don’t have any time left.
Unless…
If you know that the recipient loves flowers more than anything, a course with a popular florist is an ideal gift. There he or she can learn how to effectively arrange faded tulips or how a single flower in an unusual container is shown to its best advantage.
Ideally, he would travel through forests and meadows with the hottest flower arranger to create a hip arrangement of ivy (which would otherwise have killed the trees), grasses (which spread thousands of pollen every year and of which there is no shortage) according to Local Foraging. and a branch (that fell during the storm) to create an arrangement that is both breathtaking and ecologically sound.
Because of course it is not the highly questionable floral foam that is used for the arrangement, but dried hay bundles. This gift from you will be remembered forever compared to a bouquet of flowers.
Or send the flower lover one of flower artist Makoto Azuma’s ethereally beautiful illustrated books. A gift that will appeal to all lovers of aesthetic flower arrangements and will not wither.
4 ALCOHOL
“We found the wine so good in southern France” “This is our favorite gin from Appenzell in Switzerland, which we particularly like
rs like” “You like whiskey”
The disappointment of the recipient is almost inevitable. Because for a whiskey connoisseur there are worlds between a peaty, smoky whiskey and a fine, smooth, balanced single malt from Speyside. Both have their respective lovers, but you must know the individual preferences very well.
When it comes to alcohol, it’s almost completely wrong. If you’re lucky, you’ll get the well-meant gift back in new packaging at the next opportunity.
Unless…
Champagne always works. Because according to Winston Churchill who said “I could not live without champagne – in victory I deserve it, in defeat I need it” almost every day is actually a champagne day. Now, if you put a little effort into choosing champagne, your gift will always be welcome.
If it’s not quite the champagne style you want, the bottle can still be used in the saucepan.
5 CLOTHING
In addition to individual taste, there is also the problem of size. And according to the saying “A gift horse …” you do not want to pack the receipt for a possible exchange.
Unless…
You know that someone you want to spoil has long dreamed of an extraordinary hat but would never afford one. Then giving is easy. A voucher for a Fiona Bennett hat makes everyone who dreams of an extraordinary hat happy.
However, insist on coming to the hat shop because a second look is always a good thing when it comes to hats and it is also a nice experience to choose a dream hat together.
A pocket square is also an ideal gift: you can’t go wrong with unusual patterns, colors and materials, because the greater the contrast between the colors and material of the pocket handkerchief and the jacket, the better.
In addition, the smart accessory is so light that you can also make the postman or courier driver happy with it.
6 COOKING BOOKS
At first glance, it sounds like you really can’t go wrong with it.
Many cookbooks, even if they look tempting, are poorly researched. Many a cookbook has ended up in the waste paper bin after trying it out at GloriousMe. Because if the recipes are not tested and don’t work, you don’t want to expect the cookbook from a second reader who would waste valuable food trying to cook the recipes that don’t work.
Unless…
They are giving away the Pasta Grannies book. For one thing, there are very few people who don’t melt at the sight of a well-made pasta. On the other hand, Vicki Bennison’s book is much more than a cookbook.
The Italian grandmothers not only inspire every pasta lover with their recipes of regional pasta that have been tried and tested for decades and sauces that have been cooked a hundred times. Getting to know the lives of Giuseppa, Ada, Domenica, Selvina, Rachele, Rosa, Ida and Maria and seeing their contagious smiles in the excellent photographs is an inspiration in every respect.
Don’t forget the dedication in the book, which also makes this gift even more personal.
7 FOOD
Truffle oil, cranberry vinegar, Himalayan salt … popular gifts for gourmets. Unfortunately, every gourmet has their own ideas about what they really like and what they don’t. Another remaining item for the chamber and cellar, since nobody likes to throw away food.
Unless…
A cold-pressed olive oil whose provenance you know exactly because you were there when the olives were harvested is always well received, especially since there are many fakes on the market.
If your friends love to cook but are very busy during the week, you can save them a lot of time with an aromatherapy elixir that you have prepared yourself.
A crusty sourdough bread without any additives, the dough of which has been made for days, is always a welcome gift that also freezes well.
The simple rule is: don’t panic last minute. Better than a gift that does not bring joy is a voucher for an invitation to celebrate a nice sake together.
Incidentally, conservative etiquette includes a handwritten thank-you letter for a Christmas present. From GloriousMe’s point of view, a stylish thank you card is sufficient these days.
If you do not receive a thank you, you can save the next gift for this person with a light heart. Your message obviously didn’t get through.
However, you may not have received a thank you for your gift because your gift was simply lost. At larger celebrations, the gift is quickly placed on a gift table and it is often hardly possible for the recipient to identify who gave the gift.
Therefore belongs to every gift
n small gift tag that makes assignment easy. You will find attractive gift tags in the GloriousMe Shop. It would be a pity if you didn’t get thanks for your well-lived gift.
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