Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week and December holidays start in just a few weeks?! As challenging as 2020 has been, it has been a great opportunity to slow down and prioritize how we spend my time. Now for how I would recommend spending your money! After polling my Instagram followers, people seem most interested in a sustainable holiday gift guide by price that is categorized. Let’s get the party started!
Gifts Under $30 – Skincare
Indie Lee Discovery Kit – Indie Lee is one of my favorite brands and this Discovery Kit is a fantastic opportunity to try 3 products for less than the price of one full size product. My favorite gel cleanser: the Brightening Cleanser is great for all skin types, even sensitive and acne prone. COQ-10 Toner can be used as a spray/mist or wipe off with a reusable cloth. Toner is great to remove any remaining cleanser on your face and neck before moving to the next step of your routine. The Squalane Facial Oil is a pure 100% sugar cane derived squalane that is mega hydrating. I love to use this coupled with my Wildling Empress Stone to Gua Sha!
Josh Rosebrook Hydrating Accelerator – Great way for someone to experience an essence and see the value in prepping your skin for your next step whether it’s a serum, eye cream, facial oil or moisturizer! When I bought this myself I bought the 4oz. For a gift I think the 2oz is perfecto for a low cost, high impact gift. Starting in early 2021 all Hydrating Accelerator bottles will be made of 50% ocean plastic and 50% recycled plastic!
Indie Lee Banish Solution – If you or a loved one is struggling with acne or maskne I would recommend this! I use a reusable q-tip called Lastswab for this application.
French Girl Rose Lip Polish – Do you or a friend have dry lips? Or someone that loves lip gloss and or lipstick? This a great gift for $18, almost 100% organic ingredients, it’s vegan and it’s pink!
Under $30 – Body & Hair
Follain Refillable Hand Soap – My favorite hand soap, clean ingredients and no residue left on your hands. I have lost count of the number of people I have given this to, has to be over 10 at this point. Great house warming gift or in Covid world, great way to say I care about your safety and want you to be germ free and toxin-ingredient free too! If you live near a Follain store in Boston, Bethesda, Dallas, NYC or Seattle you can refill your glass amber bottle from more scents than offered online. If you do not live near a store, don’t fret, you can order a huge 38oz bottle to refill – lemongrass is my favorite.
Ursa Major Morning Mojo Bar Soap – My favorite bar soap has Volcanic rock grains so it gently exfoliates your back while smelling like peppermint. Great small gift for under $15!
Organic Bath Co. Rose Body Butter – Over 50% organic, smells like roses and is Black-owned and female co-founded! I want to try their Zesty scent as it’s 100% organic and has a natural citrus scent!
Kate Mcleud Body Stone – On my personal wish list as it’s plastic free and people rave about it! It is a solid, moisturizer or “stone”. There are a few different scent options which is why I think the gift set is nice because if someone doesn’t love one, it’s low commitment and they can regift to a friend. Th full size stone comes in a beautiful reusable bamboo canister and they have refill options via Kate’s website. Kate’s products won Eco Byride’s Best Body Moisturizer 2020 and made Goop’s Holiday Gift Guide, too! MADE SAFE certified, Leaping Bunny Certified and vegan. The sample sizes I recommend here come packaged in organic, unbleached linen cloths. They could be upcycled to gentle cleansing cloths. Win-win!
Innersense Inner Peace Whipped Creme Texturizer – Awesome to give anyone, thick, thin, curly, straight more texture to their hair. My boyfriend and I have opposite hair types and we fight over who has it when I travel for work. For $22 for this large container when you only need Nickle size to do the trick, it’s a steal.
Safety Razor – This was such an easy adjustment when reducing plastic from my life. The one downside is you cannot travel with a safety razor as TSA views it as a weapon even if the blades are packed elsewhere in your bag. Not a problem for me as I hate shaving so it’s a perfect expense to skip the week.
Gifts Under $50
Hey Dewy Portable Facial Humidifier – Spending more time inside than ever? Same. Is your skin more dry than ever? SAME. A brand founder and former esthetician recommended I buy a humidifier to help keep my skin hydrated. Given work travel schedule I opted for a portable USB plug-in humidifier! I saw this on Goop’s Holiday Gift Guide (sold out!) and the reviews are amazing. Cannot wait to sleep with this bedside, plug it into my laptop while I work and while I drive! Gah, I am so excited for this and it’s only $39. 10% of sales are donated to The Water Project. Get TWO for $69 with code: TAKETWO – Wish I saw this code before I purchased because this would be a great secret Santa gift!
Pleni Enzyme Cleaning Oil – An unscented oil cleanser that feels luxurious and does a great job of removing invisible dirt from my skin and can be used as a hydrating mask! Who does not love multi-purpose skincare?! Her cleaner is MADE SAFE Certified, Certified Vegan and Leaping Bunny Certified, too. Code MOIRA20 saves you 20% off of her whole line – her kid’s line is super, duper famous! The Founder Allyson is also the kindest, most engaged brand founder I’ve ever spoken to. She’s based in one of my favorite places, Boulder, Colorado and her background as an esthetician and Developer of skincare makes her extremely knowledgeable. She’s also the wonder woman who recommend a humidifier would help with my dry skin. Cannot wait to use her cleanser again tonight!
Josh Rosebrook Hydration Boost Concentrate – For $35 gift someone hydrated skin! I have gone through 3 or 4 glass bottles of this serum and am constantly blown away by how much plumper my skin looks when I use this product. I’m currently trying a new product with Hyluronic Acid and Josh’s is still #1 for me!
Indie Lee I-Recovery Mind & Body Gel – During election week I shared why I reach for this and place it on the back of my neck. The arnica scent is incredibly relaxing I find it soothes my stress. This is also Indie Lee’s favorite product that she’s made. I imagine she made this with sick patients in mine as her own diagnosis with environmentally caused Brain Tumor led her to create her brand. This is packaged in plastic but I think the benefits of the product outweigh the packaging. And I reach for this rather than having a glass of wine to reduce my stress.
Osmia Balance Facial Serum – Based in beautiful Colorado this 30% organic product does wonders to balance sebum (oil production) and combat acne. Every client that bought this after my recommendation has raved about the positive changes it had on their skin. Even, more glowy less oily skin. I am obsessed with the strong essential oil scent, I always take a second or three to enjoy the aroma before putting it on my place. It washes my body with calmness. If you are scent sensitive I would not recommend this.
Gifts Under $100
Goop All-in-One Nourishing Face Cream – My skin is finally starting to look hydrated when I wake up in the morning thanks to this ultra-rich moisturizer. In four days of using two time a day I have noticed an increase in the brightness of my skin, too. When a fellow beauty-blogger writes you that your skin looks incredible and the only change I’ve made in the past week was adding Goop you know it is good. Priced just under $100 it’s not inexpensive but a tab of it goes a long way so I envisioning this lasting me all winter (which in Boston where I live is 4-6 months). It is also packaged in a glass jar which I love and no surprise, made Goop’s Holiday Gift Guide.
Indie Lee Daily Vitamin Infusion – Want a serum and a facial oil in one product? This is it. The incredibly hydrating facial oil is loaded with Vitamin A, C and E due to the rosehip seed and avocado oils. I prefer this over Indie’s Squalane Facial Oil because it’s like a green juice for your skin – hydrated and happy. The scent is incredible though not overpowering. I have sensitive, acne prone and combination skin and my skin loves it!
Josh Rosebrook Active Enzyme Exfoliator – The industry’s favorite exfoliator removes dead skin and gives you a natural glow from the honey, the main and first ingredient! I have yet to meet someone that is not blown away by this product. I have finished 1.5 jars of this. If you have a nut allergy this may be a no-go as it has very high quality Horse Chestnut Extract.
Infrared Light FDA approved! – This is the infrared light tool I use and I do think it helps with acne, my mood and some fine lines.
Gifts Over $100
Organic Cotton Sheets by LL Bean – 100% organic cottons without the $200+ price tag! (Not knocking Coyuchi, I am so glad to see sheets that are GOTS, Fair Trade, Benefits 1% For The Planet and Made Safe certified they are just a bigger investment.) Also if you’re familiar with OEKO-TEX, these sheets were tested for harmful substances to the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Certification and Certified by Control Union CU 810031, GOTS Certified! Also LL Bean is based in Maine!
Tata Harper Restorative Eye Cream – My favorite eye cream. I have reviewed this countless times like here. It lasts 9+ months using 2x a day, visibly softens wrinkles and hydrates the thinnest part of your face. Very clean ingredients and easy to use the glass bottle with the plastic pump. Also, Latina woman owned and produced in Vermont!
Maya Chia The Straight A – Way superior to African Botanic, I have seen zero results from the very expensive brand. Though I have noticed a difference using Maya Chia’s retinol within the first week. I recommend using it every other night at first as some people’s skin dries out. I love the scent and the oil feels very hydrating! Big fan!
May Lindstrom The Problem Solver – As the name states, it really does solve your problems. The activated bamboo charcoal and the cayan pepper help reduce acne and inflammation and redness. This remains my favorite detox mask and because it’s in powder form it lasts almost a year using a 1/2 Tablespoon of powder and water! I try to do this once a week to prevent breakouts and help my skin flourish.
I hope you enjoyed my Holiday Gift Guide 2020! Let me know if you have any questions or want me to add new sustainable sections to the Holiday Gift Guide!
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