Gift ideas for this person?

[somersethous]

Not a candle! She's my brother's partner, I've only met her a handful of occasions so don't know her well. They live other side of the country. No kids. I find her quite uptight / slightly formal, perfectly nice but the opposite of easy going so I'm not too sure what to get for Christmas when we will be seeing them. I got her a candle last year!

She's quite fit and enjoys outdoors, maths teacher, not very interested in art or music or anything cultural or reading fiction from what I glean.

What's a nice generic gift I can get that's not completely thoughtless?

Nice insulated cup, one of those bamboo ones?

How much do you want to pay?

www.lululemon.co.uk/en-gb/c/gifts/gifts-for-her?pmid=regularPricedPromotion&pmin=0&pmax=49&sz=24&icid=quick-link-gifts-under-50-for-her-gifting-2024

Is it any good? They are gifts for women under £50 from Lululemon.

Budget?

Benefit mascara gift set (you can get them from £15 up to about £40 depending on what you want to spend). Many women wear mascara even if they don't wear other make up and you don't have to worry about colour. Some of the other Benefit gift sets are quite universal too.

Silk or satin pillow case in a neutral colour.

Christmassy mail polish if she wears nail polish.

A nice pen.

Don't stress about it. In my experience gifts from non immediate relatives (i.e. the smaller pressies), whilst very much appreciated are usually put away somewhere or re gifted. Sorry maybe that's just me and what I do! Ooops.

I usually play safe with those I don't know that well, and plump for a bottle of champers or Freixenet and very good chocs. They will be used.

If she is not a drinker, then a cashmere scarf all gift wrapped up would be something I'd appreciate!

Why can't you ask your brother?

So many wasteful gifts at Christmas which could be resolved by people communicating!

All gifts are thoughtless if you don't know someone well enough to know what they like, what they already have/want, their attitude to clutter/waste/stuff, their budget, whether they drink alcohol or eat 'treat' food or conversely if they have issues with these items etc

Does she buy you gifts?

If they're not going away over Christmas, what about a plant or some flowers?

Otherwise this falls into the 'unnecessary presents' category that most people would be best avoiding because on balance they'd rather not bother.

Yes she also got me a candle!! Haha!

I got her a plant as a housewarming and she's not interested in makeup or beauty stuff at all. I don't think I've seen her wearing makeup or jewellery.

Thinking about a nice notebook and pen.

Nice handwarmers,You can get them in different shapes and stuff and reusable. If shes outdoorsy and a teacher can be used for walks and any playground duties shes on. Add in aome nice glpves, maybe touch screen ones and a hat and you have a nice genericy gift that may be useful too.

Or a boardgame. Thar can be a gift to her and her husband. We jad a spate of people gifting us boardgames and actually surprisingly useful fun gifts and not something we ever buy ourselves.

What about a nice planner or diary?

If she’s outdoorsy, I’d get her something from Finisterre. Great quality and ethical. https://finisterre.com/collections/accessories-new-arrivals

Something cashmere from Turtle Doves

Sho have 20% off everything at the moment with code xmas20 and they have some lovely water bottles/insulated mugs/insulated food containers. Perfect for a teacher (speaking as a teacher)

https://shoreusable.com/products/your-food-flask-by-sho?variant=51819610505594

I think a nice scarf might be useful if she's outdoorsy and also a teacher, so presumably on break duty sometimes?

Is she into hiking? If so, a good quality pair of socks (ie thick ones designed to wear with walking boots) would be a nice present. Have you tried asking your brother?

something like l'occitane is my go to, some nice bath/shower stuff, on the basis that most of us usually buy shower gel at the supermarket, so something nice is a real treat
or their shea hand cream is fab