My Secret Santa recipient could not have looked more pissed off at her present today

[Hassled]

I thought it was quite nice - some Occitane hand cream. I don't know her very well but she's always highly groomed, dresses well, seems very pleasant - I thought hand cream would be safe. She has no way of knowing it was me, at least. But seriously - a room of 30+ people opening their gifts, everyone going "Yay! Thanks, Secret Santa!" and generally being cheery, and she just sat and stared at the hand cream like it was a glittery turd or something. I feel bad about it. Anyone else got their Secret Santa present so drastically wrong?

Hassled can you please be my Secret Santa next year? I LOVE L'Occitane!

Oh no I was planning on buying my manager l'occitane hand cream as a little gift to say thank you!

I would have been really pleased with that. Just rude

snowy you must have a very select circle of friends

Lots of people I know use hand cream, all under 40 (as if age has anything to do with it...)

I would love to receive luxury hand cream. And even if I had never used hand cream in my life, I would still have the manners to accept the gift with good grace. There are some unbelievably ungrateful people on this thread. It's only Secret Santa FGS.

I too, love L'Occitane handcream. I keep a tiny tube of it with me at work. All my colleagues also use handcream at work - the soap in our staff toilets is typical industrial strength stuff and is very drying. We also wash our hands a lot, because we are in a school so try to minimise passing on/picking up bugs etc.
I've used handcream since my mid twenties.

I'm afraid I was a disappointed Secret santa receiver. In my defence though I got this

Everyone else was getting booze & chocs and I got that. It was hard to look pleased.

Oooo, that book is tedious.

I yawned just looking at the cover.

The worst of it was the guy who bought it came up to me afterwards to tell me how great he thought it was. So not only did I get a crap present I know who gave it to me.

I hate secret santa and this is the first year in over a decade I've been forced to do it (wasn't given an option to bow out). I'm the newbie so don't know my colleagues hugely well on a personal level, and they don't know me well on a personal level so this is not going to be fun. Fortunately I work in a school and have roped in a few older pupils to get hints from my secret santa as to what he/she likes.
Hopefully I get given chocolate.
Are gift cards not acceptable for ss yet?

Sasher, but the giver clearly thinks it's a great present. This is the problem with SS - everyone, it seems, gives great presents, but receives crap ones in return... Funny, that!

Secret Santa is such a minefield. Books- don't know my colleagues that well, candles- thoughtless, soaps and creams- some think I'm commenting on their grooming, booze- can feel I'm accusing them of being a pisshead, sex toys def out, joke gifts can backfire... chocolates seems the only safe option.

Secret Santa is shit for work.

5 lucky dip lottery lines could be a great present!

I hate my secret Santa but we don't open in front of each other thank goodness
£10 limit. Small group. Shared interest
I got a mini bottle of prosecco with a few truffles in the bottom. I only know because the dog opened it and stole the truffles
I'm not doing this group again. I went out of my way to choose something for my recipient and I've got a present picked up in the supermarket for a few quid
I think it's the lack of thought I'm pissed off with
Rant over

I think it's the lack of thought I'm pissed off with

But these kinds of presents (food, drink, cosmetics) are common because they are acceptable to most people and can get used up and thrown out. SIL likes to buy 'thoughtful' presents. Except they're not, they are completely her taste and not at all mine. So we end up with lots of things (little ornaments, hippy style clothing etc) that I don't like. If she went down the generic bottle of wine route I'd be so much happier, I'd either enjoy drinking it or cook with it and then never think about it again. We've all got too much stuff as it is.

I think my face was like this when i had mine - it was a box of friggin Christmas cards. I don't even send cards anymore. But they did come into good use I guess, 5 yr old wrote one for everyone in his class.

I understand it may have been deemed a 'useful' gift pah. I am not impressed with toiletry gifts either, sorry.

We should start a new thread specifically asking for people what they want from Christmas Santa.

I think I would of lubed up Mr Dick, waved it around asking who was first

I take part in a SS and with a £5 max limit. We all write our names down and add a suggestion. I love socks for example and always put them down. Got two pairs of colourful Xmas socks which I couldn't wait to put on.

The name I pulled out had "Red wine" and so I bought a bottle of that for her.

It's by far the easiest way to do SS if you do know other people's preferences l

I used to really enjoy Secret Santa when I worked. Our team used to open them when we were our for our Christmas lunch and they were supposed to be funny. So one colleague who was persistently a bit untidy and late got bath salt sachets to improve tidiness and time-keeping. One year I gave a colleague a child's fairy crown and wand, the wand made a 'magic' noise when you waved it, she wore it for the whole meal and to the pub afterwards and granted everyone's wishes. I think the time of opening probably makes a difference. Because we did it during a boozy meal while we were having a good time, even the unimaginative presents were received well.

I was told a story - not me - heard second hand from a friend. Her friend is a teacher - about 6 of them did SS. She misconstrued the whole thing, and bought her SS a vibrator "joke gift".

They then sat around a table, and she watched as 5 other people opened utterly beautiful tasteful presents - knowing that her vibrator gift was coming up. I don't think it's an urban myth - as I do know the woman concerned.

But dammit - how embarrassing.

The whole point of SS is it's just a bit of fun. Seriously - it's not meant to be about getting someone the present of their dreams.

She should just have said thank you and smiled.

I'd dump a sex-related 'gift' straight in the bin too, on my way to HR. Harassment and attempted humiliation, plain as.

I probably wouldn't play to be honest. I did once, looking at my team and thinking how awesome they were and how fun it would be, but when the names were drawn I got a bloke I'd never even spoken to. And who didn't drink.

I do an SS amongst friends which always seems to go very well - nice gifts, happy recipients. The aim is to spread joy, not humiliate.

Some years ago we ran a Secret Santa at the office and opened them at the team Christmas lunch. One of the women, in her mid-forties, got a pair of ear-rings and looked a bit surprised.

And while everyone lingered over coffee she slipped out and came back twenty minutes later with her ears newly pierced and said it had never occurred to have them done before - but since she had the ear-rings she'd want to wear them!