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?

Just about everyone in my office uses handcream, including a lot of the blokes. I am amazed that someone doesn't need it - what naturally greasy palms you must have

My cupboard is groaning with body shop body butter 😩

I was the boss. I got nipple tassels. There's no way to respond to that. Laughing uproariously would have been fake from me.

I really love handcream (and general body butters and lotions and potions!) especially in this cold weather when my hands tend to get a little dry. I'd have been very happy with that as a gift but it's true that you just can't please everyone! As you said at least she can't know it was you

I hope I don't get a candle - there is a risk of that. I will have to fake it for that one. I am confident no one in my genteel and right on work place will be buying nipple tassels or edible thongs. I don't think I could actually work in a place with that sort of culture, I am obviously more prissy than I realised.

OP,

Another one here reassuring you that anything from L'Occitane's range, frankly...(well, perhaps less so products specifically labelled "Anti-Ageing" !) would have been greatly appreciated , had you been my SS.

Love their stuff, it's great quality and nicely packaged.

Mrs Grinch clearly thought differently. And has poor acting skills. Her loss.

Is no one else a bit shocked about the nasty SS presents?
Latex dildo?
Lube?
Nipple tassels?
Nude lady apron?
FFs. If anyone in my team did something like this they'd have their arse handed to them wrapped in a p45.

Any of those would be an automatic sex discrimination claim. It's totally humiliating.
Queen that was a horrible thing to do to you .

I use hand cream all the time and I'm 25! Office full of 20 somethings and we all do.

You could have at least put the tassels on, Kevin.

Lord knows what face she 'll make when she pulls her cracker on Christmas day and realises she got those useless nail clippers that don't actually work or the comedy moustache.

Just about to put my old lady handcream on my old lady hands before bed!

Ooh, and it's L'Occitane.

And I LOVE IT.

I want a melting snowman!!!!!

I wouldn't want hand cream but I wouldn't have a face like a slapped arse over it either......

I once bought someone a blow up boyfriend as a secret santa as she could never keep a man, I meant it in a light hearted jokey way but.. she didn't quite see it like that!

charlotte that happened in our office years ago too, the girl was really upset.

I've honestly never had dry hands in my life - I don't really get dry skin at all, come to think of it. But I would still feign gratitude.

Any of those would be an automatic sex discrimination claim. It's totally humiliating.
That depends on the office, surely. We're a really small department and nearly all of us are good friends outside of work (and even those I don't "hang out with" I get along with). I wouldn't get anyone a sex toy because it's not really my style but I certainly wouldn't be offended or humiliated if my friend got me one.

I'm pretty sure there was a very irked poster on a thread recently complaining about their blow up boyfriend present after just coming out of a long relationship. Oh dear .

Well, DH and I have a total combined age of 90 and keep a bottle of this in the kitchen!
www.amazon.co.uk/FLEXITOL-UREA-CREAM-PUMP-500G/dp/B0174S4R72/ref=sr_1_11_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1481753379&sr=8-11&keywords=flexitol

I've always suffered with dry, cracked hands - I tried to aoid them in my teens by wearing rubber gloves for washing up and just ended up with them in an even worse state because I'm sensitive to latex.

So, now I use disposable vinyl or nitrile gloves when using anything irritating (I can't pick stuff up with the reusable ones because they're too thick) and blather my hands in this stuff after I've finished. Then I inevitably spot a sticky patch that the boys have left or something and have to wipe that up, or realise I need a wee and have to do the blathering all over again.

Why would you buy someone a sex related product for someone you work with?

Even if you know them well, or you're friends outside work it is the least appropriate thing you could choose.

Actually, my hands aren't in bad condition, at the moment, with no serious cracks, but this is the state of them after helping ds1 to wash his hair and forgetting to blather. They look about 85, even though they're not.

Regarding the blow-up boyfriend issue, one of my colleagues told me she once bought one as a Secret Santa gift for a girl who used to work there (who left before I started). Apparently the girl was in a long-distance relationship or something and did NOT find the gift funny (I wouldn't have either tbh) but my colleague was baffled and thought it was hilarious, even years later. I didn't really know what to say...

It's a nice enough present, easy to fake being pleased to have got.

I wouldn't have been able to use it though, the only hand cream I can use is Clarins, I've tried many over the years and this is the only one I can bear the feel of, every other one feels greasy and horrible. I wish it wasn't the case though, as the Clarins one doesn't smell nice & plenty of others do.

I'd have liked the melting snowman, the red wine &,I'd have laughed at the 'rude' ones.

SleightOfMind. Over the top as usual, aren't you getting bored of that yet?

Some people are just so ungrateful

She could of been happy with the gift put was a bit puzzled by it or she knows the brands and thought differently about the brand of the cream.

One person on our team did receive a sex toy- no I didn't buy it! However we're an all girl team, mainly young and quite open about things and apparently she was delighted to add it to her collection

I Guess the snowman is hit and miss - I just thought it was a fun thing to have on your desk to fiddle with - he's got a seven year old son so I guess he'll like it if the guy doesn't

I bought one for myself too

I would have appreciated that brand of handcream....maybe she was expecting a diamond?????
I hope she gets what she wants on Christmas Day....high maintenance lady!
It's secret santa FFS..how can anyone be offended by a good quality handcream.
One year my friend wasn't happy with her gift as everyone else had branded toiletries and she got wine and chocolates....the next year she demanded we choose from a list of companies...secret santa no more.

I love L'Occitane hand cream - it's not for old ladies like Atrixo

I've had hands that shrivel & crack in the winter all my life!

Miserable bat