£20 gift for woman with expensive tastes

[NovemberShiv]

I need to buy a gift with approx £20 for a friend of my Mum's (who gives my Mum a lift to church each week).

The woman in question is always well dressed, wearing expensive accessories etc. She has a dog and gets involved in Am Dram but I don't know much about her.

Mum doesn't want to buy cake / biscuits as she knows her friend doesn't have a sweet tooth / eats like a bird.

What would you get?!?

I would get an orchid plant and Freixenet bubbly. Both are very pleasing to the eye.

Clarins Shower Gel

Nice vase from Oliver Bonas?

A beautiful book

Quality over quantity every time.

White company is best option. Please don’t buy M&S stuff or make up, soap etc so not stylish and will end up in a drawer.

Agree with a White Company candle, be quick, there's 20% off for Black Friday

Leather/ sheepskin gloves

People are suggesting leather and silk. This lady has expensive taste and op will only be able to get satin pillow cases or the cheapest possible items. Or faux leather. No quality silk scarf is £20.

she is into acting. Does she have a favourite play?

something like this?

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-importance-of-being-earnest/oscar-wilde//9781913724054?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA9ourBhAVEiwA3L5RFtxcxwRTETinx045oN1Wrd1eAL9qD2TuZ238GskLBgjUxERobb2BuhoCaqAQAvD_BwE

and this

https://www.waterstones.com/product/leicester-wallpaper-a5-luxury-notebook/5015278336206

Even decent mulberry silk pillowcases are £50+.

I would just buy a good bottle of wine and some flowers (never lilies as they are deadly to pets).

The wine is always useable even if she does not drink much she can use it for dinner guests.

Buying soap and cremes for people you don't know is so awful. Most of my female friends are all very particular of what they use. It will likely be thrown away or gifted.

A book token then she can choose what she would like.

But you aren’t going to get decent Wine and flowers for £20.

I'm gifting a few of these this Xmas.

I'd stick to a potted plant. I like poinsettias. I'd get a really nice one.

Moving right away from hand cream & flowers, would something like this suit?

https://www.calendarclub.co.uk/british-library-illuminated-manuscripts-calendar-2024-314448

Some delicious morsel that one wouldn't regularly buy for themselves. Artisnal coffee, Italian figs dipped in dark chocolate, proper macarons. That kind of thing

For £20 ? Going to be rubbish. The woman has expensive taste.

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett, about a murder in an Am Dram group!

The Christmas Appeal: the Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Appeal amzn.eu/d/jcwJEwj

Or agree with White Company candle, decent chocolates (Hotel Chocolat are another option)

Sains Taste The Difference Prosecco or Cremant de Loire

I would go for a scented candle, nice and chunky. Or nice set of hand wash and hand cream. Definitely don’t go for wanky teabags or figs. I consider myself to have expensive taste when it comes to clothes and cosmetics. But good grief I’d be gutted if I got twenty quids worth of fruit teas. You won’t get decent flowers or wine for £20.

A coffee shop gift card.

a moleskine or papier notebook

You can get a nice bunch of flowers for £20 or a nice bottle of wine for £20. It’s lovely to be given flowers. Plenty of people wouldn’t want hand cream and scents are easy to get wrong. Also I’d love figs! I just really hate the “give women smellies” thing - I love a particular few types of shower gel / hand wash but I know what I like and mostly I don’t like.

I love Jo Malone bath oil. You can get the small one for £18. It's beautiful and lasts ages.

Nice wine, you can always take it to a dinner party if you don’t want it

Or if she’s a known non-drinker then a book token in a nice card

The trouble with soaps, scarfs and candles is they are so personal, it’s hard to pick for anyone else, and lots of people don’t like regifting them for that reason.

You can absolutely get a good bottle of wine for 20 quid.