"Pot luck" present for middle aged woman

[redskydarknight]

A group of friends I meet up with regularly have decided to do a "pot luck" for Christmas presents i.e. like Secret Santa, but you are not given a specific person to buy for, you just need to buy a generic present that will be assigned at random.

I hate these things with a passion because I can never think of anything to get, while everyone else seems to manage to get well thought out unique gifts.

So hoping someone has some good suggestions for me?
The group consists of women from mid 40s - mid 60s; and budget is max of £10.

Agree with you. Also:

Don't get amaryllis plant, they're so naff.

Don't get diffusers, not everyone likes scent in the house.

For the drinkers bottle of their favourite yippee.

Poems? Really?

For the non drinkers, luxury handcream.

Ooooh! That's lovely!!

Bottle of baileys always goes down well, currently £10 in tesco.

I'm loving the nice bottle of olive oil suggestion.

I'm teetotal and always get a lot of booze.
I give it away at work.

Yes, I do too, and I noticed in TkMaxx they had some in really lovely ceramic bottles.

Luxury hand cream
Luxury soap
Nice candle
Fluffy socks or nice wool/bamboo socks
Scarf
Shopping bag

A waxed (no pot) amaryllis? They seem expensive this year, but I’m sure you’ll be able to buy one for £10.

I buy nice olive oil and it costs at least £25 for something decent. For a tenner you're just going to get something pretty basic - that's about how much it costs in Tesco nowadays for a bottle. I also don't really trust the provenance of foodstuffs from TK Maxx as you can't usually tell who manufactured it, so that would go straight in the bin for me. There's a lot of fake or adulterated olive oil about.

For £10 I think bamboo socks or an insulated mug are about the best you could do, or else a small l'occitane hand cream. Oh - or a friend gave me a small solar lantern that projects a pattern on the wall when it gets dark and I love it. I figure that probably cost about a tenner.

Bamboo socks or a travel mug I'd give straight to the charity shop.
A plant is a nice idea.

Plants are an awful idea for many people because they require input from the recipient in order to keep them alive and, honestly, I haven't the headspace for anything more demanding in my life.

As a middle-aged woman, just NO to a scented candle...that would go straight to a charity shop.
Also no to hand cream, moisturiser or any "smelly".
Poinsettia in a tin? No. Ditto all house plants.
Baileys is revolting, and safer to avoid all alcohol.
Reed diffusers and anything scented.... absolutely not. Vile.

See, this is the problem.... such different tastes.
I'd steer clear of typical "female" gifts for something more unisex.
Thermal keep cup not a bad idea, if in budget.
Jar of high quality marmalade (or homemade would be lovely).
A £10 book or theatre token would be perfect.
IOU to go out with you for a coffee in the New Year (only if a decent independent cafe, not a nasty chain).

Gift it to food banks - they are crying out for toiletries.

Chocolates or biscuits. NOT a candle, we do have electricity now.

Really nice socks

i an in the correct age range and I’d not use a lot on the list so far. To try to cover for anyone and avoid candles toiletries or chocs, and definitely not hand cream as it’s what I’ve always got in these situations and can’t use.

I’d definitely go for my first suggestion if there’s a nice local place.

A voucher for a local coffee shop, cafe or cinema.

local produce so maybe honey etc.do you have a local farm shop that stocks this stuff this time of year?

a jigsaw puzzle

a book with book token

stationery so notebook, journal or calendar.

If everyone can eat it a decent pasta set I’ve seen some in local Italian cafes so you can get some decent pasta or coffee or sweet treats. If not tkmaxx does do some decent Italian sets I’ve bought some before way under your budget with spaghetti, herbs, wooden spoon etc.

Local honey is a really good idea. It won't suit everyone (vegans, for example) but would I think suit most.

Local honey is a fantastic idea! (Imo)

Im glad that I’m not on your list - they are awfully smelly 😆

You don’t know you aren’t! I absolutely love them. One sister in law told me her favourite lush smell so that’s what they’ve all got 🤣

I think judging from this thread you should just close your eyes and grab anything from the closest shelf in the next shop you are in. It looks like it really won't matter, you might get lucky and it will be loved or unlucky and it will be hated.
Absolutely nothing is universally liked or even majority liked it seems!!

100% sure I’m not a teacher, my in laws are abroad and the only friend we do presents with hates Lush with passion 🙂
But I know there are people who like them

I'm middle-aged and would hate so many of these suggestions. Lush bath bomb, no thanks, never have a bath. Candle, I only like certain much more expensive ones. Reed diffuser, only like certain scents. Book or book of poetry, I dislike poetry and have probably read the book. Chocolates, I'm diabetic. Cosmetics, hand cream etc, I only use certain brands and they cost a lot more than a tenner. Prosecco, as with many other people I no longer drink.
Acceptable things would be a pair of socks, amaryllis bulb or notebook.
Really by the time you're middle aged you don't need or want any more generic gifts ever again.
The best thing would be if you all gave a tenner and gave the total amount to a charity of the group's choice.

Most of the suggestions on here are awful imho.
A jigsaw, OTOH, in a festive design would be very well received by me. And you can buy them in charity shops.

A beautiful notebook
Some cashmere fingerless gloves (Factory seconds on Ebay for around £5-7)
Lambswool scarf
Soap dish and soap