These best Christmas gifts for friends are thoughtful and reflect their personalities. Moreover, there are practical and sentimental presents that appeal to most people, even chums who are notoriously hard to buy for.
This year has underscored the value of friendship, and the holiday season allows us to gift them something special. Be it a little pick-me-up or a kitchen gadget, it's important to spoil the people who offer a shoulder to lean on when the going gets tough.
Fortunately, we've created a hub of the best Christmas gifts for friends—so whether you're looking for impressive but cheap Christmas gifts for your inner circle or more generic Christmas gifts for coworkers, our finds will show just how much you appreciate your friends.
Where to find the best Christmas gifts for friends in the US
- Anthropologie: Best for stylish boho pieces for the home and wardrobe
- Lush: A classic for buying unique and impressive bath and bodycare
- Macy's: Bag designer staples at a good price
- Nordstrom: Save yourself some time and get all your gifts under the same roof
- Not On The High Street: Impress your loved ones with personalized gifts with a difference
- Sephora: Snap up all the latest beauty must-haves
Where to find the best Christmas gifts for friends in the UK
- John Lewis: Best for elegant home, fashion, beauty and electronic staples
- Selfridges: Find luxury gifts from a whole variety of brands
- Boots: Snap up beauty gift sets and premium beauty products at low prices
- Oliver Bonas: Best for stylish home decor and on-trend dresses
- The White Company: All the loveliest scented candles, diffusers and more on the high street
- Missoma: Get on-trend jewelry pieces loved by stars and style icons
- Cult Beauty: Buy all the best and newest beauty releases that are loved by beauty experts
- Bloom & Wild: Send them a doorstep surprise that will put a smile on their face
Our pick of the best Christmas gifts for friends
Ready to feel inspired? We’ve found 28 top Christmas gifts for friends—all you need to do is pick your favorite.
Best Christmas gifts for friends under $50
Help your friends scent their homes with a chic scented candle or reed diffuser from Blomus, which comes in an array of refreshing aromas, like Sea Salt & Sage, Rose & White Musk, and Soft Linen. Plus, it boasts 40 hours of uninterrupted burn time.
The concrete jars that the candles come in also make this a great idea for sustainable Christmas gifts as they can be refilled with wax again and again or used to hold pens, makeup brushes or even bathroom essentials like Q-tips.
This gift set is infused with a calming medley of lavender, sweet tonka, and rich ylang-ylang.
Inside lies the brand's top-rated Sleepy Body Lotion and Shower Gel. Whereas the shower gel soothes the skin with oat milk, lavender water, and hydrating butters, the body wash formula gently cleanses impurities. Ideal for the friend who loves to be pampered.
Give the ideal drinking companion, also known as the YETI Rambler Lowball. This compact tumbler features double-wall vacuum insulation, which keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold for longer.
The Lowball also includes the brand's unique MagSlider Lid: a durable barrier that protects the contents inside. Everything included is dishwasher safe, too. Available in eight colors (US) and nine colors (UK).
If you're looking for unique Christmas gifts to impress your friends, then this gorgeous hair perfume with make a stylish difference to their usual eau de parfum.
This will leave their locks smelling of sweet honey, and as honey is a natural humectant, it will also maintain the hair's natural moisture for silky, shiny hair in one go. One of the best flower fragrances, it's infused with rich floral notes that evoke lush greenery and cottagecore gardens.
A sophisticated set of gold-plated necklaces that elevates casual outfits and adds a sparkly finish to more formal outfits too.
It also features an easy-to-use lobster clasp closure. A great accessory for each and every occasion.
Empower your friend with Perimenopause Power. This read guides women through all aspects of menopause, from perimenopause and stages of menopause to sex and menopause. More notably, author Maise Hill encourages readers to embrace and celebrate this milestone. Unsurprisingly, it's one of our favorite feminist books.
This decorative plant will spruce up any space, featuring a uniquely painted ceramic pot. It's eco-chic, too—from the recyclable wrapping paper to a fully compostable bag made from potato starch.
This could also work if you're looking for Christmas gift ideas for neighbours, as it's a lovely gift to brighten up the home.
Adorn fruity cocktails in this set of crystal champagne glasses. Included, your friend will find luxe cocktail recipes designed by Mieke Zimmerman, an up-and-coming German mixologist.
Made of faux leather, this mini, TSA-friendly case features velvet imitation ring rolls and other sections for her essentials. Choose from a range of fonts and colors, just as your friend likes it. A thoughtful gift for those who desperately need to organize their jewelry stash.
These gold-plated hoops are timeless for their capsule wardrobe. Best of all, they're easy to put on and take off, thanks to their hinge closure.
If your friend wants more variety, perhaps they'll love one of the best jewelry advent calendars of 2021.
Arm your jetsetter with the essentials, courtesy of this carry-on kit by Pinch Provisions. Enclosed in a holographic pouch, this 10-piece collection includes dental floss, earplugs, an eye mask, and more.
Ideal for tropical getaways and festive adventures to the world's best Christmas markets in Europe.
The Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk palette features shimmery-to-matte neutrals and sultry pinks, ideal for crafting eyeshadow looks they'll love. This coveted formula is buildable, imparts rich pigment, and won't crease.
If your friend is a makeup guru, they'll also love receiving one of the best beauty advent calendars for the holidays.
This rose quartz gem is one of the best gua sha tools for tightening saggy skin. Aside from that, the benefits of gua sha are endless.
This do-it-all tool reduces inflammation, minimizes the appearance of fine lines, stimulates the production of collagen, and promotes blood flow. Needless to say, it's compatible with any skincare routine.
Designed to create creamy foam in seconds, the Zulay Milk Frother will delight your favorite caffeine connoisseur.
It's easy to clean, portable to store, and adept at adding the finishing touch to any coffee drink. This gadget even doubles as a premier matcha tea whisker.
If you want to treat them to one of the best Christmas food gifts this year, then expand their culinary repertoire with this set of spices. This bespoke find allows users to dip into various flavors around the globe.
Tour through France herbs de Provence, or visit Italian hillsides with oregano and crushed red pepper flakes. Turns out, cultural immersion is quite tasty.
The Mollygan Bag is reliable for their travels at the gym, at the airport, and in virtually every scenario. Available in a variety of colors, this duffel is one of the best weekend bags for women as features a soft shoulder strap that can be adjusted in three ways.
In addition, it features multiple pockets: a large interior for devices, clothes, towels, etc.; a zipper pocket for keys; and a shoe compartment.
This reusable tote is a sustainable alternative to disposable bags. Suitable for 750ml-1L bottles, it's built with freezable gels that help keep drinks cool overnight. It also features a collapsible design, which lends for convenient storage in the freezer.
To clean it, simply use interior wipes on the inside and exterior. It's that simple. Pair this with one of the best alcohol advent calendars for 2021, and you're golden.
The InnoGear Diffuser is a resounding bestseller for its compact size and thoughtful features, like waterless auto-off. What makes it one of the best essential oil diffusers is the two misting modes: the intermittent mist, which emits your fragrance every 30 seconds; and the continuous mist that keeps going until the water runs out.
It also is pre-set with eight soothing colors, so you can create the ideal ambiance and is available in three colors so you can pick whichever would match their decor the best.
If your giftee's wardrobe is full of the best cashmere sweaters but loathes pilling, then present them with a solution. With metal mesh screens, this comb de-pills knits, cashmere, and fine-gauge woolens.
It's delicate and gentle on lightweight garments, but aggressive when necessary on bulkier sweaters. Made from Cedarwood.
When it comes to the best gifts for runners, you can't go wrong with a hardwearing armband for their essentials. It features a touch-capable screen, along with an interior stash pocket and top zip closure.
With this functional accessory, your favorite runner can answer phone calls, change their music, and even text their loved ones.
Help them snooze with this multifunctional headband: a sleep mask, sports headband, and set of headphones in one. Compatible with Bluetooth, this plush gift provides 10 hours of power for listening to music, podcast episodes, and more.
The outcome: an entire night of entertainment on a single charge. Don't forget to snag this with one of the best women's Christmas pyjamas of the season.
Give your bestie an upgrade from the piece of strong bracelets you made for each other way back when with this bright and happy bracelet from chic jewelry brand Edge of Ember.
This is one the best jewelry gifts for friends, as it won't cost you over the odds but will still put a smile on their face with the elegant infinity symbol and joyous color.
For any friends who love a classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, this upgraded Villa Maria favorite will be well-received.
This extra special Cellar Selection bottle is packed with tropical fruits and notes of gooseberry for a fresh finish.
Everyone loves a personalized mug so this initial mug would make a great gift for those friends who have a hot drink in their hands all day long.
The striking letters and bright colors make a statement and the ceramic coating means that the mugs are less prone to staining.
You can't go wrong with a box of The Body Shop treats for a friend at Christmas and these coconut-scented products will be a joy to receive.
The rich body butter will keep skin smooth and hydrated for up to 48 hours and the soap, shower cream and pocket-sizes hand cream are fantastic extras.
Diptyque's signature Christmas scent Sapin is one of the best scented candles to crack out at this time of year.
Packed with notes of pine and housed in a super festive jar, this will keep your friends in the Christmas spirit all season. And if your gift recipient is a really big Diptyque fan, the brand also offers one of the best candle advent calendars around too.
If your friend can never choose between a refreshing gin and tonic or a crisp glass of French rosé at the bar, then this bottle of pink gin is for them.
Hailing from Mirabeau, who have long been experts in rosé wine, this fruity gin has zesty, floral and aromatic notes of lemon, coriander, rose petals, lavender, jasmine, rosemary and thyme. You could even pair this with one of 2021's gin advent calendars if they're a really big G+T fan.
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Treat your friend at Christmas time with these gorgeous little hoops that would look gorgeous in an ear stack or even worn on their own. You can even wear them in different places in your ear for an on-trend look.
Dominique (Dom) is a very online shopping writer at Woman & Home, where she covers products, sales/deals, and market news across categories. Before joining the team, she penned stories as an editorial fellow at Insider Reviews, the affiliate commerce team at Insider Inc./Business Insider. The bespectacled NJ transplant specializes in commerce journalism, women’s lifestyle content, and hoarding makeup—much to her mother’s dismay.
Her foray into storytelling began in the early aughts, the era in which she developed a passion for fiction writing and an aversion to math. This passion, along with many failed math exams, led her to Marist College, where she studied public relations, creative advertising, and English.
Aside from writing, she doodles in notebooks, crafts memes, and sleuths for homes out of her tax bracket on Zillow. Follow her adventures via the web:
Instagram: @domimcintee / @drugstoredomi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominique-mcintee-3a32ab9a/
To connect: dominique.mcintee@futurenet.com
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