The best Secret Santa gift is small, useful and easy to like: something the person will reach for in the weeks after it is opened, whoever they turn out to be. When you do not know someone well, choose from the things almost everyone uses: a hand cream for the desk drawer, a lip balm for the coat pocket, a fresh scent in a small bottle, a candle for the evenings, or a simple pair of earrings. We have chosen a few of each below, with a reason for every one.
What Makes a Good Secret Santa Gift?
A Secret Santa gift has an unusual brief. You are choosing for someone whose taste you may only half know, it is often opened in front of colleagues or friends, and it should feel considered without feeling too personal. Three things help. Choose something used every day, so it never sits unopened in a drawer. Choose a gentle or familiar scent rather than a bold one. And choose good presentation: a well-made tube, jar or box does much of the work of making a small gift feel thoughtful.
For Every Desk: Hand Cream
Hands are washed many times a day, and a hand cream kept at the desk is one of the most welcome small gifts there is. Look for a tube that slips into a bag and a scent light enough to wear at work.
Guerlain's Abeille Royale Repairing & Youth Hand Balm is a rich balm made with honey concentrate, in a 40 ml tube with a flip-top cap. Roger & Gallet's Neroli Hand Cream carries the bright, serene character of neroli in a 30 ml floral tube. Elizabeth Arden's White Tea Pure Indulgence Hand Cream is a lightweight cream with a delicate white tea scent, also in a 30 ml tube. For a little more ceremony, Chanel's La Crème Main Texture Riche is a rich hand cream in a minimalist white oval, 50 ml.
- Abeille Royale Repairing & Youth Hand Balm
- Neroli Hand Cream
- White Tea Pure Indulgence Hand Cream
- La Crème Main Texture Riche Hand Cream
For the Coat Pocket: Lip Balm
Lip balm is the smallest gift on this list and one of the most used, especially in winter. It suits almost anyone, and a refined jar or tube lifts it from an everyday purchase to a present.
Sisley's Baume Confort Lèvres comes in a small 9 g jar with a screw-on lid, with shea and kokum butters for dry lips. Avène's Cold Cream Nourishing Lip Balm is a 4 g twist-up stick for dry lips, made with Avène thermal spring water. Eve Lom's Kiss Mix is a lip balm in a neat round 7 ml pot, with beeswax and a touch of menthol for a cool, fresh feel. Clarins' Lip Oil Balm pairs the comfort of a balm with a softly luminous finish, in a pink-and-gold twist-up tube with an angled tip.
- Baume Confort Lèvres Lip Balm
- Cold Cream Nourishing Lip Balm
- Kiss Mix Lip Balm
- Lip Oil Balm Lip Balm
For Someone Who Loves Fragrance: Small Bottles
Fragrance is personal, so for someone you do not know well, choose a fresh or soft scent in a small size. A 30 ml bottle or a set of travel sprays is easy to try and easy to carry. For more on choosing scent for another person, our guide How to Choose a Fragrance or Beauty Gift for Someone Else goes further.
Acqua di Parma's Blu Mediterraneo Bergamotto di Calabria Eau de Toilette opens on Calabrian bergamot over a heart of florals, cedar and ginger, in a 30 ml blue glass bottle. Alyssa Ashley's White Musk Eau de Parfum is a clean musk that sits close to the skin, in a clear 30 ml bottle with a gold-tone cap. Roger & Gallet's Fleur de Figuier Eau Parfumée Bienfaisante, a light fragrant water, pairs fig with Italian mandarin and grapefruit over creamy milk and woods, in a 30 ml bottle. Kilian's Love By Don't Be Shy Fragrance Gift Set presents the eau de parfum in 7.5 ml travel sprays, opening on neroli with a gourmand heart.
- Blu Mediterraneo Bergamotto di Calabria Eau de Toilette
- White Musk Eau de Parfum
- Fleur de Figuier Eau Parfumée Bienfaisante
- Love By Don't Be Shy Fragrance Gift Set
For the Evenings: A Candle
A candle is a gift for the home rather than the person, which is exactly why it works for Secret Santa. Choose a familiar, gentle scent and a vessel that looks good on a shelf before it is ever lit.
Diptyque's Jasmin Candle is a compact 70 g candle in a clear glass vessel with a single cotton wick and the house's black-and-white label. Acqua di Parma's Cubo Nero Perfumed Candle is a sculptural black cube with embossed branding, tied with a black ribbon and boxed in yellow. Alyssa Ashley's Oceanic Breeze Candle sets a fresh, sea-inspired scent in a square glass vessel, 145 g, with a single cotton wick. Whichever you choose, never leave a lit candle unattended.
Something to Keep: Stud Earrings
A pair of small earrings is the most lasting gift here, and studs are the easiest earrings to wear and to choose for someone else. Keep to simple shapes, pearls and soft sparkle. If you are not sure whether the person has pierced ears, choose from the sections above instead.
Pandora's Silver Flower Stud Earrings are made in 925 sterling silver, with a four-petal flower and a gold-tone accent for a two-tone look. Stroili's Classic Pearl Studs set 4 mm synthetic pearls in 925 sterling silver, with butterfly backs. Dodo's Rose Gold Pearl Stud is a single stud in rose gold-tone metal, a small star with three pearl drops, to wear alone or beside an earring already worn. Guess's Silver Pearl Stud Earrings frame half-sphere pearls with a halo of clear stones, in silver-tone metal. For more on choosing earrings, see Studs, Hoops, Drops or Huggies: Which Earrings Suit You?
How to Choose When You Know Very Little
Start with what you have noticed. Someone who always has a coffee at their desk will use a hand cream; someone who cycles in or walks the dog will use a lip balm; someone who talks about their home or their evenings will enjoy a candle. If you have noticed nothing at all, choose hand cream or lip balm: they are the most universal gifts here.
With scent, stay fresh and soft. Citrus, fig, white tea, jasmine and clean musk are rarely disliked, while heavy or very sweet scents divide opinion. With jewellery, small studs in silver or with a pearl are the easiest shapes to choose, and a single stud is a quietly modern alternative to a pair.
Presentation
A small gift is opened in a moment, often in company, so presentation matters more than size. Choose a piece that comes in its own box or a well-made tube, add plain paper and a ribbon, and write a short card. A line saying why you chose it, even if it is only that winter is hard on hands, turns a small gift into a thoughtful one.
If you choose one thing, choose a hand cream with a light, fresh scent: it suits almost anyone, and it will be used every day.
