18 beauty stocking stuffers for $25 (and under!) I’m buying everyone I know

At first glance you might think, Why in the world would I need a silk pillowcase? AM I AN EMPRESS? Are we in Hollywood in 1934? Should I start sleeping in a face of cold cream and calling people dah-ling? Do I need a silk robe and high-heeled slippers too? 

But then you learn the facts: Silk pillowcases support the health of both skin and hair. Research shows they prevent wrinkles, they keep your hair from frizzing and they help regulate your temperature while you sleep. I received one as a gift for my birthday last year and it’s among the most quietly luxurious items I’ve ever owned. 

Buying tip: Look for versions made of mulberry silk (like this one from Zimasilk), which has longer, more durable fibers that make the fabric both softer and longer-lasting.  

There are many successful gifting strategies, but here’s a fail-safe one I often employ: “This is a trending product everyone is talking about and everyone loves and I wanted you to know about it and try it too.” The Laneige lip mask has more than 15 million TikTok mentions (and counting!), and has been recommended zealously by more celebrities than I can honestly count (among them: Kelly Ripa, Brooke Shields, Kate Moss, Keke Palmer and Kate Hudson). People are obsessed with this product, they say it works better than Aquaphor for dry lips, they say it’s changed their whole chapped-mouth-in-winter lives, they wax poetic about the texture, the taste and most importantly, the results. The cool girls in your life will be impressed and thank you for it, and the less up-on-trends giftees … they’ll be pleasantly, happily surprised. 

If I could, I’d buy every person I know a bottle of CosRx snail serum — it’s truly a favorite product, one of the most effective skin-care items for complexion smoothing, skin softening and dark-spot lightening I’ve ever tried. But, because handing over a bottle of snail mucus on a major holiday might seem a wee strange (and also not everyone’s thing), these sheet masks are a quality alternative. They contain the award-winning snail slime, are highly hydrating and work for most any skin type. Users report they help with skin inflammation and even rosacea, and this pack of 10 is a solid entry point into the famous K-beauty line.

I love the Dr. PawPaw balm because it feels like one of those medicine-cabinet-staple, workhorse products you’ve just always had around. It’s a high-quality emollient for chapped lips and cracked knuckles, it helps soothe irritated skin of all stripes (and even, purportedly helps relieve symptoms from skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis), it’s a handy treatment for bug bites and cuts and it works to tame stray brows and even hair flyaways. Some users say it works great as a makeup primer, others apply it all over the face to lock in moisture overnight. It’s a perfect stocking stuffer: under $10 and really a product that does it all.   

Bathing culture — literally sitting in warm water in public spaces, often surrounded by idyllic nature scenes — is a big part of Japanese health and wellness culture. With scent profiles such as “flowers” “moss” “wood” and “herbs,” these simple yet luxurious bath powders are meant to re-create the experience of an onsen/hot spring you’d find in Japan in your own at-home bath. The mineral salt formula includes ingredients like rosemary, lavender and jojoba seed oil to improve the health of your skin while relaxing your muscles as you soak. Maybe best of all is the vibrant packaging, which is cute enough to be displayed year ’round. 

There comes a moment in the life of every gift giver when you know you should purchase a gift but feel completely, utterly stumped over what to get. Whether it’s what to buy long-lost Cousin Betty or what to bring to the blind office gift exchange, these famously tasteful Portuguese soaps are sure to impress. They’ve been a coveted gift since 1887 and today, they’re still made in Porto, Portugal by one of the oldest family-owned soap manufacturers in the world. There are multiple scents to choose from — my favorite, honeysuckle, is made up of natural ingredients, including shea butter, orange blossom and, yes, honeysuckle, and packaged in brightly-colored, art-deco-inspired packaging that looks like flowers set against a deep-blue sky.

It’s hard to choose just one Kitsch hair clip, but I’m particularly fond of this geometric, gilded style which holds even the thickest hair in place while never leaving behind unappealing marks or ponytail creases. The gold design is sculptural in a cool way, goes with everything and is an updated take on the classic tortoiseshell claw clip you wore in 1997.

I have yet to find a person who does not love the smell of this silky, non-greasy, hydrating “dry” oil. The universally beloved French pharmacy staple is amazing for adding hydration to one’s face, body and even hair.

Remember during the pandemic when you had about 17 different bottles of hand sanitizer going at once which meant you had about 17 tiny plastic bottles that you eventually threw away only to purchase 17 more tiny plastic bottles only to again throw those away and … well, Noshinku has a solution to your plastic waste/”I just wanna avoid germs and not murder the planet” problem. Arguably the world’s most luxurious hand sanitizer, these sleek, refillable, pocket-size flask-shaped bottles contain aloe, jojoba and argan to moisturize skin while simultaneously neutralizing 99% of the bacteria they encounter. Plus, they smell amazing. This three-pack “discovery” set allows your gift recipient to sample the line’s popular bergamot, lavender and eucalyptus scents. (I know I’m cheating a bit with this $26 gift, but truly it’s a good deal and a perfect stocking stuffer, versatile enough for anyone on your list).

This wildly popular, all-natural, old-school body scrub has more than 15,800 five-star rave reviews — male and female users alike praise its skin-sloughing qualities, calling it “perfect” and “the best exfoliator!” explaining how it both softens and moisturizes the dermis while leaving behind a pleasing scent and appealing glow.

This useful set from the beloved brand Burt’s Bees includes an array of products useful to anyone with a human body: an extra-hydrating lip balm along with high-quality, innocuously-scented hand and foot creams. I usually buy one or two of these each year to serve as last-minute gifts and, truly, I’ve gotten use out of them every year. 

I’ve interviewed approximately 7 million beauty experts in my life. The most honest usually say something along the lines of “You don’t need expensive products, high-quality drugstore creams will do.” Case in point: A few years ago, legendary beauty guru Jean Godfrey-June told me she uses this rich, all-natural, chamomile and calendula body cream on her face in the winter, that it’s the best product she’s found for protecting and treating chapped skin. It’s also a gentle, non-irritating formula for dry hands, rough heels, scaly elbows or anywhere you might need a hydrating boost. I myself keep a tube by the kitchen sink to use after dishwashing duties. It’s the best kind of gift in that it smells good and feels rich. 

This one really is a no-brainer for anyone in your life who uses — and constantly loses — hair ties. These “strong grip, no rip” bands hold a ponytail or top knot in place as well as the elastic versions but without leaving behind the telltale elastic crease when they’re removed. Plus, when not in use, they look chic as bracelets, ensuring the user always knows where they are and has one on hand.

Remember how commercials in the 80s depicted washing your face over the sink as a kind of splashy-purifying euphoria? Now remember the reality? Water soaking your sleeves and a small flood upon the bathroom floor? Well, for just $5, these ultra-absorbant microfiber bands brilliantly solve those problems. While you splash and rinse, they collect water before it runs down your arms, making cleansing routines a lot less messy, cold and uncomfortably wet. 

One aspect of successful gifting is delivering up an item the giftee would never have thought to buy for themselves, a product that they may not have known existed but once they try it can’t imagine living without. Kate McLeod’s the Body Stone is exactly this kind of gift. The all-natural “solid” moisturizer became an instant cult favorite when it entered the skin-care scene in 2018. Since then, it’s attracted legions of fans, including actress Naomi Watts and any person I’ve ever gifted it to. 

The “stone” is made of cocoa and shea butters, which, when warmed with your palms, help it glide over skin, plus essential oils, which give it a pleasant, subtle, somehow expensive-seeming scent. It’s also made in the Hudson Valley in small batches using sustainably sourced materials and, since it’s technically a solid, is perfect for travel. The mini version lasts for about a month’s worth of daily use — the ideal amount of time for your gift recipient to get hooked. 

Who likes (or even understands) dry-cleaning? No one I know! In fact, there are few things I resent more than forking over $100+ just to have a few delicate blouses and expensive sweaters “washed” by someone else. Enter Soak, the plant-derived, no-rinse, dry-cleaner alternative. The Soak process is simple: You place your “dry clean only” items in a little water, add a capful or so of its soap, let sit 15 minutes, remove, wring out and air dry. Each bottle is enough for around 75 washes (a major bargain compared with dry-cleaning bills) and the lightly-fragranced, natural detergent leaves clothes softer and fresher smelling than the cleaners too.  

I’m not really a perfume girlie (let’s be honest, I’m middle-aged, not a girlie at all), but I can’t help but be intrigued by the By Rosie Jane fragrance line, which so many people in my life rave about for its clean, fresh and not-overpowering signature eau de toilettes. It’s an in-the-know “it” brand for sure and this unisex set lets the recipient try ample-size samples of seven of the covetable scents. 

Do we consider candles a “beauty” item? I’m not sure that I can prove that, but these succulent tea lights are truly the cutest candles I’ve ever seen — imagine these lit up around the edges of a bath or on any kind of tablescape and you know whoever receives them will positively glow.