The perfect Christmas gift. We want to give it as much as we want to receive it! But in practice, experiences are often less rosy. Even though the biggest mistakes can easily be prevented. Can a Christmas gift be useful? What is the hallmark of the perfect Christmas gift? And what does the tiger on the hunt have to do with finding the perfect Christmas gift? Read on for the ins and outs. And then take the mini quiz: am I the ideal Christmas gift buyer? The perfect Christmas gift. We all want to get involved! But in practice it appears that buying and receiving Christmas gifts sometimes leads to poorer experiences. For both giver and receiver. There is also good news. The biggest mistakes can be prevented quite easily.
Basic rule: the tiger goes hunting
In fact, finding the perfect Christmas gift can be compared to hunting the tiger. First of all, he studies the prey. How does it behave, what are its characteristics? It is precisely at that point that people often go unrelentingly wrong when buying a Christmas present. We go hunting without knowing what! By carefully observing the person you want to provide with a perfect gift ‘in the wild’ you can go a long way. For example, does that person like to wear gloves, but does she or he walk around with rather chewed-up gloves? Great, then it’s just a matter of discreetly finding out what the right size is for a pair of chic gloves. And when you meet up with that person, does the ‘object of your attention’ want to go to a restaurant, to a bar or would she or he prefer to go into the kitchen and cook themselves? From such a small detail you can already tell, for example, whether the recipient of the future gift would be happy with luxurious kitchen gadgets.
Basic rule: don’t lag behind the facts
When you observe the other person, make their current circumstances and preferences count. What someone wanted, did or was five years ago is not necessarily current, so don’t get stuck in the old groove. Example: as an interim beauty editor at a glossy magazine, I took home Albert Heijn bags full of beauty supplies (yes, take that literally). But while my overcrowded dressing table at home had all kinds of things on it, including a Chanel kit worth 600 euros, even my loved ones still took mascaras and lipsticks from some mainstream brand as gifts, just like in previous years. I accepted those things with love, as we should accept any gift, but in silence I thought: why is this?
Basic rule: start on time
The best time to go shopping for Christmas gifts: according to statistics, it’s just before Christmas. You wade your way through a dogged horde of gift seekers because… well, why? The best gift shopper starts on time! And is prepared for Christmas. There are even people who buy gifts a few months in advance, because they get a golden inspiration in a different context. Someone spares a minute for a telephone conversation with you and complains that she or he is too busy to finally buy some nice new stockings, a scarf, you name it… and the alert future giver makes a (mental) note to to arrange that. By purchasing a luxurious and high-quality product in neutral tones, you prevent the person in question from saying: beautiful, but I already have that. Because products such as stockings and scarves are subject to wear and tear and you can never have enough of them.
Can it be useful?
Here lies a huge stumbling block. Can a Christmas gift be useful? For example, can you give a drill as a gift or an iron? The big secret of the perfect Christmas gift comes into play here. A perfect Christmas gift is extremely useful. Those knickknacks from the gift shop are only good for one thing: you have something in your hands when you arrive, and you can dust them off. Utility or use value is therefore of great importance. But the point is that you buy a useful or useful gift that the other person would not easily buy for themselves. The icing on the gift cake is that it has that touch of irresistible luxury that we often give ourselves so little. The trick, however, is that the common denominator or the main association with your gift is not utility. Then again, you shouldn’t have that. Even a steam iron that effortlessly irons twenty shirts per hour is useful above all. While luxurious leather gloves from an almost decadent brand are undeniably useful, they are at least as strongly associated with greedy, vain glances in the shop window. Because you wouldn’t buy something like that for yourself…. In summary: the opportunity for the generous giver is to give that which is desired, but not easily bought!
Can it be useless?
That comment about the standard gift shop gift just now actually answers the question: can a Christmas gift be useless? So no. It’s not about the gift, the best Christmas gift buyer’s focus is on the recipient first and foremost. What’s missing there? What is desired there? What does this person stop at shop windows for? And what does this person look like? That is precisely what determines the perfect Christmas gift strategy.
Mini-quiz ‘The perfect Christmas gift?’
To summarize the whole story in a fun way, here’s a little quiz ‘The perfect Christmas gift (or not)’.
1. Luxury cufflinks: the perfect Christmas gift?
- a. Presumably yes
- b. Presumably not
Correct answer: b. Does the recipient wear shirts without buttons and with cufflinks? If so, go for it. But it’s more likely that the answer is no. The perfect giver matches the person, habits and wishes of the recipient, and not the other way around.
2. Epilator de luxe: the perfect Christmas gift for a lady?
- a. Presumably yes
- b. Presumably not
- c. Maybe
Correct answer: c. There is one overriding rule: if the recipient indicates that he wants something mouth-wateringly, all other rules about usefulness and the like expire. However, in the other case, the first association with an epilator is its usefulness. And then it’s not a perfect Christmas present.
3. Luxury silk stockings for a stocking wearer, exquisite nightwear for the pajama or nightgown lover, buttery soft leather gloves for the person with an overflowing closet of scarves and gloves, a designer handbag for the woman with a coat rack full of dearly loved handbags: the perfect Christmas gift?
- a. Presumably yes
- b. Presumably not
Correct answer: a, of course. You have observed the recipient and know his tastes and habits. You choose something that has proven usefulness for the recipient and pour a sauce of luxury – preferably slightly decadent – over it. Yes and yes again. Congratulations: you are the ideal Christmas gift buyer!