With the holidays fast-approaching, you might be wondering what to get your stressed-out and anxiety-riddled friends and family members. Or maybe you’re looking for some pre-holiday self-care gifts for yourself. We don’t blame you—everyone needs a little treat this time of year, especially this year. Self-care might seem like a luxury, because self-care gifts often come at a higher cost. However, self-care doesn’t have to be expensive to be thoughtful. And just because self-care has “self” in it, doesn’t mean that self-care is selfish. It’s like performing an act of kindness for yourself or others—even from a distance. Whether it’s for yourself or your friend, giving someone a gift you know they’ll enjoy and might make their life a little better and more comfortable is a pretty great feeling.
Unfortunately, though, most of us aren’t able to whisk our friends and family away to an exotic spa vacation to unwind this year. But don’t you worry: The best self-care gifts out there are affordable because the last thing little luxuries should do is stress you out after the credit card bill comes in. We’re talking $50 or less, to be exact, and that’s totally worth it if you ask us.
Here is a list of the best self-care gifts you can give at any time of the year — birthdays, the holidays, when someone isn’t feeling well or has lost a loved one — any time they can use a little extra TLC (which is basically every moment of 2021). The only problem is these self-care presents are so affordable you might wind up keeping them for yourself, so you’ve been warned. From the chicest period products to some luxe skin-care items, your life is about to get a whole lot more zen. Of course, that’s totally fine and you deserve it — so maybe just order a few to begin with.
Our mission at SheKnows is to empower and inspire women, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Zolt is a SheKnows sponsor, however, all products in this article were independently selected by our editors. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.
A version of this article was originally published in November 2018.