AD | This post features products that have been gifted to me in exchange for inclusion in this gift guide. All opinions are honest and my own.
December is well underway, and unless you are super organised, the realisation may just be hitting you that you still have lots of Christmas shopping to do! Don’t panic – this gift guide is here to provide all the inspiration. I’ve got some lovely products to show you here so hopefully, there will be something that catches your eye to gift to a friend or family member, or even to add to your own Christmas list.
These gift ideas all have something in common: they are all sustainable and eco-friendly, which I’m sure you’ll agree is the best way forward when it comes to shopping. With that in mind, here is my sustainable Christmas Gift Guide for 2022.
Festive Home Fragrance by Absolute Aromas
Absolute Aromas are a UK aromatherapy brand set up in 1994 by David and Kay Tomlinson. What makes Absolute Aromas special is that they are dedicated to being a natural and sustainable brand. All of their products are cruelty-free, GM-free and vegan, and their ingredients are sourced sustainably. They strive to have little or no negative impact on the environment. The fact that they use natural ingredients also means they are better for your health than many other brands that use artificial fragrances.
Absolute Aromas have created a new festive fragrance for Christmas 2022 – their Noel Home range. This includes their Noel Reed Diffuser and Natural Room Spray, both of which I was kindly gifted to include in this guide.
The Noel fragrance contains notes of orange, clove, pine, cinnamon, frankincense and myrrh – can you get any more Christmassy than that? The smell reminds me of a beautiful house or a church decorated for Christmas. It’s got that pine smell you get from Christmas trees, with an added warmth of fruits and spices. It’s a traditional and classy Christmas scent. I also think that this scent evokes winter in general, so it would still be nice to use throughout January and February. This makes it a great Christmas present because it can be used beyond the Christmas season.
To use the diffuser, all you have to do is remove the stopper (this was quite tricky but I managed it by wedging a knife under it) and insert the reeds into the bottle. I recommend keeping the stopper in case you want to stop using the diffuser at the end of the season but store leftover oil in the bottle. The scent will gradually diffuse through the reeds and subtly fill your home with a Christmassy fragrance. For a more instant and intense burst of fragrance, their room spray is a brilliant option.
I was also kindly gifted Absolute Aromas’ Relaxation room spray. This is not part of their Christmas range but would make a great Christmas present as we could all use a little relaxation at times. This is a calming scent with notes of tangerine, bergamot, lavender, petitgrain, may chang and ylang-ylang. I’m not familiar with all those essential oils, but I know that lavender and ylang-ylang are renowned for being relaxing scents.
As well as the fact that they smell amazing, their natural and sustainable credentials are the biggest selling point for me. I love knowing that I can enjoy their scents without worrying about them harming my health or the environment.
You can get the Noel Reed Diffuser for £25 and the room sprays for £5 (30ml) or £10 (100ml). The reed diffuser comes already filled with the Noel essential oil blend, but you can also buy the oil separately as a top-up, or to add to your own diffuser or oil burner.
Important note – not recommended for pet owners
When doing a bit of research about reed diffusers, I found out that many essential oils are actually toxic to cats and dogs, despite being safe for humans. If pets breathe them in from diffusers or sprays it can cause them harm, as, unlike humans, they lack certain enzymes for metabolising substances in the oils. Therefore I highly recommend only gifting these products to a pet-free household or checking the ingredients carefully first before buying. I am a cat owner, and sadly, the products I have featured here are not safe for cats, so I will be gifting them to a pet-free household. Fortunately, I realised this before I had used the products much at all, and my cat was not around at the time. She’s ok!
From Earth To Earth – Bamboo Personal Care Items
From Earth To Earth are a family business dedicated to creating natural, sustainable, plastic-free alternatives to everyday personal care items. They make bamboo toothbrushes, hairbrushes, cotton buds and much more. I was kindly gifted a sample pack containing a medium bamboo toothbrush, a bamboo and natural rubber hairbrush and a konjac sponge.
I’ve used bamboo toothbrushes from other brands in the past, and while I love how sustainable they are, I’ve often found them harsh on my gums. When I opened this one, however, the bristles feel so soft and they are shaped similarly to the bristles on a ‘normal’ toothbrush. I think I would get along well with this one.
Their toothbrushes come in a huge range of colours so you can personalise a gift by choosing the recipient’s favourite colour! This makes a toothbrush an exciting and fun gift as well as a useful item.
I was so pleased to receive a konjac sponge because I have used one before and really liked it. It’s so good for cleansing and exfoliating your face and it can help to streamline your skincare routine.
The hairbrush feels so sturdy and looks so aesthetic. I love that it’s made from all-natural materials which is quite unusual for a hairbrush as most contain some kind of plastic.
From Earth To Earth have a range of gift packs which would make a fantastic Christmas present for any eco-minded individual or family. All their items are also available individually. This company is a new favourite for me and it’s definitely the place to shop for sustainable Christmas gifts in personal care.
Smart Business Card by Mobilo
You might be thinking that business cards aren’t a very exciting gift. But wait till you see these! With Mobilo, you only need one card and it allows you to share your contact details with others with a single tap.
Mobilo is compatible with all modern smartphones, and there’s no app required. It contains an NFC chip which means you can tap the cards on a phone to transfer your contact details, or it also has a QR code that can be scanned by older phones. This makes it so much easier to connect with others and share your details quickly and easily. It’s also a cool talking point!
I was kindly gifted a Mobilo card plus a keyring and sticky-backed button that provide the same function. I’ve been having fun experimenting with how the card and the app work. In the app, you can enter the contact details you want to be stored on the card. Then, when you tap it on a phone, those details are transferred!
With Apple phones, the details go straight into a new contact. I have an Android phone, so with mine, when I tap the card it comes up with a file to download. I download and open the file in contacts and a new contact is created from there. It’s still super easy. The keyring and button work in exactly the same way and it’s great to have these extra portable options.
Mobilo cards are an eco-friendly option because as mentioned, you only need one card rather than having hundreds of ordinary business cards produced. They are available in recyclable plastic, metal or carefully sourced wood, and they plant a tree for every wooden card sold. Mine is made of recyclable plastic. The design is customisable so you can put your own artwork on it as well as your details like you would a normal business card.
Mobilo offers a gift card so you can easily buy Mobilo as a gift without having to give all the recipient’s details. I think a Mobilo card would make a really unique gift and would be genuinely useful to the recipient, especially if it’s someone who networks with a lot of people. Check out the Mobilo website to learn more.
Montezumas Chocolate
Chocolate is an absolute classic Christmas gift that nearly everyone loves to receive. Earlier this year I was gifted some dark chocolate buttons by Montezumas and they were so delicious and moreish! Montezumas are an eco-friendly company, using 100% recyclable, compostable or biodegradable packaging. They buy their cocoa from sustainable sources and they don’t use palm oil.
You can read more about Montezumas in my previous post and also check out their Christmas range on their website. Anything from Montezumas would make a great gift or stocking filler for a chocolate lover!
Dolma Fragrances
Earlier this year, I reviewed a selection of Dolma’s vegan and cruelty-free fragrances. All of Dolma’s fragrances are vegan and cruelty-free, and their ingredients are sourced sustainably and ethically. They use recyclable packaging and they plant a tree for every sale.
I loved having the opportunity to try out Dolma’s fragrances and I discovered some that I really loved. Perfume is a lovely gift that most people would be delighted to receive, however, it can be hard to know exactly which fragrance to buy someone. To help with this, they offer gift sets with a selection of sample-size fragrances. Alternatively, you can purchase a voucher for the recipient so they can choose for themselves.
Remember to buy Christmas Cards
All too often I will buy my Christmas gifts and then remember I haven’t got any Christmas cards. So here are two lovely sustainable Christmas card brands for you if you haven’t bought your cards yet this year.
Panda Joy
Panda Joy is a minority and family-owned UK small business that produces sustainable, eco-friendly cards. Their cards are made from 75% bamboo and 25% cotton linter, which makes them completely tree-free! Panda Joy also donate a third of their profits towards environmental and social causes. This is truly the kind of company I like to support!
As you can see from the photos, Panda Joy’s designs are super cute! They all feature sweet pandas in various Christmassy scenes. These cards would be ideal for any animal lover, and especially for someone who is a fan of pandas. What’s more, their cards are affordable, starting at only £1.50.
I personally am a big fan of pandas, and they have a special relevance in my family as we used to have a cat called Panda. Therefore I’ll be using some of these for my family members. I think these designs are so sweet and I love that the cards are sustainable. Why not pick yourself up a pack?
Love Layla
If you are a regular reader you might remember I recently reviewed a mystery box from Love Layla. They have now sent me a selection of their Christmas cards to feature in this guide! Love Layla is a sustainable small UK business that produces high-quality, amusing greeting cards and other gifting items. They use minimal plastic and they are signed up to the Woodland Trust to help plant trees with every sale.
Love Layla’s designs are characteristically funny and lighthearted, and they often involve profanity. Despite this, they also have plenty of ‘family-friendly’ designs to choose from. Out of the cards I was gifted, most of them would be suitable to give to anyone, but there are a few with some choice swear words that you’d want to save for the right person! (Skip the next photo if you don’t want to see profanity.)
All the cards are of amazing quality – the card itself is thick and sturdy and the printing is clear. The cards come with grey envelopes featuring the Love Layla logo in silver.
Love Layla is a great choice for anyone who likes to give humorous (or rude) Christmas cards! You can browse their extensive range of Christmas cards on their website – they have over 1000 designs to choose from! The majority of their cards are priced at £3.95, which I think is excellent value considering the high quality of the cards. They also have a deal where you can buy 10 Christmas cards for £12.50, which works out at only £1.25 per card – a third of the normal price!
Will you be buying any sustainable Christmas gifts this Christmas?
Did you see anything you liked in this gift guide? Will you be buying any of these things for friends or family, or adding them to your own Christmas list? What are your favourite sustainable brands to buy gifts from? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Need more inspiration? Check out my Eco-Friendly Christmas Gift Guide from 2020 which is still relevant for this year. I may also be creating a Part 2 to this gift guide so stay tuned!
