I need girly birthday gift help for a 26-year-old.
October 1, 2013 8:38 AM   Subscribe

OK, here's the deal: My sister's birthday is Saturday and I need to get her something awesome and fun because her birthday happens to be the day of my grandmother's funeral. Awful, I know.

Details:
-I have Amazon Prime. I need to place an order today.
-I would like to spend no more than $80. (I was thinking of getting her a $50 Sephora gift card and then spending $30 on a gift on Amazon, but if you have suggestions for something on Amazon that would be around $80 in and of itself, I'm open to hearing those suggestions as well.)
-She is 26.
-She likes make-up.
-Her Bose Soundlink is her most prized possession.
-She enjoys funky nail polish, but I feel like I've exhausted that as a gift option, but maybe there is something out there very unique.
-She likes to be surprised and receive things she never knew existed. (Ugh, I know.)
-Her favorite show is/was Breaking Bad.

I am usually good at this gift stuff, but I am tired and would love some ideas. Thank you.
posted by mzwz to Shopping (19 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
The $50 Sephora gift card is awesome!

Now for some goofy fun!

Bloomingdales Fashion Fun Magic 8 Ball

A pretty old-fashioned espresso pot.

The Sweetest Thing
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:45 AM on October 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


Not Amazon, but: Breaking Bad themed nail polish?
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:51 AM on October 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


Julep does subscription samplers of nail polish. I think they are also available through Sephora.
posted by goggie at 8:51 AM on October 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


I once received some Lollia bubble bath, which was crazy good. I was dismayed to find out how much it costs, but it may serve your needs if your sister is a bath person.
posted by Mizu at 8:57 AM on October 1, 2013


A couple techy ideas... two items I use every day:

If she's into music and her Bose Bluetooth, she would probably love these Bose earphones. I've tried every small earbud on the market and these are incredible. $129, so it's over your budget. There's a $99 version but it doesn't have a button for iphone controls.

Also - if she has an iphone - this Belkin iphone stand is awesome. Comes in fun colors too. $31.
posted by kdern at 8:58 AM on October 1, 2013


Does she have the Urban Decay Naked palettes? They are so popular with the makeup people.
posted by Fairchild at 9:40 AM on October 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


I hear that the girly girls like Kiehl's stuff.
posted by dawkins_7 at 10:02 AM on October 1, 2013


Not girly necessarily, but what about Season 1 of Hannibal? Just around your budget, similar to BB with artistic/thriller elements, and if she's not already into it, she probably should be (it's excellent).
posted by likeatoaster at 10:38 AM on October 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


Get her a subscription to a beauty products in the mail service. I like Ipsy, they have nice samples and even though it's just $10/month, the samples and products they send would cost 3-4 times that much, easily. Unlike gifts she gets on the day itself, this will come once a month.

Maybe get her a 6 month subscription and buy her a fancy chapstick (like one from Fresh) or a nail polish set to give her with the remaining $20. So, she'll have a little something in-hand and 6 months of treats in the mail.
posted by quince at 10:50 AM on October 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


you can also subscribe her to squarehue, which is a monthly nail polish subscription box. it runs about $20 a month or so, shipping included. you get three polishes.
posted by koroshiya at 11:32 AM on October 1, 2013


Bring her a cupcake on the day, too.
posted by Riverine at 11:35 AM on October 1, 2013


Nthing Hannibal.. Breaking Bad is my favorite show ever, and Hannibal is really similar stylistically.

Ipsy is also pretty good/fun.
posted by getawaysticks at 11:45 AM on October 1, 2013


Does she use regular nail polish or gel? My top totally-unnecessary wish list beauty item is an LED lamp for doing gel nail polish, because it lasts sooooo much better than the regular stuff. My friends do a gel basecoat, regular nail polish on top and then a gel topcoat and it looks pretty/lasts forever. I can't link on my phone but they have the stuff on amazon or you can do a google search for more info.
posted by celtalitha at 12:58 PM on October 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


Birchbox is another option for the fun beauty subscription stuff.
posted by brilliantine at 1:31 PM on October 1, 2013


I'm very girly and one of my favorites presents to give or receive is a really pretty umbrella. For future reference, I enthusiastically recommend Pare Umbrellas for indulgent, expensive but gorgeous umbrellas. But given your Amazon prime restriction, perhaps something like this one, which is lighted, this rose one or this. Parasols are fun, too, but less practical.

Amazon also has some really fun, flirty aprons like these and these.

In the category of fun things you didn't know existed, I really love my steel straws. They're fun with cocktails.
posted by diamondsky at 1:42 PM on October 1, 2013 [1 favorite]


also, i don't know if you've done any of the indie brands, but just in case, here are a few i've liked:

kbshimmer
happy hands nail polish
darling diva polish
dollish polish
smitten polish
digital nails

and a store where they sell a bunch of them, including foreign brands: llarowe
posted by koroshiya at 1:43 PM on October 1, 2013 [2 favorites]


oh, and: pahlish, super black lacquers, and polish revolution.

i'm done. i swear. heh.
posted by koroshiya at 1:48 PM on October 1, 2013


The Urban Decay Vice 2 palette is top of my beauty wishlist right now. Ridiculously overpriced on Amazon right now, though, for Prime shipping. So if it were me, I'd want that Sephora gift card most.
posted by lysimache at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2013


dude. an ipsy subscription would be the shit. plus a little physical thing you could give her with the printout or whatever confirming the subscription. never heard of squarehue, but that also sounds neat.

also, is there any way to do her birthday the day before or after grandma's funeral? i personally would find it hard to transition from one to the other...
posted by misanthropicsarah at 3:58 PM on October 1, 2013


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