Every holiday season I try to put together a post to help with homemade gifts that your friends and family will love. Of course you could gift any of my DIY skincare products, but there are an elite few that top the list of great gifts that will wow everyone. I thought long and hard this year and put together what I think are the best customizable DIY gifts. Dare I say these gifts could be handmade depending on how you customize and present them?! Let’s get to it!
Masks for dry face:
Dry masks are a great gift idea because they don’t have a shelf life, are so easy to make, easy to customize, and are needed by every woman and many men. What is a dry mask you may ask? The dry mask is ground ingredients stored in a jar. When you are ready to make a mask, you remove a small amount, add water and it creates a paste perfect for use as a mask. The dry mask ingredients are easy to find and work really well as an advanced skin care mask. Using dried herbs, oatmeal, activated carbon, clay and even seaweed they make a dry mask perfect for personalization.
1 application is usually 1 tbsp. dried mask and 1-2 teaspoons a liquid. Mix well and apply to clean skin for 10-15 minutes. Remove with cool water and moisturize as usual. This varies depending on the ingredients you choose, so basically you just want to find the right consistency and add the liquid slowly. Your mask should be thick enough that it doesn’t drip off your face.
Liquid options can be aloe vera gel, apple cider vinegar, witch hazel, hydrosol, or even plain olive oil.
To learn more about ingredient choices for dry masks, read my guide to dry mask ingredients.
For specific dry mask recipes, I have a recipe for sensitive skin, a recipe for oily skin, and an anti-aging recipe listed below!
Be sure to attach a gift tag that lists the ingredients and explains how to use a dry mask. Also, dry masks would work well in a test tube. i found THESE 45ml test tubes on Amazon which would give the recipient about 3 mask applications!
Recipes for dry masks:
One last thought on dry masks, the cleansing granules are the same as dry masks, they’re just used differently. You can also consider this type of skin care.
Bath salts:
Bath salts are very similar to dry masks. They are easy and extremely economical to make, store well in a jar and have no shelf life. The gift recipient pours about 1/4-1/2 cup of the mixture into a warm bath and then has more in the jar for the next bath.
Bath salts usually consist of Epsom salt which is the easiest to find and the cheapest option, but you can also consider pink Himalayan salt and Dead Sea salt. Read my guide to the benefits of bath salts for more information.
Other salt additives are essential oils, oatmeal, dried herbs, dried milk, and seaweed. For inspiration, read my Himalayan Oat Salt Bath recipe and Mermaid Salt Bath recipe.
Since the majority of your bath salts are usually epsom salt, making a large jar for someone is very affordable and gives them many baths. Making a large batch of bath salts and putting enough for a bath in a tube is also a neat way to gift. You can find THESE 25 oz glass jars that are perfect for bath salts!
See my foot bath recipe. I’ve included how to gift foot baths and have a free download for gift tags.
Melt & Pour Soap Bars:
Making soap bars is insanely easy with melt and pour soap bases readily available on Amazon. If you’re not familiar with melting and soap, it’s a bar of soap that you cut into pieces, melt on the stove, and then pour into soap molds. You can add essential oils, perfumes, dried herbs, clay and activated carbon. There are many options when it comes to melt and pour soap, including goat’s milk, cocoa butter, glycerin, shea butter, honey, etc.
I have an activated charcoal soap recipe, a coffee soap recipe, and a post where I added fresh flowers. These soaps turned out so pretty but it didn’t take long for the flowers to turn brown. Dried herbs are always better.
Bees and soy candles:
I love making small candles for gifts. You can make many candles with 2 pounds of wax but also make them in 4 oz. jar like THESE makes the problem of tunneling (where the candle doesn’t burn all the way to the outer edge) a non-issue.
Beeswax candles do not require fragrance as beeswax has its own unique smell as well as many benefits. Soy wax can be scented with essential oils or candle scent.
Find step-by-step instructions in my How to Make Beeswax Candles post as well as my How to Make Soy Candles post.
Room spray/Linen spray:
Making a room spray or linen spray for someone is a great idea. Everyone needs a natural way to freshen their linens, wallpapers and air, and adding a beautiful fragrance makes it personal to you. Plus, building a deodorizing room is incredibly easy and affordable! You’ll find easy instructions in my linen spray post and my air freshener recipe. Plus, in my linen spray post, I give some really great essential oil combinations plus labels that you might enjoy.
Gift Wrap Ideas:
Foraging is a great way to add a personal touch to a gift. Ribbons are great for tying around lids. They add a pop of color to any gift. If you don’t have gift tags, you can make your own using just tissue paper and a ribbon or twine. Wrapping homemade soap bars in brown craft paper and using beautiful ribbons and nature twigs help bring the packaging to life in a natural way. The tiny bells are also a sweet addition to the ribbon.
I hope this post has helped you with your gift giving this year. Nothing tells your loved ones that you put effort into their gift like making it with your own hands, choosing ingredients that suit them specifically and curated combinations of essential oils to make their product smell beautiful.
happy holidays! Jenny
