Last-Minute Gift Guide: 13 Non-Boring Gift Cards + Subscriptions

Annie D'Souza
Dec 22, 2014

It’s time to wrap it up, people. Your holiday shopping, that is. Maybe (like us) you had all the time in the world, but you left it to the last minute… again. To help you finish making your list and checking it twice, we’ve found 13 of the easiest last-minute gifts that are sure to please — glorious gift cards and stellar subscription boxes that we’d love to see under our trees.

1. Julep Maven Subscription Box ($40 for two boxes): This is the beauty gift that keeps on giving. Julep’s Maven program is a monthly nail polish subscription box with lots of extra bonuses. To start, the best part about Maven is that it’s 150% customizable. Your giftee will receive a welcome email from Julep on the day you want them to be surprised. They’ll be able to redeem their gift and tailor their totally unique box to their own tastes. Maven members also get access to Julep’s secret store, 20% off additional products and free shipping on everything — such a sweet deal for them, and such a sweet (and quick) deal for you. It only takes about two minutes to set up online.

2. Oyster ($9.95/month): Voracious readers will love Oyster, which is an unlimited library of e-books for iOS, Android, Nook HD and Kindle Fire. We first wrote all about it here.

3. Mad DIY Skills: We are in firm support of giving experiences over things (though things are nice sometimes too), and makers around the web have made that very easy by creating tutorials for the Brit + Co Shop. Pick from 19 online classes from hand lettering to cake decorating, photography to flower arranging. With a few clicks, you’ll be able to set your sister up with a fun sewing class and all the supplies she needs. Easy-peasy.

4. Bitters + Bottles Subscription Box ($95): Boozy boxes? We’re so into it. This box will slowly complete a home bar, with new ingredients, cocktail recipes and all kinds of goodies each month for at-home mixology.

5. ModCloth Gift Certificate: Retro-inspired frocks and saddle shoes aren’t the only things for sale at ModCloth. This online shop is incredibly well stocked with every sort of outfit imaginable. It’s really affordable, and they have an extensive plus-size section to boot. Their gift certificates are instant, so you can grab one for your cousin ON Christmas morning if you need to.

6. Wool and The Gang Gift Card: Do you have a knitter on your gifting list? Wool & The Gang is like a sexy minimalists knitting club. With a gift card, your pal can purchase kits or gorgeous handmade knitwear by “The Gang.” They’ll also have an entire (free!) library of stitches for reference on their own projects. Want to add a class to that gift? We’ve got you covered with one they created exclusively for our community.

7. Le Tote Subscription ($88 for two months): Like Netflix for your closet, this subscription means you can swap from this designer closet as often as you want throughout the month.

8. Try the World Subscription ($50): Can’t afford a trip around the world? Bring the world to you with this subscription box that is stocked with foods from one area of the globe in each delivery.

9. Madewell Gift Card: Let your sister buy her own socks this year. Like these adorable warm ones.

10. Dollar Shave Club: The chances are slim that the men in your life will actually take the time to do that fancy straight-razor shave with the fancy shaving brush you were thinking about getting them. The Dollar Shave Club is practical — dad, brother, husband and boyfriend approved.

11. Food 52 Provisions Gift Card: Food 52’s Provisions shop has a ton of amazing gifts for the chefs and party planners in your life, and a gift card will let them choose what they want.

12. RocksBox: For just $19 a month, feel like a celeb getting ready for the red carpet (when you’re just trying to find the sweetest #ootd accessories is all) when you’re showered with bling and gilded treasures from this “Netflix for jewelry”-like service.

13. Amazon Gift Card: So, maybe an Amazon gift card is a little boring… but it’s also a LOT useful.

Are you ready for the holidays? Let us know in the comments.

Skincare In Your 30s Is Confusing — This Reddit Thread (And All Its Recs) Fixed My Skin Problems

I've finally found my tribe on a Reddit skincare subthread — 30 Plus Skincare — and it's so refreshing as a 33-year-old millennial. I still feel like a spring chicken, but things have definitely changed in the skincare department. My skin can't bounce back after falling asleep in makeup anymore, so I have to pay attention to the beauty products my age group swears by. Not to mention the aggressive dark under eye circles have honestly caught me off guard — they can be vicious. Basically...I need more skincare help than I realized.

After spending an undisclosed amount of time scrolling, here are the top 14 products the kind souls on the 30 Plus Skincare Reddit subthread recommend right now!

Best Products For Acne Prone And Combination Skin

Amazon

Byoma Creamy Jelly Cleanser

If you have combination skin and dry patches like this user, you may be wondering WTF you should use on your skin. While they decided to use the CeraVe Hydrating Cream to Foam Cleanser, another person said they double cleanse beginning with Byoma's Creamy Jelly Cleanser or the Tatcha Camellia Cleansing Oil. As a follow-up, they recommend using a more mild cleanser like Cetaphil's Daily Facial Cleanser. So many great options!

Soko Glam

Acwell Licorice pH Balancing Cleansing Toner

Some toners aren't universal buys, but Acwell's Licorice pH Balancing formula is! It deep cleans your skin without stripping it of moisture and truly balances your skin. Besides being formulated with licorice, it also has peony extract, so you'll get double the brightening power to boost your natural glow. Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, the green tea extract found in this toner helps tackle stubborn dark spots, too. I personally love how affordable it is considering all of the heavy duty lifting it does!

Sephora

Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream

One person said they've "had good luck with moisturizers that are a gel-cream consistency" and listed Drunk Elephant's Protini Polypeptide Cream as one of the moisturizers they rely on. It's meant to help balance you skin tone, texture and firmness over time with the aid of signal peptide complex, pygmy waterlily stem cell extract, and soybean folic acid ferment extract.

If you're on a budget, the Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer is also another great option!

Best Dark Spot Treatments

Paula's Choice

I don't know what I did to deserve to stumble across this "comprehensive guide" for treating dark spots, but I'm thoroughly grateful for it!

Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster

According to the above thread, this is the product you want to use if you're looking for "serious treatment." It helps smooth uneven skin texture and reduces the appearance of hyperpigmentation over time. Although the tube is small, "a little bit goes a long way."

Timeless Skin Care

Timeless Skin Care 20% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum

Vitamin C serums can be pricey, but OP (the "original poster") suggests this is an amazing dupe for the SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic with L-Ascorbic Acid (try not to clutch your pearls at the price!). This one is recommended because it's "an antioxidant that increases the rate of skin cell turnover bringing forward new skin cells while simultaneously improving the effects of SPF."

La Roche-Posay

La Roche-Posay Glycolic B5 Serum

The beautiful thing about this serum is that it addresses hyperpigmentation and also exfoliates your skin. It's full of Tranexamic acid, Kojic Acid, Glycolic Acid, and Lipo-Hydroxy Acid (LHA) to target problem areas without stripping your skin's barrier.

Best Products For Sensitive Skin

Youth to the People

Youth to the People Kale + Green Tea Spinach Vitamins Cleanser

This award-winning gel-like cleanser not only only targets your pores, but it reduces the appearance of dullness and blemishes. Say bye-bye to buildup, makeup, and other unseen gunk each time you use it!

Amazon

COSRX Centella Water Toner

This alcohol-free toner is one of the gentlest toners your sensitive skin will ever feel because it's only intention is to minimize any inflammation or breakouts you're experiencing. If you use it with a hydrocolloid patch, it can help get rid of any reoccurring infections, too!

The Ordinary

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

Lastly, someone in this extensive thread outlined why you should use Niacinamide. They wrote, "It is anti-inflammatory so it improves redness and it may be helpful for severe acne, especially inflammatory forms like papules and pustules. Over time there are less lesions and improved skin texture." One of their recommendation's is The Ordinary's Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%!

Best SPFs & Tinted Moisturizers

Amazon

Sun Bum Mineral Tinted Sunscreen SPF 30

Sun Bum's mineral tinted sunscreen is a fabulous SPF-based alternative to all your typical tinted moisturizer needs. It's zinc-based, and it basically works just like a primer does. It's a gluten-free way to receive a hint of color and optimal protection from the sun.

EltaMD

EltaMD Broad Spectrum SPF Sunscreen

EltaMD's Broad Spectrum sunscreen offers a little more protection than Sun Bum's tinted moisturizer! It also helps improve your skin over time so that it looks refreshed with the aid of squalene. The other ingredients you'll find in it is ginger root extract and bountiful antioxidants to reduce any fine lines you may have, too.

La Roche-Posay

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt-In Milk Sunscreen SPF 60

Recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation, this Melt-In Milk Sunscreen is going to give you optimal protection from the sun with it's Cell-OX Shield. You also don't have to worry about it leaving behind a lingering white tint because it absorbs into the skin quickly and has a smooth texture you'll love spreading onto your face.

Best Under Eye Products

Amazon

Celebrity Esthetician Ian Michael Crumm says that a "lack of sleep causes blood vessels to dilate, leading to dark circles and puffiness around the eyes." If your under eye area still needs a little help, here's what this 30 Plus Skincare Reddit channel suggests!

Beauty Of Joseon Revive Eye Serum

This isn't the first time I've noticed ginseng in one of the beauty products I've added to my wish list, so it makes me think it's worth noting! Backed by this healing ingredient, the Revive Eye Serum zeroes in on everything from fine lines to late nights that are beginning to show. You'll start to see more elasticity under your eyes with continued use and that's always something to look forward to!

Sephora

The INKEY List Caffeine Eye Cream

One person said they noticed a "big difference" in their "fine lines" after consistently using The INKEY List's Caffeine Eye Cream which makes sense because it's a community favorite on Sephora. Like the name says, it have caffeine, Matrixyl 3000, and Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract (exfoliation and smoothing) in it to bring life back to your under eye area!

After taking a look at these products, I feel a lot more confident about adding new things to my beauty routine thanks to the 30 Plus Skincare Reddit channel!

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Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

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Emma Stone Showed Up To A Premiere In A Wig And I Have So Many Questions

  • Emma Stone was seen at the premiere of A Real Pain wearing a wig, confirming she shaved her head.
  • She was also seen wearing a beanie around London in August.
  • Emma Stone reportedly shaved her head for Bugonia, the upcoming film with Yorgos Lanthimos.

As an Emma Stone superfan, I'm always waiting to see what the actress and producer does next. After all, she has the power to create viral moments, she's endlessly relatable, and she's starred in a movie scene that broke my heart so deeply I'll never forget it. (The end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in case you're wondering). Oh, she's also been described by Andrew Garfield as "a shot of espresso" and like being "bathed in the sunlight" so there's that.

On September 5, at the New York Film Festival premiere of A Real Pain (backed by Emma & her husband Dave McCary's production company Fruit Tree), the Easy A actress showed up in an asymmetrical striped Louis Vuitton dress...and a wig. But it wasn't just a style choice because the actress reportedly shaved her head for another upcoming collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos, who worked with Emma Stone on Poor Things and this summer's Kinds of Kindness. And considering I've been told we look like sisters, she's got me wondering if I could pull off a shaved head too.

Why did Emma Stone shave her head?

Emma Stone reportedly shaved her head for her upcoming movie with Yorgos Lanthimos, Bugonia. We don't have many details on the film quite yet, but if Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness were any indication, it's clear that we'll once again see Emma totally transform for the film.

After hugging Jazz Charton (the wife of A Real Pain star, and Emma Stone's ex, Kieran Culkin), you can see Emma Stone point out the edge of the wig. TBH, it's so close to her regular hair, I couldn't even tell!

Emma Stone was seen walking around London in August wearing a teeny tiny beanie and striped sweater, and not only is this the ultimate fall outfit inspo, but it was hinting at her shaved head all along! After all, there's no way she could shove all her hair up there.

Now I'm wondering if there's going to be an additional surprise. Did she dye her buzzed hair a crazy color? Is she filming with temporary tattoos on her head? Does she just have a really cold scalp? We'll have to wait until the first look at Bugonia to find out.

What is Bugonia about?

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for FLC

Bugonia is adapted from Save the Green Planet!, a 2003 South Korean sci-fi epic. Elite Daily reports that Emma's character will be a gender-flipped version of Save the Green Planet!'s main character, who's both a "powerful pharmaceutical executive" and, you guessed it, bald. She'll star opposite Kinds of Kindness star Jesse Plemons.

“We started out with the belief that the film’s concept was ahead of its time and that [maybe we] could make an indie movie, but as we traveled around Hollywood, we realized that there were many hidden fans of the original film. I happened to be in L.A. and saw Ari Aster moderating a screening of Save the Green Planet at a theater, so I reached out to him and asked him to be a part of the production. So he came on board as a producer,” Jerry Jerry Ko, head of CJ ENM’s film division, told The Hollywood Reporter. “Then Will Tracy, a screenwriter of Succession, came on board and wrote the story. The buzz started to build from then on. Later Yorgos Lanthimos and some great actors came on board.”

If you love Emma Stone as much as I do, see where your favorite movie falls on our Definitive Ranking Of Emma Stone's Best Movies.

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9 Movie Boyfriends Who Gave Us Impossible Standards For Love

The ’90s and early 2000s were a beautiful, beautiful time in terms of clothing, hairstyles, toys, and pop culture trends. Some of the best teen movies were filmed in these decades, and they definitely created some of our fiercest crushes — who could forget how Freddie Prinze Jr.’s character in She’s All That made us feel when he realized he’d liked Laney Boggs all along, or how Heath Ledger’s character in 10 Things I Hate About You was the only one who truly understood Julia Stiles's Kat Stratford? Our hearts still beat for the men of the ’90s and early 2000s, and here are just a few of the boyfriends we’d still date today in a second.

Patrick (Heath Ledger) from 10 Things I Hate About You

Buena Vista Pictures/Walt Disney Studios

First things first: Heath. Ledger. This movie is great, and Heath Ledger was great in it. His character, Patrick, seems to have actual integrity — he doesn’t want to be a part of the scheme that is the central plot to the movie, and while he eventually gives in, he falls in love with Kat in the process (aww!). He also has a little bit of an edge, while managing to still get emotional when Kat reads the poem the movie is named for. We have a soft spot for men who can show their feelings in public without being worried it’ll tarnish their masculinity. He’s a Grade-A ’90s boyfriend, if you ask us.

Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) from 10 Things I Hate About You

Buena Vista Pictures/Walt Disney Studios

We honestly can’t talk about 10 Things I Hate About You without also mentioning JGL. He was SERIOUSLY under-appreciated in this role. While he might’ve gone about winning Bianca's heart in the wrong way, all he ever wanted to do was take her out — and we think that kind of take-no-prisoners love is pretty sweet, especially at such a young age.

Zack (Freddie Prinze Jr.) from She’s All That

Miramax Films

Ahh, another teen movie about a girl, a boy, a date, and a bet. There was quite a theme happening around this time! Zack Siler was the jock with a heart — he somehow got himself roped into one of these ugly duckling prom bets, but he still managed to be lovable in our eyes, and in Laney Boggs’ eyes, too. They made a cute couple in the end (though we actually preferred her in her falafel hat…).

Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas) from Save the Last Dance

Paramount Pictures

Oh, Derek. Derek came in and helped Sara when she needed it most — when she was away from home, feeling clueless, and in need of a few new moves. He showed her how to love dance again and supported her studies. He was endlessly patient with her when she didn’t understand certain dynamics at play between his friends and family, and he helped her do the work to understand what it means to be a good partner. Plus, he’d be a great partner to take out on the dance floor at a wedding — just saying.

Michael (Robert Schwartzman) from The Princess Diaries

Buena Vista Pictures/Walt Disney Studios

Michael was TRUE BLUE. He always liked Mia — before she was a princess, before she had her makeover, before everything. He stuck around during all the weird stuff — even during the time period where she let her straightener go to her head and thought she was too good for him. The two shared their first kiss at the end of the movie, and ALL of us got butterflies. Maybe he'll return for The Princess Diaries 3?!

Preston (Ethan Embry) from Can’t Hardly Wait

Sony Pictures Releasing

Preston Meyers was David to Mike Dexter’s party Goliath in Can’t Hardly Wait. He had been in love with Amanda Beckett, who'd been dating Mike, for a long time, and was trying to get the courage to tell her — a task that seemed nearly impossible, given that Mike and Amanda were a match made in high school heaven. However, over the course of the night, and tiny vignettes filmed around the party, it’s made clear that there is life beyond high school, and Preston might just be the right choice for anyone who can see past graduation. Sigh.

Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) from Titanic

Paramount Pictures

Our hearts have been going on about Jack since 1997. Just LOOK at him. TBH, we’re kind of wondering if the fact that he’s down there in the ocean is partially responsible for melting all those icebergs faster. Seriously though, he’d be a wonderful boyfriend (if he was a real person) in today’s world, and, you know, if he wasn't dead. He loves fiercely, and while he doesn’t exactly have his finances in order, he’s super scrappy and knows how to think on his feet. We’d trust him with our lives.

Josh (Paul Rudd) from Clueless

Paramount Pictures

Okay, so even if his feelings for Cher were a little bit strange, we still love Josh. He is (mostly) a good older stepbrother, and he has a lot of wisdom in that head of his. He was always kind to her, and never really stooped down to gossip or pettiness the way other Clueless character did. He also has that “I don’t care what I look like” thing going for him, even though he usually looks pretty good. Also, can we point out that Paul Rudd STILL looks exactly the same? Good genes are nothing to sneeze at.

Austin (Chad Michael Murray) from A Cinderella Story

Warner Bros. Pictures

It would almost feel wrong to talk about the early 2000s without talking about Chad Michael Murray — but have no fear, here he is. And in an adaptation of a popular Disney story, no less! In this movie, he plays Austin, a popular jock who still can’t find happiness (aww!). He starts writing Sam (played by Hillary Duff) and a modern version of Cinderella plays out right before our eyes. In the end, they kiss in the rain and go to Princeton together, as most modern-day teen couples do. We hope we get A Cinderella Story 2 just to see this love story continue.

So there you have it! Those are our fave boys from the ’90s and early aughts; who are some of yours? Tweet us at @BritandCo!

This post has been updated.

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