Christmas Gift Guide for Men

I just need to preface this post by saying to both Ben and my dad (as the two men in my life who may be receiving presents included in said gift guide): please remove yourselves from this post now!! Everyone else, take a seat, and let’s get started.
I mentioned in my last post that I’ve never been quite so organised for Christmas before – seriously, I’ve outdone myself this year! I’m almost there with presents for family and am now mostly just thinking about gifts for various Secret Santas! One thing I’ve never really bothered to do before on the blog though are Gift Guides, and since I’m pretty organised this year, I thought I’d do one. (I’m not super worried that after proclaiming how organised I am, I’m going to realise I’ve forgotten something major!). So I decided this would be the year to do some gift guides (be warned, it’s likely this will be the only one I get round to…but to be fair, men’s gifts are probably the most difficult ones for readers of this blog to choose, if you’re anything like me that is anyway!). Some of these I’ve already purchased and received, others are ideas that I liked the look of and would also consider.
What gifts have you purchased for the men in your life so far?

Ben Bracken Lidl Whisky 22 Years

Ben Bracken 22 Year Islay Single Malt Scotch: Lidl (£44.99)

First up is whisky for my dad – he’s a big whisky fan in general, his favourite being Laphroaig, so when we saw that Lidl were offering a few different whiskies at really good prices, we bought a couple for him. The Ben Bracken 22 Year Islay Single Malt Scotch is the one he chose as his Christmas present and we also picked up the Glenalba 34 Year Sherry Cask Finish Blended Scotch Whisky (£49.99) for him now as he told us he’d never seen a whisky over 30 years old that cheap! (We let him take his pick of which he wanted now and which for Christmas, so slightly ruined the surprise there, but we’d had to find out which he wanted!)

The Body Shop Modern Gent's Shaving Kit

Modern Gent’s Shaving Kit: Body Shop (£25)

Another present for my dad is this Modern Gents Shaving Set from The Body Shop. With my dad, you can’t go wrong with shaving kits and accessories, and I’m sure that’s the same for a lot of men – when you’re having to shave everyday, it can at least be a bit more fun with products that are interesting and a tin that can be reused – I love the vintage looking style of it.

Oliver Bonas picture frame

Chevron Tiled Photo Frame: Oliver Bonas (£12.50)

This is one of the first gifts I chose for Ben – this year Ben and I decided to choose smaller things that we’d both like…so I’m not definite he’ll like this, but I do! I plan to stick a photo of us in there since in the 7 and a half years we’ve been together, we’ve never put up a photo frame with a picture of the two of us – crazy! Beth and I came across the Oliver Bonas shop in York a couple of weeks ago in a building that was once a Haunted House – awesome, I know. I’d never heard of it before, but searching the website it seems like it’s not an independent as we thought, but actually just has only just entered the North. I was in love with practically everything in the shop, definitely worth a visit if you live near one.

Debenhams Red Herring Boxers

Aztec Print Boxers: Red Herring at Debenhams (£8.40)

Next up for Ben is something useful: underwear! He mostly just owns plain black trunk style underwear, but I decided to go for something a little bit more fun for once with these – I can’t guarantee that he’ll wear them, but then again, no one else is going to see them! I find underwear (along with socks, but a bit more interesting than those) are a good fail safe option for men (and for me, buy me all the underwear!).

White Musk Sport Eau De Toilette Body Shop

White Musk Sport Eau De Toilette: The Body Shop (£16)

Ben’s a big fan of aftershave and men’s fragrances – he wears one every day and tends to swap them occasionally too, so it’s always worthwhile buying him more of these. This is slightly different to his usual as it’s a fresher sporty one whereas he wears darker and woodier scents usually, but I think he’ll like it.

Next Signature Gold Eau de Toilette

Next Signature Gold Eau de Toilette (£15)

Like I said, Ben likes fragrances! He actually chose this one himself a few weeks ago when we were shopping in Next together and spotted them. To be honest, I bet he’ll have forgotten about it by the time it reaches Christmas!

vivienne westwood shirt

Vivienne Westwood Shirt: Garment Quarter (£90)

Ben quite often wears plain T shirts on evenings and weekends, and he really values high quality ones. In the past, it was Primark all the way, but nowadays the feel of the material and lasting quality of the piece make a big difference to him, so something like this tee would be ideal (if I had all the money!).

Lush Yog Nog Soap

Lush Yog Nog Soap (£3.50/100g)

This was a spur of the moment purchase in Lush as I’d bought the Bath Bomb version of this previously so knew that the scent was awesome and right up Ben’s street, plus he’s suddenly decided he prefers soap to shower gel. To me, it’s got a very sweet toffee-ish scent – can’t go wrong with that!

Hugo Boss watch

Hugo Boss Watch (£325)

Again, an “if I had all the money” option, but sadly we’re prioritising house stuff over Ooh-So-Pretty watches. But if you’re not spending all your money on updating your house at the moment, this is definitely a consideration for the stylish gent.

At home with Ashley Thomas Designer cream ceramic floral spoon rest

Ashley Thomas Ceramic Spoon Rest: Debenhams (£7)

Another slightly random present for Ben (I’m sensing a theme here…), but he likes cooking, he makes a mess with spoons when he cooks, and it’s pretty. I think it’s a winner! I’ve managed to secure quite a few things for people this year from the Debenhams gifting range – I started looking and just needed everything. Please tell me that’s not just me?!

Disney Cars Travel Art Easel

Disney Cars Travel Art Easel: Debenhams (£10)

So this isn’t technically a “men’s” gift, but still male-oriented (although it could definitely go to a Cars-loving girl – I’ve just picked it out here as it’s going to Ben’s cousin, William). We’ve got no shortage of ideas for William – he loves anything to do with cars, both as objects and the films. “Car” was one of his first words and just about the only thing he said for about a year. Now he’s 5 and he’s still obsessed – I thought this would be fun and would encourage creativity too for him.

Some links in this post are affiliate and some items have been gifted for the purpose of this review – this does not affect my judgement of them.

2 Comments

  1. December 1, 2015 / 1:54 am

    Great gift guide! I’ve just been starting to think about a gift for my lad and I’ve been a bit stumped (as we’ve only been seeking each other a couple of months!). But you’ve definitely given me some ideas here, so thanks 😀

    • Sian Thomas
      Author
      December 2, 2015 / 11:27 am

      Ah so glad it gave you a few ideas! I find men’s presents to be the most difficult ones to buy, so I’m surprised I’ve managed to get them quite early this year!

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