A Gift For Every Type

A text saying, “Don’t hate me… but can we reschedule tonight?” is the best gift you can give an introvert, but try as you might, you can’t wrap that up in a box with a bow. You’ll just have to get them accoutrements to make their future nights in as cozy as possible. First, they’ll need a mug to hold onto while they’re wrapped up in a blanket, and none will look better in their hands than Villamer’s. They come in big and small. Stripes and solids. But all are handcrafted in the South of France, so when they have a guest over, they’ll be able to say, Oui, my mugs are French. Just like they’ll be able to say their Rototo socks are Japanese (and extra cushiony for dancing around during an impromptu party for one). Plus, whether you go for the vintage tube or merino wool socks, they’ll look great when they snap a photo of their feet on the couch for their Instagram story.

Any seasoned introvert knows their home has to be perfectly scented, so you’re going to impress them with a San Soli candle, which is Diptyque for the if you know, you know set. Do you want their home to smell bright and herbal? Dark Cypress. Earthy but slightly sweet? Smoke + Moss. Spicy and sweet? Carmine. Warm and woody? Warm Wood, obviously. Go the extra mile and pair it with hand soap from Matias Mollenbach. They’re conversation starters, mostly because people will wonder if that beautiful little sculpture next to the sink is actually soap. That is, if your beloved introvert decides to open their heart—I mean, door—to a guest. Either way, it’s the kind of gift that elevates a quotidian routine to an experience.

For the beauty-obsessed introvert, skip the sheet masks and give them a Buff Beauty nail set. It has everything they need to buff, smooth, shape, and generally fuss over their nails without making an appointment or, crucially, leaving the house. And because introverts are famously selective about who makes it into their inner circle, give them something to keep their chosen few close: an Emily Warden script letter charm. Pick their own initial, their partner’s, their best friend’s, their dog’s—whoever has earned the privilege. It’s tiny and personal without veering into capital-S Sentimental.

Speaking of the dog: Their four-legged friend needs love, too. For them, there’s Lil Luv Dog’s liquid wash and leave-in conditioning mist, because even furry pooches deserve a spa-quality hair routine. And unlike most people, they’re always invited over.

Shopping for the person in your life who needs everything just so is a high-stakes sport. Their notes app has a table of contents, their makeup bag is confoundingly clean (they’ve had it for years), and their hair: slicked-back. Start by giving them a break. From Lazy Jamie, the Do Not Disturb Phone Chair is a chrome-framed little throne that keeps their phone out of their hands. Which means they can finally thumb through Dressing Up: Sandy Liang, and give it the undivided attention it deserves. Inside: nearly 300 pages and ten years of bows, Peter Pan collars, and a bounty of pink.

That old makeup bag of theirs is due for something shiny and new, so gift them a handful of Marc Jacobs’ Drawn This Way gel eyelines. After gliding on, they stay blendable for a few seconds (so there’s time to perfect the wing), and then they lock in for up to 24 hours. And each pencil is capped with an apropos gold–err, silver–star charm. And their lips deserve the same attention as their wing. For that, add Dr. Diamond’s Metacine LipLift. It’s filler without the needle (or price tag). And for the splurge, there’s Janine Knizia’s Taffy Crème Super-Riche. Stupidly hydrating, its ingredient list is the A-team of skincare heavy hitters: peptides, ceramides, and bakuchiol. Trust us, your friend is quite familiar.

Because a perfectionist is tethered to specificity, they can hone in on their next signature scent by layering on the scents in Glossier’s Mini You Wardrobe Kit. It has the cult-favorite You, along with Doux (which gives a crisp, I-have-my-shit-togther scent), Fleur (a floral that doesn’t feel overwhelming), and Soie (vacation in a bottle). And for the final word, Dos Mundos’ Cariño blends rose, orris, vanilla, and sandalwood into a fragrance that smells like a sea of calm. It’s a scent that tells a person to relax. Will your friend listen? ‘Course not, but they’ll smell incredible nonetheless.

Contrary to what it sounds like, the overcommitted person in your life is actually noncommittal. They want to go everywhere, do everything, talk to everyone, see it all. Their social calendar is updated with military precision, packed down to the minute, and somehow they’ll still agree to drinks at the exact same time as the dinner reservation they made three weeks ago.

How, then, do you expect them to choose one single “signature” scent? The answer: Just don’t. Ormaie’s three new extraits—Musc Miroir, Rose Mosaïque, and Bois Océan—mean they can smell completely different depending on where they’re headed next. Maybe Musc Miroir is for the coffee they squeezed in before work, Rose Mosaïque comes out before dinner, and Bois Océan gets a spritz when dinner inevitably turns into drinks. Is three perfumes excessive? For someone who considers “I’ll stop by for just one drink” a reasonable response to a fourth invitation that evening, absolutely not.

The same logic applies at home. Sidia’s The Strike lets them switch out the fragrance whenever the mood—or their attention span—changes. There’s sensual and enveloping Braless, polished but warm Midas, and commanding and grounding Soaked. And for the nights when their schedule finally catches up with them, there’s 1884, Sangre De Fruta’s “calming” collab with The Spa at Hotel Chelsea. It’ll help when they realize they’ve promised three different people they’d be downtown by 8PM—spoiler alert: They’re not getting there at 8PM.

Naturally, their makeup bag requires options, too. Prada’s cream-to-powder blushes snap together, so instead of making the frankly unreasonable decision between shades, they can stack a few and figure it out somewhere between appointments. Louis Vuitton’s LV Crayon lip liners understand the assignment, too: There’s a case to keep all shades together because committing to a lip liner is just as difficult as committing to plans. At least this is one scheduling conflict they can carry in their purse.

And somewhere in between all of that running around, they do technically have to shower. 39BC’s bath and shower oils make that tiny window at home feel a little more luxurious before they’re out the door again. Throw an Etaat Spira comb into their bag, too. Because when your calendar has you bouncing from breakfast to a meeting to drinks to dinner to “Wait, you’re here too?” there’s no guarantee they’ll see their bathroom again until tomorrow.

Every friend group has a little Miss Ina Garten in the making. Yours undoubtedly already has loads of platters and serving utensils, but of course there’s room for more! Add to their stockpile with little somethings from Yam, the New York brand that makes jewelry for the table. Their bottle opener, cocktail picks, serving utensils, and snack bowl are all stainless steel tableware dressed up in hand-strung beads, and no two are exactly alike. Then set the stage for dessert with Laura Chautin’s dessert plates, hand-painted with the kind of whimsical, English garden-inspired motifs that make a store-bought tart look homemade.

Speaking of jewelry: The host is always the last one dressed (someone has to babysit the oven), so give them a finishing touch that takes two seconds. Hernán Herdez’s Caged Pearl Necklace wraps a pearl in a gold cage. Bonus: The pearl matches the bottle opener. Coordinated!

Now, stock the pantry and kitchen bookshelf. Librae is the debut cookbook from Dona Murad’s East Village bakery, where Bahraini flavors meet Danish technique. If they didn’t already know how to make loomi and lemon curd babka, or rose pistachio croissants, they will now! Meanwhile, Honey Department’s Thick Honey comes in a squeezable aluminum tube and doesn’t drip, which is great news for the tablecloth. And Ilém’s Uji Matcha Infused Olive Oil is a finishing oil outfitted with ceremonial-grade matcha from Kyoto. They can drizzle it over ice cream and watch the dinner table lose its mind.

Finally, for the morning after, when the last guest has left and the dishes can wait, there’s Pool House, Mary H.K. Choi’s first adult novel. It follows an out-of-work actress and her daughter, who are forced to move into the pool house behind their own home. Because the only kind of drama the host likes is the kind that they don’t have to manage themselves.