Last-Minute Holiday Gifts That Will Spread Major Holly Jolly Vibes — As Seen On CBS Austin’s “We Are Austin

With only 10 days left until Christmas, many of us are scrambling to finish our holiday shopping – and still find perfect gifts that will bring a smile to our loved ones’ faces. To help you spread some holiday cheer, I shared some last-minute gift ideas on CBS Austin’s “We Are Austin” yesterday (check out the segment here!) — from iconic fragrances to premium leather handbags, gourmet chocolate gift sets, and scented candles and hand creams. Read on for the details on everything seen on air!

TORY BURCH SIGNATURE EAU DE PARFUM

You’re likely familiar with Tory Burch’s iconic ballet flats — they were even Blair Waldorf’s go-to footwear choice (the perfect complement to her stylish headbands) when accessorizing her school uniform on the the original Gossip Girl series. Well, the American fashion designer has become a style legend thanks to her unique take on easy elegance, for her refined but accessible aesthetic. Burch is heralded for her ability to approach classic elements in unexpected ways so, not surprisingly, her very first foray into fragrance was a reflection of this quality. That’s what makes the Tory Burch Signature Eau de Parfum ($130 at Sephora and Sephora.com) such a great gift: it’s a modern classic.

The timeless fragrance feels effortlessly refined, exuding femininity and confidence in an understated way. It features floral peony and tuberose notes blended with crisp citrus notes of neroli and grapefruit — all anchored by earthy vetiver.

ISSEY MIYAKE A DROP D’ISSEY EDP

Whether you’re building a snowman and enjoying some sledding adventures, trimming a fragrant fir tree, hanging up a beautiful wreath on your front door, admiring the poinsettias adorning walkways and entryways, or gazing up at the stars while admiring the twinkling lights on all the homes and buildings around you, nature plays a central role in the sense of wonderment that accompanies the holiday season. This appreciation for the magic, beauty, and poetry of nature is also the inspiration behind the new Issey Miyake A Drop d’Issey Eau de Parfum ($111 at Macy’s and Macys.com).

Nearly 30 years after Issey Miyake Parfums released L’Eau d’Issey, the brand is opening a new chapter in its story with the launch of A Drop D’Issey, a wildly feminine fragrance that’s musky, cozy and reassuring. Housed in a rounded bottle meant to resemble a single drop of water, the perfume features a solar lilac heart accompanied by hints of almond milk, orange blossom, Damask rose, cedarwood and musk.

Not only did nature inspire the fragrance composition but it also informed how the perfumer, Ane Ayo, went about creating the scent, using green technology and carefully selecting both natural and synthetic ingredients that would reduce the fragrance’s environmental impact.

FIND YOUR HAPPY PLACE HOLIDAY COLLECTIONS

We know that scent is the sense most closely linked to memory, which is why so many aromas can transport us to different places and moments, remind us of people we love, special moments we experienced, and memories we hold dear. Find Your Happy Place is a brand of scented bath and body products that masterfully taps into the emotional power of fragrance, transforming bath time by helping you access a joyful mindspace via scent.

Each of Find Your Happy Place’s scented collection is inspired by a real person’s happy place, by an account of a positive experience that someone shared with the brand. Because of this crowdsourcing element, there’s a sense of community and storytelling built into each collection so that you feel like, when you experience a collection, you’re sharing in the joy that someone else experienced. How lovely is that, right?

Find Your Happy Place recently unveiled four new collections with enchanting scents inspired by seasonal experiences.

First, there’s have Cozy On a Snow Day, which was inspired by the idea of curling up with downy pillows and fluffy blankets on a cold, snowy day. To transport you into a snug state of mind, the collection features the scents of warm vanilla and cashmere. Next, there’s Home For The Holidays, which was inspired by memories of family togetherness during the holiday season — think baking cookies together, decorating gingerbread houses, sipping hot cocoa, and watching holiday films — and features the inviting, reassuring, mouthwatering scents of nutmeg and sweet cream. For those who love the smell of Christmas trees, check out the Winter Wonderland collection, was inspired by the joys of the winter season and features the scents of candy cane and balsam fir. Lastly, there’s Strawberries in Champagne, a collection inspired by that first celebratory sip of effervescent bubbly and featuring the scents of champagne and peach nectar.

Each collection includes a range of products including bath bombs, hand creams and scented candles, with prices ranging from $2.97 to $9.97.  All bath and body products are sulfate- and paraben-free, plus they contain a skin-loving blend of shea butter, cocoa butter and vitamin E so your skin will feel smooth, hydrated, and supple.

Find Your Happy Place is available exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.com

IMBUE CURL PRODUCTS

To help curly strands look all the more merry and bouncy this holiday season, check out Imbue, a curl-worshipping, vegan haircare brand. Designed for curly and coily hair types 3A to 4C, Imbue products are sulfate- and paraben-free, and they’re made with a cocktail of sustainably sourced plant extracts — among them coconut, olive, sweet almond, sunflower, and avocado oils, as well as shea, cupuaçu and cocoa butters. Each product in the line makes it easy to follow the brand’s 4-step regimen: cleanse, condition, curl, and finish. In fact, the products are numbered and color-coded so you know exactly where they fall within this 4-step regimen — how convenient, right?

If you’re looking for the ultimate stocking stuffer or for a great product to add to a grab bag, check out the Imbue Curl Empowering Creme Gel ($12.99 at ImbueCurls.com and H-E-B stores). This best-selling product is a multi-tasking powerhouse that combines the softening, smoothing benefits of a cream with the hold of a gel. As such, it enhances your natural curl pattern, hydrates and softens strands, boosts shine, prevents frizz, and offers a flake-free medium hold — all without weighing down your strands.

Imbue products range from $12.99 to $19.99 at ImbueCurls.com and H-E-B stores.

VOSGES HAUT-CHOCOLAT GIFT SETS

Santa may crave his milk and cookies and Buddy the Elf may like all his dishes with a hefty bit of maple syrup but, for most of us, nothing tastes quite as sweet as chocolate. That’s why you can make the holidays a sweet delight with Vosges Haut-Chocolat, which offers an expansive range of luxurious and exotic truffles, premium chocolate bars, and gourmet chocolate gift sets.

One of my favorite gift sets for this holiday season is the Prima Materia Truffle Collection ($95 at VosgesChocolate.com), which features 20 beautiful truffles, each one a work of magic. The collection was inspired by some of the fundamentals concepts in alchemy — among them the principles of prima materia or “first matter” and transmutation(i.e. the process of transforming base elements into precious metals). Alchemists believed that prima materia was the primitive, formless base of all matter — the foundation upon which anything and everything could be created. And so alchemists searched the world over to determine what prima materia was — whether it was iron, salt, magnesium, sulphur, or any other tangible substance — in hopes that, by find this elusive substance, they’d be able to manifest their own visions. Inspired by these stories, then, Vosges creator and CEO Katrina Markoff created 20 truffles that represent a quest through rainforests, deserts, volcanic expanses, rivers, and oceans all over the world. You can even see this vision represented in the chocolates themselves, some of which feature a gorgeous emerald green hue while others have a Cerulean blue tone, a deep violet hue, or a sunflower yellow color. Similarly, the truffles are housed in a gorgeous round box that captures a magical, lush, forest landscape illuminated by a full moon. To transform the experience of savoring these chocolates even further, the set comes with a guided tasting book and a collectible scroll.

Another great option is the Enchanted Collection ($70 at VosgesChocolate.com), which includes 18 truffles inspired by Katrina’s travels around the globe. The collection catalogs her culinary experimentations and her quest to find and utilize unusual ingredients that she can translate into stories through her chocolate artistry. As a result, then, each truffle incorporates ingredients sourced from different parts of the world — among them Australian macadamia nuts, Guajillo chilies, ceremonial Matcha, Wakaya ginger, Thai basil, Mediterranean olive oil, Bulgarian rose water, and Sri Lankan coconut. With each bite, then, you’ll be transported to a different destination.

If you’re looking for a gift in the under $50 range, check out the Rosemary Marcona Almond Toffee Gift Set ($25 at VosgesChocolate.com), which combines creamy milk chocolate, caramelized toffee, fresh rosemary, and Spain’s famed Marcona almonds, which have a buttery taste and a smoother crunch.

URBAN BETTY HAIRCARE

We all want healthy, shiny, bouncy, vibrant hair, but not at the expense of our overall health! And while many haircare brands have made a conscious effort to eliminate chemicals and preservatives that could have adversely impact our health, opting for cleaner and more plant-based formulations, there’s one are that they haven’t quite tackled yet: fragrance. See, while some consumers love their haircare products to feature potent aromas, others find that scents (even 100% natural fragrances) can trigger everything from allergies to migraines.

This was certainly the case for Chelle Neff, founder of Austin-based Urban Betty Salon, who has endured a life-long struggle with  oft-debilitating migraines triggered or exacerbated by scents. Hoping to eschew all such triggers from her life, Chelle set out to create truly effective, high-quality haircare products that were scent-free. The result was the newly launched Urban Betty Haircare, a clean and sustainable line of haircare products perfect for those with scent sensitivities.

Urban Betty Haircare offers an Unscented Shampoo and Conditioner, as well as a Lavender Blossom Shampoo and Conditioner for those who find aromatherapy benefits from lavender (and yes, there’s plenty of research that suggests lavender can help to curtail migraines!) or who simply want a touch of aroma. All products are cruelty-free and contain no phthalates, parabens, sulfates, silicones, dyes, or pore-clogging oils. The shampoo is $28 and the conditioner is $32 at ShopUrbanBetty.com and Urban Betty salons.

One percent of the profit from the sale of Urban Betty Haircare products will be donated to Big Austin, an organization that helps to empower small businesses in Central Texas and plays a pivotal role in supporting female entrepreneurs.

ALAFFIA GOOD SOAP BARS

When you do good, you feel good, so you will feel great about scooping up Alaffia’s Good Soap Bars!  Retailing for $2.79 each at Whole Foods Market stores, these zero-waste, triple-milled soap bars are the ultimate stocking stuffer!

What makes them so good? Well, for starters, they’re gluten-free, cruelty-free, and sulfate- and paraben-free, plus they’re biodegradable and made with skin nourishing ingredients like fair trade unrefined shea butter, coconut oil, African black soap and goat’s milk. They come in 12 natural fragrances: African Coffee, Apple Cider Vinegar, Avocado, Cucumber, Lavender, Coconut, Peppermint, Vanilla Haze, Lemonade, Cedarwood, Coastal Breeze, and Golden Milk.

But they’re not just good for you — they’re good for the world. How so? Well, 100% of proceeds from the sale of Alaffia’s Good Soap Bars go to helping communities in need via Alaffia’s various initiatives and partnerships. For instance, 10% of proceeds are donated to the Whole Planet Foundation to help alleviate poverty worldwide through microfinance lending. Another portion of the proceeds benefits Alaffia’s Education Empowerment project, which funds the construction of one kindergarten per year in Togo. Since 2014, Alaffia has helped to fund the construction of six kindergarten facilities.

Talk about a gift that gives back, right?

PARKER CLAY LEATHER GOODS

You may playfully refer to a gorgeous and versatile handbag as being life-changing but, when you purchase a leather piece from Parker Clay, you are literally helping to change lives. Parker Clay specializes in premium, high-quality leather goods, but what really drives this brand is its societal impact.

Husband-and-wife team Ian and Brittany Bentley were inspired to create Parker Clay after they journeyed to Ethiopia to adopt their daughter and fell in love with the country and the people. While living in Addis Adaba, they learned that as many as 150,000 women were driven to prostitution as a result of widespread poverty, a lack of employment opportunities and minimal access to education or vocational training. They became acquainted with a local organization called Ellilta Women at Risk (EWAR) that’s dedicated to restoring independence to women who have been exploited through prostitution, and they knew they wanted to be a part of the movement. They saw an opportunity to create high-quality leather goods using timeless Ethiopian traditions — and, in the process, create employment opportunities for at-risk women. And hence Parker Clay was born.

Parker Clay hires at-risk women in Ethiopia, pays them a living wage, and provides skills training, career advancement and financial literacy opportunities. It gives them the tools to empower themselves and uplift their communities, so that they can build the future they envision. With your purchase, then, you’re helping Parker Clay positively impact the lives of women in Ethiopia for generations to come.

All Parker Clay pieces are designed in the US and produced in Ethiopia using sustainably sourced, high-quality leather that just looks better with age.

The brand offers a great assortment of giftable pieces but some of my favorites are: the Miramar Leather Backpack ($228 at ParkerClay.com), which features a low profile for a sleek and minimalist look; the Merkato Signature Tote ($248 at ParkerClay.com),  an ultra-versatile everyday bag with a zippered top and curved shoulder straps; and the Mulu and Mulu Mini Catchall Pouches ($98 and $68 respectively at ParkerClay.com), which will keep all your small items neatly stored and organized.

Parker Clay also offers messenger bags, laptop bags, wallets, leather yoga straps, valet trays, and more, so make sure to check out all the options at ParkerClay.com