As much as we say Christmas is not about presents (and it isn’t!), we all love to receive and give really awesome presents.
According to psychologists, gift giving has rewards on both sides: not only the person who receives it is happy, but also, giving a gift releases endorphins to your brain that make you feel good.
A thoughtful, beautiful gift can show that we really thought about the person and strengthen the bond between the two. In the end, we love to see our friends and family smiling, and we feel good knowing we’ve taken care of someone.
So, if you are going to gift-give this Christmas, we have some suggestions you might want to look into. They are all from Portuguese startups and small businesses, so you’ll be giving awesome gifts and also supporting the local economy. Yeah!
At-home beauty treatment
We all love to pamper ourselves, and the convenience of having it without leaving the house cannot be surpassed. Except if we are also contributing to a good cause!
You can give all this with Sparkl! The company delivers beauty on demand – you can request hair styling, make-up and other beauty services delivered directly to your door. And by gifting one Sparkl Voucher Gift this Christmas, you’ll also be supporting Projecto Cabelos Mágicos – they create hats inspired by characters from kids’ imaginarium, and gift them to children going through chemotherapy.
Never lose anything
We all have that distracted friend that keeps forgetting everything and losing half of his possessions in a night. For them, the perfect gift is a Lapa.
These small devices can be attached to your phone, keys, wallet, laptop, bike – you name it! You can track their location through the app, and you can even set alarms for Lapa to warn you in case you forgot your wallet or passport at home (no more airport stress!).
Charged up!
If you have a super techie colleague or family member who has one thousand devices to charge and hogs all the wall plugs in the room, here’s a gift that will help both of you: Egg Electronics has a Power Station that allows charging up to 15 devices at the same time, plus 2 USB entries.
The Power Station comes with several designs to suit their style and, for a really special gift, you can even personalize the design. We personalized some for ourselves here at Beta-i, and yes you can ask for our designs!
Print it out!
Is there a highly creative person in your life? They give them the gift of creating! BeeVeryCreative produces portable and at home 3D printers, so your loved ones can express themselves and design and print their own projects.
Conscious Fashion
Giving both style and high quality to your favorite fashionistas is easy! Just browse through A Piece of Me and buy local from Lisbon’s finest artisans.
You can find high-quality clothing items there, but the best part is learning the story of each traditional maker and getting to know the person who made something specific with their hands, just for you.
Give to Charity
Giving is a wonderful feeling, and that is true for the persons we’re gifting too. Why not make a donation in their name to their favorite cause?
eSolidar is a charitable marketplace that aggregates a range of charitable campaigns and auctions to support several different causes.
Travel Adventures
Is your favorite person a traveler? Indulge their wanderlust with a Secret City Trails experience. Find out which city they are going next and get them a discovery tour that they can do themselves – a game that will let them explore the city while solving riddles and learning about the city’s best secret spots!
Beer Lovers
Gift-giving for beer connoisseurs is a no-brainer: give them a new collection of beers to taste! In Lisbon, you can find a lot of craft beers – we’ll name just a few to get you going:
Musa | Passarola | Dois Corvos | 8ª Colina | Lupum
Retro Wear
For the retro lovers, take a look at the products by Maison Pixel! Nothing like underwear or swimwear in a pixel design to bring out those 90s vibes!
Racing Fiends
If you have a car aficionado in your family, you may not be able to give them the car of their dreams, but you can give them the racing stripes with something from Heel Thread – after all, socks are a Christmas classic!
First Time Movers
If someone is moving out into their first own home, there’s probably a lot they will need. You can help out with a brand new mattress, 100% made in Portugal, by KoalaRest.
