Fashion / Holiday Shopping Tips

Holiday Shopping Tips

Fashion Dec 10, 2014

by Anokhi Admin

How To Survive The Holiday Shopping Chaos Without Going Crazy

The chaos of holiday shopping began with a vengeance with Black Friday last month. Getting holiday gifts for family, relatives, spouses, and significant others can get overwhelming but with deals available both online and in stores, its time to take advantage.

Los Angeles–based celebrity gifting expert Cynde Cassel, who’s catered to A-listers including Ryan Gosling, Lady Gaga, Oprah, Emma Stone, Jennifer Garner, and Tom Cruise, shares her insider tips for successful holiday shopping.

Social media is your best friend

Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, or Pinterest boards can help people get a sneak peek at the gifts that their loved ones crave for Christmas this year. Cassel notes, “There’s so much information available via social media, making it a great tool when searching for gift ideas. Whenever I get a new celebrity client, the first thing I do is survey their social media accounts to get a more in-depth look at who they are, what hobbies they have and where they spend their time.”

Check out your friends’ or loved one’s social media accounts to dig up more gift ideas to make sure that their gift is personal and thoughtful.

There’s an app for everything

With smartphones or tablets easily accessible and available to all, you can download apps like OneNote or EverNote to stay organized and maintain an ongoing list of gift recipients and what you need to buy them — as well as recommended gift ideas.

“For instance, I know the Garner-Afflecks like to gift educational children’s toys to their friends with kids. I keep that tidbit of information in an app on my phone and add to it whenever I hear about a great new educational game,” says Cassel

Keep a stockpile of gifts

Last-minute parties are pretty common during the holidays. To make sure you have something to give your friends, Cassel recommends you keep a stockpile of gifts at home so that you’re never caught empty-handed. She says, “I keep a closet in my home of small gifts I can grab whenever I need a hostess gift or something at the last minute. My go-to’s are items like tea towels, salad servers, olive oil and vinegar sets; gifts that everyone can use.”

Give personalized gifts

This season, monograms and iconography are the hottest trends that allow shoppers to pick specific personalized gifts. “Monogrammed mugs, cushions and artwork can be found at Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls and are a great way to customize gifts without going through the extra trouble and cost of having something engraved or embroidered,” says Cassel. She does feel that personalized gifts are a hit or a miss. She continues, “Just because something jumps out at you doesn’t guarantee the person receiving it will feel the same.”

Go with your gut

“If you see the perfect gift for someone on your list, don’t hesitate to buy it,” adds Cassel. Nowadays, stores have special holiday policies that allow the recipient to exchange the gift if they’re unhappy with it, but you should go with your intuition to get your loved ones and friends great gifts during the holidays.

_{Featured Image: laurenlyonscole}

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