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There is never a wrong time to remind your best buds how much they mean to you, whether in the form of words or gifts (or both). Perhaps you want to commemorate a big accomplishment, personal or professional, or offer some comfort when things aren’t so sunny. Maybe you’re just thinking of your beloved buddy who lives across the country, and want a little token to tell her you miss her.
Whether to celebrate the highs or soften the lows, or as a delightful for-no-particular-reason present, the gifts in this guide will let your vegan pal know that you’re thinking of her.
In addition to being vegan, all items in this gift guide are made better-for-the-earth ingredients and materials, and perfect for your friend with high standards. Most everything is also ethically and transparently made.
1. A glorious plant-based charcuterie board
If food is your love language and/or if your friend is always on the prowl for a vegan feast fit for a queen, look no further than this Cheese & Charcuterie Box from Riverdel. Complete with four vegan cheeses, two vegan cold cuts, fig salami, crackers, a savory spread, and a jam, this is a gift worth writing home about.
Riverdel is a fully vegan cheese shop based in Brooklyn (which also offers online sales) and is the stuff of which plant-based dreams are made. Ask 90% of vegans and they’ll tell you that cheese is a sticking point: the options available in your average grocery store are simply not up to snuff. So this board will be a major treat.
If you want to make it a ladies’ night in a box: grab a lovely, sustainable cutting board, a bottle of delicious vegan wine, and a candle (see #13!).
Price: $119
2. CHOCOLATE
Chocolate is an oldie but a goodie when it comes to showing ya feelings. It truly is among the most widely appropriate and versatile gifts – equally well-suited to rejoicing as is it to recovering. And it’s made even more giftable when beautifully packaged and highly presentable, which you’ll find to be the case with all these chocolate bars.
Under the chocolate umbrella there are, of course, many different chocolatey routes you can take:
- Beautiful vegan chocolate bars (same as linked above): you’ll find 5 brands here (pictured in the above photo) that are prime for making a beautiful bundle.
- A box of chocolates: three strong options are Compartés, Nhiär, and FINE & RAW.
- Chocolate dips: like this Chocolate Hazelnut Spread from Rawmio. For a little extra oomph, add some beautiful fruit to go with it – like some glorious Oishii Omakase Berries.
- Better-for-you vegan versions of classic chocolate candy bars: Go Max Go is out. of. this. world. (Note that their branding does not do justice to how incredible their products are – their Jokerz bars are the closest thing you’ll find to vegan snickers.) Unreal also has some great vegan options!
3. Sustainable luxury lipstick
HIGHR lipstick is a chic gift for your vegan and sustainability-minded friend if ever there was one. Here’s a nice, concise summary of all the cool things they have going for them from their website:
Organic ingredients. Upcycled oils. Plant-innovation. Vegan. Renewable energy. CO2 neutral. No polyethylene. No silicone. Universal color.
HIGHR
Certified B Corp™.
They’re also female-founded, which we love, and have brag-worthy sustainability stats, like: buying a HIGHR lipstick saves 5.8 lbs of carbon dioxide vs. a standard lipstick. Please and thank you. Since anything we put on our lips is getting ingested, it’s especially nice to know that this is cleeean.
4. A very lovely vase from Fable
Bonus points if it’s full of flowers when you gift it! I find that gifting items for the home can be a little tricky, as you try to honor the person’s style and hope that something fits with their decor (if they’re a highly coordinated sort). So a simple, elegant, goes-with-everything piece is a nice option. Make it super sturdy and made by a beautiful brand like Fable and you can’t really go wrong.
Pictured here is their Speckled White color – nice ‘n clean ‘n versatile – but they also have several other beautiful, more colorful options as well: Blush Pink, Speckled White, Dove Gray, Midnight Blue, Beachgrass Green, Cloud White, and Desert Taupe. You can grab the tall one here or the shorter one here.
Price: $32 (li’l guy), $42 (tall guy)
5. Beautiful, ethical, handmade vegan jewelry
Depending on your level of comfort and familiarity with ~jewelry~ you may feel overwhelmed at the prospect of sussing out ethical from unethical jewelry, as I did. So imagine my delight upon discovering L.Greenwalt Jewelry, in all its sustainable, handcrafted, uniquely elegant glory. It’s the perfect present for your friend who loves to ethically accessorize.
Inspiration for L.Greenwalt Jewelry stems strongly from the geometric motifs of the Art Deco era and the sensuous fluidity of Art Nouveau creations.
L.Greenwalt Jewelry
L.Greenwalt uses responsible metals (ethically mined and/or recycled) and all vegan materials (so no pearls, leather, bone, etc.) and ships in sustainable packaging. They also donate a percentage of profits from specific lines to impactful organizations like Ocean Conservancy. Truly a find!
Price: Starts at $80
6. Clean beauty box subscription
This isn’t the first time that Petit Vour has been featured in a gift guide on Florah and it certainly won’t be the last. For your beloved buddy who loves clean beauty and the element of surprise, this is truly the *chef’s kiss* ideal present.
Petit Vour curates clean vegan products into monthly subscription boxes that are honestly as fun to give as they are to receive. If you want to know exactly what you’re gifting and/or have a theme, they also have curated boxes. And, once your recipient has discovered new brands to love, she can peruse Petit Vour’s large collection of beauty products and accessories from those very same brands, available a la carte.
Price: $18 to $25 / box / month (depending on tier and length of subscription)
7. Raw juice face masks
Items in the self-care realm always make for lovely gifts, as they seem to go beyond just the physical thing: they serve as an invitation to your gift recipient to take a moment to herself to relax and unwind. And these cute little raw juice face masks from ESW will do just that.
These are great as a colorful bundle, or bought individually as a cute little add-on to an existing gift – perfect for gift bags. These masks are compostable, which is a nice bonus for those looking for more earth-friendly beauty products.
Price: $6 to $32
8. A delicious vegan wine
Wine is a classic. Much like chocolate, it feels appropriate for the good times and bad (though ideally we encourage our friends not to drown their sorrows, I suppose). So let’s be healthy and call this a celebratory gift.
The below wines are easy to find and on the more affordable end of the spectrum. If you’re interested in more of a splurge bottle, head to veganwines.com (or double check that your selected bottle is vegan at Barnivore.)
A bundle gift idea: the perfect bottle + some gorgeous Fable drinkware?! Now we’re talking.
Price: varies
9. Sourse chocolate gems for her beauty goals
Sourse vitamin-infused chocolates were made for your beauty-loving, sweet-tooth-having friend who wants to have her chocolate cake and eat it too. Sourse has different options for different goals – from skin health to hair health to sleep, mood, and energy. They’re delicious, high-quality little candy-coated dark chocolates and the epitome of a fun and easy health routine.
These little gems also offer the opportunity to customize them to the occasion: New engagement? Skin Glow and Hair Grow bites for the pre-wedding glow up. Big promotion at work? Sleep and Energy to stay on top of it. Woot woot!
Price: $34 to $58
10. A beautiful vegan handbag
For the big moments in life, sometimes only #fashun will do. There are so many gorgeous options when it comes to high-quality, sustainable vegan handbags that make for glorious presents. You’ll find a rigorously researched guide to brands offering such handbags in this post.
The options are many – from price point to material to style to ethos of brands, so you’re likely to be able to find something that’s perfect to commemorate any occasion. And if you’re unsure of what style and color will be best received, you can always go the gift card route.
Price: wide range
11. A highly-chic vegan watch
Apple leather? Pineapple leather?! Yes, these are some of the fabulous new-age fabrics that serve as the straps for Votch’s gorgeous vegan watches. They are as classy and sharp as they are functional. For your friend who’s always on time (or always late, for that matter), this is a great option.
Votch offers a range of face styles – black, silver, gold, and rose gold – and even more strap options. So whether your gift recipient’s style is upscale, sophisticated, and beige-y, or a little more flashy and colorful, there’s something to fill the bill perfectly.
Price: $157 to $177
12. An ethically made, sustainable, vegetable-dyed kimono cardigan
Surely I’m not alone in my endless need for comfortable home clothes that don’t make me look like a swamp monster (looking at you, complimentary airline sweat pants that were handed down to me by an elderly woman by mom used to work for). What was I saying? Mm, yes: the need for comfy loungewear that’s still becoming. This flowy, lightweight cardigan is the perfect thing – it’s like a light robe, but with a little je ne sais quoi. A lovely gift for your friend who loves comfy but stylish house clothes.
Groceries Apparel is a wonderful brand with many beautiful options in the laid back, effortless, sustainable fabric domain, including leggings, crop tops, flowy skirts, cute sweats and sweatshirts, and more. Their clothing is handmade in an ethical Los Angeles factory, and colored using use non-toxic vegetable dyes. All very feel-good, and ideal for your eco-loving friend.
Price: $88
13. A sustainable, refillable candle
Arbor Made has solved a pain point that I think many eco-minded people struggle with: loving candles, but not loving single use items. Arbor Made’s refillable candles mean you no longer have to choose between sweet scents and ambience and helping the earth! I can all but guarantee that your favorite candle-loving eco-queen will be enchanted by this gift.
Arbor Made candles come in 7 *very highly-rated* scents: Glacial Pine, Cinnamon Swoon, Midnight Orchard, Spiced Timber, Vanilla Colada, Lavender Bliss, and Mellow Breeze. They also have an unscented one as well, and gift bundles if you’re looking for something a little bigger (or for a gift card).
Price: $18 per candle
14. Dinner at a plant-based restaurant
Sometimes the best gift is just a really baller meal. If you’re looking for inspiration for a good spot, Happy Cow is a site that shows you vegan restaurants near you, plus non-vegan restaurants with great vegan options.
Note: They only give 5-star ratings to fully vegan restaurants, which I *personally* think is a teensy bit misleading, since sometimes the best vegan food is found at not fully vegan restaurants. So just keep that in mind as you search for plant-based or plant-rich menus and a cuisine that suits.
What do you think?