For Women, From Women...Made By Women!
The only thing better than a present you really like is one with a cool back story. For our holiday gift guide, we opted to curate everything from businesses owned by women, from a former banker's bakery to an athlete's female-focused performance brand. Check back for more all season!
Smart Cookies
MIT grad and former Wall Street banker Umber Ahmad left Wall Street to follow her passion and found the Mah-Ze-Dar bakery. Another smart idea? Sending a For the Love of Chocolate cookie box (pictured) to a friend. (Use promo code LIFETIMELOVE to get 15% off this box through December 31.)
Buy at mahzedahrbakery.com
Saving Face
After spearheading production development at Revlon, Jennifer Kapahi, mother of one and founder of TrèStiQue makeup, has created a mini-makeup trio ($28) that fits in every bag.
Buy at trestique.com
Rust Must
Baggu, the ubiqutous totes from mother/daughter team Emily and Joan Sugihara, now come in leather and suede totes ($140) in luxe new shades including rust, navy and plum. Don’t let groceries anywhere near them.
Buy at baggu.com
Prettier in Pink
Glam up a friend’s next happy hour with rose-gold bar accessories ($95) from Cocktail Emporium, a one-stop shop founded by bartender Kristen Voisey. Cheers to friends with great taste!
Buy at cocktailemporium.ca
Blanket Statement
Previously a community gift maker for local hotels and real estate agents, Sofi Madison wanted a place to give emerging artisans a platform to sell handmade items—including this $118 cotton blanket. Because napping really is a skill.
Buy at olivesandgrace.com
Fast & Fierce
Tyler Hanney, the 27-year-old founder of Outdoor Voices, was tired of wearing bright colors or macho sportswear on her cross-country practices—and decided to give athletic wear a simple feminine spin. We love the crop top ($60) and leggings ($95).
Buy at outdoorvoices.com
Fire Starter
Know someone who could use a steamy evening? True & Co, founded by Aarthi Ramamurthy and Michelle Lam, sells gift boxes ($100) filled with candles, lingerie and fragrance.
Buy at trueandco.com
Treasure Quest
BFFs Chelsea Moore, Sabena Suri, and Jennifer Olivero have created a site with personalized gifts so irresistible you may just want to fill a box for yourself. Choose from premade kits for bakers ($68), cocktail lovers ($100) or ski bunnies ($157) or one of your choosing.
Buy at shopboxfox.com
Silk Sleeper
Every blowout junkie knows silk is the secret to making good hair last. Olivia Carr’s Shhh Silk cases ($149), which have fans including Kim Kardashian and Gisele Bündchen, are chic and hardworking.
Buy at shhhsilk.com
For Diva Dogs
Hayley Whitfield’s WolpackNYC traffics in luxury apparel for urban pups who like to be spoiled. This $425 leather bomber vest is chic enough for humans—but sorry, it won’t fit.
Buy at wolfpacknyc.com
Slice It
Stylish Toes: Carrie Atkinson’s Sock It To Me has evolved from Portland flea markets to a global brand selling 500 different styles of socks. We’ll have the pepperoni ($11), obvi.
Buy at sockittome.com
Perfect PJs
How do you wear pajamas without looking frumpy? Here’s how: with these girly-sexy-comfy pajamas ($120) from Eberjay, a luxe sleepwear line founded by former Ali Mejia and Mariela Rovito, former colleagues at an advertising firm.
Buy at eberjey.com
Stars Bright
Rare Device, an SF curio shop founded by women, traffics in original gifts—like sparkly barrettes ($12) for the little rising star in your life.
Buy at raredevice.net
A Chocolate a Day
Cordon Bleu grad Katrina Markoff founded Vosges Haut Chocolates in 1998 to tell stories through chocolate. With this advent calendar ($140), every day of December delivers a sweet adventure, from Texas pecan toffee to Hawaiian salt caramels. (Use promo code LTNGWP for a complimentary holiday chocolate bar with a purchase of $50 or more through December 31.)
Buy at vosgeschocolate.com
Carry On
If your favorite globetrotter doesn’t yet have an Away bag ($225), we guarantee it’s on her list. Jen Rubio and Stephanie Korey revolutionized the suitcase market in 2015, with unbreakable shells, built-in USB chargers and maximum space—now they’re in every overhead.
Buy at awaytravel.com
Scent of a Generation
If you know a millennial makeup lover, the new fragrance from Emily Weiss’s Glossier brand is an easy win. Clean and musky with amber notes, this $60 spritz—aptly named You—is designed to enhance your own scent rather than fight with it.
Buy at glossier.com
Terra Alert
Terra Jolé, star of Lifetime’s "Little Women: LA" and "Little Women: LA: Terra’s Big House," is parlaying her TV fame into bigger things. In her new book, “Fierce at Four Foot Two,” she shares her story of perseverance and hard-won Hollywood success.
Buy at amazon.com