Every year, with the joys the holidays bring, comes the stress of choosing the perfect gift for all of the important people in your life.
If you’re reading this, it’s more likely than not that you’re a college student. And if you’re doing a gift exchange with your girl friends this year, you may be struggling to find a quality gift that won’t break the bank.
Or maybe, you’re the relative of a college girl who you’ve fallen out of touch with while she’s been away at school, and you now feel like you have no clue what she’s into anymore.
Luckily, I have a list of foolproof gifts that can suit any price range and that just about any college girl will appreciate and find useful!
- matching PJ set
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At the end of a long day of classes and studying, it feels much better to curl up in a cutesy matching PJ set than in a ratty old T-shirt and sweatpants. But, if your college girl has an abundance of T-shirts to wear to bed (which she probably does), she may not want to splurge on an overly expensive or extravagant PJ set.
Luckily, there are plenty of options out there for PJ sets – from fuzzy, to silky, to long sleeves and pants, to tank tops and shorts. You can never have too many comfy PJs in college.
- Unique claw clips
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The majority of college girls I know have busy mornings and don’t have much time to spend doing their hair. This explains the recent rise in popularity of claw clips among young girls, which make it easy to sweep up your hair and not worry about it for the rest of the day.
Like pajamas, hair clips are something you can never have too many of! There are plenty of basic solid-color options out there, but I recommend checking out a local boutique or online Etsy shop to find more unique options that will add a touch of fun and make the gift feel more personal.
- spa gift card
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This entry is inspired by the fact that last year, my brother’s Christmas gift to me was a gift certificate for a professional massage – which, by the way, I was incredibly excited to redeem!
I can attest that any college-aged girl would love to take a self-care day at the spa – whether that’s to get a facial, a massage, or just a mani-pedi – but might be hesitant to spend extra money or time on themselves when they’re so busy.
If you gift them a certificate for free spa services, they’ll simply have no choice but to indulge in some well-deserved self-care!
- Makeup carrier or travel bag
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Unless your college girl is a commuter student, she has to travel between home and school a lot. Whether that’s by plane or train, or her parents are nice enough (and close enough) to pick her up themselves, she’ll have to take her favorite makeup and clothing items along with her.
Having a cute, quality bag to store her makeup in or use as a carry-on on planes can help her stay organized and ease some of the stress that comes with traveling. A weekender bag can also be used on overnight trips, on spring break with her friends, or even to store her laptop if she’s heading out for the day to get some schoolwork done!
- Wall air fresheners
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If you’ve ever lived in a dorm, you know about the no-candle rule. We all know it’s for our safety, but it definitely gets annoying when we want to freshen up our room, or when we’re having guests over and want to welcome them into a clean, nice-smelling space.
My favorite candle alternatives are wall air fresheners. They’re smaller and more discreet than a bottle of room spray and release a scent on their own, so you never have to remember to do it yourself.
I recommend Bath and Body Works Wallflowers because of the range of scents they have. However, any brand works, especially if you can switch out the scent without having to buy a new wall plug-in. This way, you can give your college girl a room freshener with a variety of scent refills so she can pick out her faves!
- Disposable camera and film
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It’s often said that your college years are some of the best of your life, and there’s no doubt the college girl you know has made plenty of cherishable friends and memories so far. With a disposable camera, you can gift her the ability to capture her memories and hold onto them forever in physical form!
As someone who follows many other college kids on social media, I can confidently say that disposable cameras, film cameras, and digital cameras are competing with iPhones as our favorite way to quickly capture moments! So, this gift is as trendy as it is practical.
Most places that develop camera film provide a digital version as well as a physical version of each photo, so your college girl can upload all her favorite pics to social media as well as keep the physical copies to hang in her room, or just for sentimental purposes!
- Self-care kit
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As I said earlier, every college girl could use a little bit of self-care, especially during the holidays after finals season.
Self-care kits are customizable for the girl you’re shopping for, as well as for your budget. Some quintessential items I recommend are face masks, under-eye masks, body scrubs, body lotion, hand cream, nail files, nail polish, lip balm, and wearable items like fuzzy socks or a sleep mask!
As we transition from fall to winter, and seasonal depression looms around the corner, any girl could use an arsenal of easy pick-me-ups to help her feel pampered when the gloomy weather and dark skies get her down!
- School merch
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If you’re shopping for a college girl you know next to nothing about, I’m willing to bet you at least know what school she goes to. Every college student loves repping their school on and off campus, especially if they go to a school where sports and game days are a big deal.
However, I’d recommend steering clear of their school bookstore’s website, where the merch is probably pricey and a bit boring.
For merch that a college girl will really appreciate and want to wear on gameday, search for their school on websites like Etsy, Hype, and Vice for new items, or Depop for vintage items.
If all else fails, you can never go wrong with a gift card for food, coffee, clothes, or just a plain old Visa gift card. Happy holiday shopping!
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