The 11 Best Birthday Gifts for Her

The sweets packed in the BonBon Small Gift Box aren’t the stuff of her childhood birthday gift bags, but they’re sure to evoke some nostalgic delight. A favorite of Wirecutter’s kitchen team, this New York City shop imports high-end Swedish candies. The gift box mix includes some of its best sellers, like sparkly sour mini strawberries, shiny chocolate-covered rice puffs, and a more sophisticated version of Swedish Fish. The goodies are neatly tucked in a chic box and tied with a pretty pink ribbon, and they’re also available in medium and large sizes.

For the woman who has lived a rich and full life, The New York Times Ultimate Birthday Book will put her special day in perspective. The 12-by-15-inch compendium is filled with the front pages for every birthday, which she can flip through to see the headlines and photos for each anniversary of her life. The hardbound book comes in either leatherette (available in black or slate gray) or linen (available in seven color choices, including red and azure blue), with her name and birthdate printed on the front. Just be sure to get that date right: The made-to-order books are final sale.

This sweet, little mirror comes attached to a matching jewel-toned comb, which swivels out for smoothing flyaways. The palm-size Poketo 2 in 1 Pocket Comb Mirror can slip into almost any-size purse and glimmers with a rainbow of terrazzo-like color chips. So, she can chicly touch up her lipstick or discreetly check for spinach between her teeth. The comb itself isn’t robust enough to tackle serious morning bedhead, but it’s just right for a subtle fix-up in the car mirror or restaurant bathroom. Consider pairing it with a Sephora or Ulta gift card for her birthday so that she can nab the lip gloss or powder puff she’s been eyeing to use with it.

Crafty gals will have a ball with the beginner-friendly Hook, Line & Tinker Sardines Complete Embroidery Kit. The set, which is one of our picks for best fiber craft kits, includes a preprinted pattern, a wooden hoop, an embroidery needle, several skeins of color, and instructions. Once finished, the 8-by-8-inch contemporary art piece, cheekily sporting the word “salty” across a blue-and-red sardine tin, would look the part in any smartly appointed home long after her birthday has come and gone.

Sure, the price of the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer is truly outrageous. But there’s a reason why it’s considered the Benz of blow dryers—and it makes for a truly spectacular birthday gift. It’s fast, light, and quiet, and its magnetic attachments (including a handy diffuser) are easy to switch in and out. Plus, it actually looks chic displayed on the bathroom wall. Staff writer Mari Uyehara’s boyfriend earned major points when he gifted her the Dyson hair dryer—a Wirecutter upgrade pick—and she started raking in compliments from acquaintances for her salon-shiny tresses.

The GLDN Aura Pendant Necklace includes one tiny, 3-millimeter birthstone pendant in your choice of 13 stones. It’s eminently customizable, coming in sterling silver, gold vermeil, or a 10-karat gold option. It’s also available in two lengths (or a custom size). You can buy solo birthstone pendants, if she already has a favored gold chain, and you can add more for a slight additional cost, now or later, say, if she has a child.

Urban Decay has a reputation for long-wearing, highly pigmented, and easy-to-blend eyeshadows. Just like the brand’s fan-favorite (and discontinued) original Naked palette, the 12-shade Naked3 Palette has all that with rose-gold hues in smooth mattes, shimmery pearls, and dramatic metallics for creating both everyday and glam looks. Supervising beauty editor Hannah Morrill credits the Naked palette with teaching her how to use eyeshadow. “Darkside,” a deep taupe, is especially nice brushed along the crease of the eye with the firm end of the dual-ended brush and buffed out. Top it with a glimmery shade like “mugshot” or “burnout” for the simplest, subtlest smoky eye. Both beauty newbies and connoisseurs alike can use this palette until it’s down to its powdery corners.

Aspiring mini Martha Stewarts or mid-century modern aficionados might swoon over the mismatching MoMA Milk Glass Pastel Salad Plates. Each set of four, made with dreamy opaque opal glass, comes with one piece each in vanilla, peach, mint, and lavender hues. They’re billed for salad, but the 8-inch plates would work just as well for other smaller bites, such as an array of charcuterie, a starter of steamed artichoke, or a fat slice of birthday cake. While the plates look delicate, they’re both dishwasher- and microwave-safe. MoMA also offers matching dinner plates and bowls if she decides to round out her collection.

The hand-poured Birthdate Candle has a personalized scent and comes embellished with a character reading for the day your giftee was born. For staff writer Dorie Chevlen, a Scorpio, the candle had a woodsy, floral smell and stated that “imaginative, passionate, intense souls” were born on her birthdate, with which she wholeheartedly agreed. Whether your birthday girl is an astrology devotee or skeptic, the clean-burning candle just smells amazing.

For ladies who take both their pasta and tresses seriously (and who doesn’t?), a 500-gram box of Good Hair Day Pasta may elicit a gleeful chuckle. Each stylish and stately box shows the face of a woman surrounded by a plastic pane shaped like hair showcasing the pasta. There are styles galore: an Afro of Cacao Springs, a kinky mane of lunghi bucati, and a basil- and lemon-flavored tangle of fettuccine, among them. Aesthetics aside, they’re handmade in Italy with durum wheat semolina using bronze casts, and they make for a silky, toothsome bowl of noodles.

Whether her bedside book is a Brontë sisters classic or a political polemic, a Victorian-style Heirloom Art Co. White Cotton Nightgown is an elegant way to slip into a slumber. You can choose from a number of versatile styles with varying lengths, sleeve options, and frilly detailing, like lace, eyelets, and floral embroidery. The gowns are sheer but not see-through, making for either an ethereal or romantic look, depending on the vibe.

We love finding gifts that are unusual, thoughtful, and well vetted. See even more gift ideas we recommend.

This article was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter.