Christmas gift guide: Locally owned businesses in Dubai to buy gifts from
Tis the season… to do last-minute shopping…
Scrambling to purchase Christmas gifts for your loved ones? Why not shop local and help support a business during the festive season – as you know, they need all the support they can get after a rough year.
From cycles to decorations and even gifts for your pets, here are some Christmas gifts that will look great underneath the tree.
Here’s a selection of What’s On’s favourite locally-owned businesses to buy gifts from this year
Vertical Design DXB
If you know someone who’d like to see their name, their favourite quote or something completely random up in lights, get creative with the help of the Vertical Design studio, which can bring your vision to life – in any language, any shape, and any specification. The studio offers both the classic neon light and the modern version, LED flex. Customise your light online in less than five minutes or shop their range of unique ready-made designs by a famous local artist.
Lavender & May
If you have a friend who loves to play host, they’ll adore you for gifting them a ‘tablescape in a box’. Each one is packed full of beautiful decorations – tableware, tabletop décor and centrepieces – to make any dinner party more Instaworthy. The Xmas collection is online now with boxes from Dhs410.
Adam Bike
We’re obsessed with these super cute bicycles brought to Dubai by founders Florien and Stefanie. The duo from Amsterdam are on a mission to offer no-fuss, comfortable, Dutch-style bikes, which give you the freedom to explore your neighbourhood. The current range features three types of children’s models and helmets, available in three urban colours, and their most popular gift to date is the balance bike (Dhs 650) with matching helmet. Look out for the adult range coming in January.
The Bowery Company
Delve into a gifting treasure trove of hand-crafted ceramics, coffee table books, artwork and more in this home and lifestyle brand’s online store. Filter by a range of categories to make it an easier shopping experience. For example, choose by personality (‘Little Miss Organised’, ‘The Fashionista’, ‘The Foodie’ etc) or by price or gender. We’re big fans of its range of mouth-blown glassware, particularly the set of two ripple champagne saucers (Dhs185), which would make a great moving-in or celebratory gift.
Oo La Lab
The gift of scent can be very personal so it’s easy to see why Oo La Lab refers to itself as ‘specialists in the chemistry of emotion’. Choose one of its pre-made beautiful hand-crafted soy and beeswax candles (starting from Dhs 184.96) or go for the fragrance mixology kit (Dhs 511.36) which gives your recipient the chance to experiment with and create its own dream scent. The lab also offers fragrance design and mixology workshops at their Al Quoz studio, starting from Dhs 320 per person.
Tres Marias
We all know a coffee aficionado in the office or at home. Brew up the perfect gift for them in the Tres Marias online shop, which is the place to go for a range of cool accessories, plus speciality instant coffee (Dhs 75), Nespresso-compatible coffee capsules (Dhs 40), and home brewing coffee bundles, which include everything you need to make an amazing cup of Joe (starting at Dhs 882).
Ruson ceramics
If you’re looking for guilt-free gifting, every piece of this gorgeous, sustainably-made ceramic homeware is handcrafted, non-toxic, lead- free and carbon neutral from start to finish. We love its 619 mug collection (Dhs 75 each), which was created by chief potter and company co-founder Maja. She created 100 mugs out of 619 grams of clay, all inspired by the celebration of differences in our diverse desert city.
Wander Pot
Spread a little joy with the gift of greenery. Choose from a variety of succulent arrangements and pots of different sizes, colours and prints, which are ethically handmade in Sri Lanka from 100 per cent recycled and biodegradable material with zero waste. Each pot is lined with natural latex extracted from the rubber tree, which makes them waterproof, long-lasting and sustainable. If your recipient isn’t the green-fingered type, you can hook them up with one of Wander Pot’s plant whisperers for extra support on their plant parenting journey.
@wanderpotsocial, or visit wanderpot.com
Rory’s Apawthecary
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If you’ve got a furry friend who deserves a bit of pampering, this new range of organic doggy-grooming products is the paw-fect treat. The ingredients are derived from plants and are PH balanced and free from any artificial ingredients. The debut collection includes extra-mild shampoo infused with calming lavender (Dhs 70); dog ear cleanser made with plant hydrosols and natural oils (Dhs 60), and dog aromatherapy spray made with lavender, rose, and vitamin E and filled with antioxidants (Dhs 60).
Images: Supplied