A Perfectly Imperfect Gift Guide (2022)
A round-up of "Perfectly Imperfect" gift ideas from this year's guests.
You guys loved the gift guide we made last year, so f*ck it, here’s another round-up of gift ideas from this year’s Perfectly Imperfect features. No affiliate links. No sponsored content. Just gift ideas from this year’s guests.
Enjoy.
If they’re always trying new hair products Ava Pearlman told us that ECO gel is the product she uses most, “it’s the best option for smoothing and securing your hair, it washes out instantly with water and the way it dries is perfect.” Taylore Scarabelli says her NOUNOU Shampoo and Conditioner “is key when you have bleach blonde hair in recovery from blasting it with one of those round brush blow dryers the kids on TikTok like to make fun of”.
If they’re a movie buff you can’t go wrong with a good, well-designed, movie poster. Model Alana Champion loves her Sorcerer (1977) poster and I love my original Long Goodbye poster. Check out Posteritati for some rare and international posters, but eBay is great too.
If their hat never fits quite right Patrick Doran aka Lunch Enjoyer says to get them a hat that fits “I don’t know what happened in the last ten years but hats started to get smaller. I know I have a big Irish head, but what the fuck?”
If they enjoy photography Marcus Maddox recommends Photography Between Covers by Thomas Dugan (1979), especially if they’re interested in making a photo book someday— he calls it his personal bible and says it’s “a gold mine of insight”. Charli XCX is a big fan of RENE MATIĆ, I couldn’t find any of her prints anywhere but maybe you can.
If you have money to spend maybe you can get them a 1999 BMW 323i Convertible in Black, Patrik Sandberg says “I love this era of BMW: boxy but sexy, sporty and dynamic. It's the same car Dionne drove in Clueless, but the black-on-black version. My favorite place to drive it is through Beverly Hills (ALWAYS take Canon with the top down…).”
If they enjoy fancy French bistros Aria Dean and model Teddy Quinlivan love Keith McNally’s Balthazar. Teddy says that the “food is reliable and if you eat alone they’ll bring you a free glass of champagne” and praised Keith’s permanently ban of James Cordon. So maybe get them a gift card to Balthazar if they do that..?
If their lips run a little dry musician Charli XCX says she’ll turn her Uber around if she forgets her LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask (in berry flavor) “I tried a load of different lip balms and creams and whatever and the only one that truly saved me was the la neige lip sleeping mask”.
If they’re your dad or a friend who does a lot of “projects” Jack Wagner loves his Makita XPH12R 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Compact Brushless Drill and asked the important question “Do you want people to catch you and witness you in a drill situation as a person without a drill? Not a good look. “ Actress Debby Ryan also talked about a Multi-tool Card she loves, saying “the ability to file and open and tighten and pluck and fix and jot and trim and pin all from this card has saved many a moment”.
If they’re trying to quit vaping maybe you can get them a pack of Camel Crushes. Painter Aria Dean is a big fan and calls them “the surf n turf of cigarettes”. Sophia Vanderbilt says she started smoking capri menthols in honor of her glamorous Irish catholic grandmother, “If you pull out a pack of these in the smoking section, all the shawties will gather around to ooh and ahh 100% of the time”. So, yeah, maybe get them a pack of cigs. Zach Sokol has also been buying some very sick Cigarette Snuffers.
If they look forward to getting socks on Christmas Arjun Ram Srivatsa swears by Easy Go, a clothing brand in downtown New York City with the sickest socks.
If they like to draw Adam Green of the Moldy Peaches recommends Caron Dache Neocolor 1 Crayons and told us “I’ve been drawing with Neocolor Series 1 for the last ten years and they’ve been life-changing for me.”
If they collect Zines Zach Sokol is a big fan of Alissa Bennett’s Zines and says “Her essays feel like the coolest girl at the bar is whispering (and occasionally shouting) a very good story directly in your ear, but she also doesn’t really care whether you like the story or not. She already knows it’s good.” Christopher Chang loves Bad Dog Los Angeles “Zoë, the brains behind Bad Dog, is a pretty good anthropomorphic model of this subculture stew, I think, and she isn’t afraid of sentiment or being a fan, which is what makes Bad Dog so special.” I like Editorial Magazine which has great interviews with people like “Kerwin Frost, Julia Fox, Rachel Sennott, Frank Dorrey, and The Ion Pack.“
If they like vintage clothes head to Big Ash, a shop that’s so good that “if you’re sexy and you die downtown you respawn outside”, according to Julien. The By-The-Pound Goodwill in Long Island City is Billy Jones says that “you could easily come home with 100 plus pounds of amazing shit” if you’re in the mood to dig. Or if they live in LA Blu Hunt says she got most of her closet from Sleeper Vintage in Echo Park.
If they have great taste maybe you should get them a Perfectly Imperfect hoodie, t-shirt, or lighter so we don’t lose a bunch of money : - )
If friends and family are visiting for the holidays Christopher Chang suggests leaving gifts with hotel concierges, “When I have a friend coming into town for a birthday, work, or some family trip, a thing I love to do is to leave a little gift with the hotel concierge to leave in their room prior to their arrival.”
If you’re planning on visiting family (short notice) for the holidays Dasha Nekrasova suggests the Hotel Tonight app for quickly finding an affordable room and Eugene Kotlyarenko says that this “Sketchy Online Travel Agency” called Unpub is great for cheap flights.
If they always have music playing around their home Alex and I are big advocates of a classic Radio. He recommended a Tivoli Model One saying it “looks smart, pairs to my tv so I don’t need other speakers, and, most importantly, has a beautiful little (perfectly) resistant knob for dialing in your stations”, and I just bought a $20 Panasonic Radio off Amazon.
If they suffer from chronic congestion Bianca Perez likes the Vapor Rub nasal inhaler “My goal is to make this the new it product for club goers and hopefully a brand endorsement from VICKS”
If they like candy but want to feel like an adult Sarah Squirm has many black licorice recommendations “black licorice rocks my whole entire world- it's rude and disgusting, which is why i love it and always keep a little on me”
If they like to read a bunch of our guests such as Sami Reiss, Allie Rowbottom, and Joe Coscarelli have come out with cool books this year. Ivy Wolk says the pros of a Kindle outweigh the cons even if “you do lose the slinky exhibitionism that comes from a whole subway car knowing what hardcover title you’re pouring over.” We’ve also had about a million book recommendations so I’d just go on our sister PI search website and look up “book” or a book related emoji.
If they want to like to read maybe get them a pack of Bolsius Candles, Sean Thor Conroe says “I don’t know how people read without candles. I’ll read without a candle—in the daytime, at the park, on the train. I do do that. But when I’m really going in. That’s the only way. At night, phone silented and out of reach. Reading for the duration of a candle’s burn.”
If they’re rocking brands like Hollywood Gifts I think they’d probably like Stylo Au Plafond, a brand Harrison Patrick Smith told us “shares aesthetic sensibilities with Hollywood Gifts and Praying” and that it’s “hand drawn designs include references to Blackrock, army men, Peter Griffin, Gamestop, Quiznos, Shell Gasoline, Ableton Live, and nuclear warheads”.
If they’re always asking for a massage writer Allie Rowbottom says her Theragun was crucial after her husband Jon accidentally induced a “Jones stress fracture” while massaging her feet and landed her in a walking boot.
If they like custom personalized objects Blaketheman1000 is a big fan of custom embroidered hats from Lids “For $14, Lids will stitch anything into a hat immediately. I have 2 Dodgers fitteds, one that says “1000” on the back and one that says “God’s Plan” on the side.”
If they take good care of their skin (or want to start) Actress Chloe Cherry laid out her whole routine, which seems to be a great resource to me. Hunter Harris loves her Dr. Nigma Serum No. 1 and says “I pat it into my skin on select mornings — budgeting! — and I look like a new person.” Paige Hanserd is into Neogen H2 Dermadeca Serum Spray which makes her feel like “the only dewy bitch in these streets amongst a sea of chalky dried up New Yorkers :)”
If they (or you…) love furniture writer Sam Reiss says that Live Auctioneers is “…the only way to reliably buy furniture…” as long as “you’re willing to put in 2% time and effort” and the Harald Relling Wing Chair I got at Renew Finds is great if you want to replace your generic Wayfair armchair from when you were 20. Eileen Kelly recommends using Chairish, “Most of my furniture is second hand from places like Chairish or Etsy. I love finding cheap pieces and reupholstering them if I need to.”
If they’re always complaining about being hungover I think you can’t go wrong if you get them some “Anytime You Drink” Vitamins because “at $2.95 a serving it’s really not that much more to add to your hangover expenses (coffee, a greasy breakfast sandwich, etc). So take two of these right before bed and wake up feeling slightly better. Why not.”
If they like music (and collecting) Alex Ross Perry loves to buy CDs off the Amoeba website, “Not only is shipping free, even if you buy a single CD, but they also list the same used inventory you’d find while browsing so it’s very easy to recreate the in-store experience while still supporting one of the last great temples of physical media.”
If you’re looking for Snack-like stocking stuffers Pierce Abernathy loves Bamba peanut butter snacks from Trader Joes and Brandon Wardell loves a Wunderbar and told us it has “perf texture, good caramel to chocolate to peanut butter ratio etc.”
If a woman in your life likes nice shoes maybe you can get them a pair of Maryam Nassir Zadeh Olympia Wedges, a shoe that Laura Reilly says “have this quality about them that you could be wearing the most dogshit outfit and put on the Olympias and suddenly the look is a total provocation and you're the smartest person in the room”.
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