David Pirrotta’s Ultimate Gift Guide

All the fave picks from the most discerning.
David Pirrotta’s Ultimate Gift Guide
When it comes to gift-giving, let’s just say I know what I’m doing. It’s not about how much you spend, it’s about how thoughtful the gift is. How beautiful the packaging is. How much joy it will bring your lucky giftee. How effective or precious the ingredients are… It’s about finding them something either they wouldn’t think to buy for themselves, or something they didn’t know they needed. Think of it as lovingly instilling new habits of self-love for your friends and fam.
This year, I had trouble narrowing down what I want to share with others. At Materiae, I’ve really cleaned-house, making sure the brands we represent not only are beautiful AND effective, but that they are sustainable AF, and thoughtful about ingredients, sourcing, packaging, and every single step in between.
I believe we are only as beautiful as the planet we live on, so we have to protect it in order to preserve ourselves. If loving beauty is so wrong, I don’t want to be right! But that’s what makes this gift guide so important right now— this holiday is just an explosion of consumerism, so why not make the very best choices when we can?
These are ideals to live by, holidays not excluded. But don’t worry, everything is still incredibly sleek and sexy— I haven’t forgotten myself along the way. All my absolute favorite picks center around sensual textures or olfactory senses, because that’s where I see myself most transported these days: by the purity and experience of quality ingredients, and/or scent. Shop these versatile goodies for your lovers, family, and chosen family below:

Flamingo Estate Hand wash

The Flamingo Estate is more than a name— for those unfamiliar, I beg you to look it up. It’s a stunning estate in the hills of Los Angeles, overflowing with incredible design, and an actual botanical garden and orchard rich with herbs, fruits, and vegetables… it’s the garden of Eden of my dreams. They make several products, but with obsessive hand-washing being the new norm, who can resist this local botanical hand soap of sage, ylang ylang, tulsi, desert yarrow, and blue chamomile? YUM. Plus, everything is completely plant-based and biodegradable and guilt-free.

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Carrière Frères Tomato Candle

An unsuspecting fruit to scent a room, but one you won’t regret. It’s both warming and comforting, like a bowl of tomato soup, and yet vibrant, invigorating, and earthy, as if it was just pulled from the garden. Even thinking about this scent makes my mouth water for a fresh tomato.

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natureofthings Restorative Floral Bath

This milky nectar is deeply moisturizing and restorative, all in this beautifully neutral packaging you’ll want displayed on your tub side. Plumeria, jasmine, vetiver, and cedarwood are forestry and deep, while broad spectrum CBD completely relaxes the body and muscles. Ahhhh, they (or you) deserve this.

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Campo Beauty Travel Diffuser

This sleek little device purifies the air and DJ’s the mood with 100% natural essential oil mist. It’s USB powered, and the perfect size, so it can go from the car to the AirBNB or hotel to make a space feel like home at any time. It’s ideal for those who travel a lot, or have small spaces, or literally anyone.

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Campo Love/Gratitude Holiday Kit

This essential oil duo kit helps to curate any space into a space of loving intention. Slightly floral, slightly citrusy, and slightly spicy, it’s invigorating and warming— a really great stocking stuffer or hostess gift.

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Sigil Scent - Anima Mundi

Made from all-natural tinctures, essential oils, and absolutes, Sigil Scent fragrances are the ultimate in totally-nontoxic and clean, gorgeous, earthy alchemy. Anima Mundi is the ultimate genderless fragrance to meld with and intoxicate the wearer and everyone around them. The bottle itself is so beautiful, and the fragrance is somehow both deeply earthen and absolutely other-wordly.

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Saya - Glow Serum

Loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C, this serum does it all. It’s lightweight, but incredibly moisturizing and brightening, healing all the while protecting against future damage. It’s ideal for all skin types to achieve that haha-I’m-not-stressed-at-all-this-holiday-season, totally-fresh-for-the-New-Year glow.

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Saya - Renew Serum

This rich and emollient oil-based antioxidant serum completely refines and refreshes tired, stressed, inflamed, or dry skin. It will plump fine lines, promote new collagen synthesis, stimulate cell growth, fade hyperpigmentation, and deeply hydrate. It’s great for your sister, your mom, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your best friend… and anyone that wants supple, soothed skin— a notable difference. Skincare is hard to gift perfectly, but this serum is ideal for all.

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Trudon Mortel

This mystic, deep scent is a gift for the brazen and sensual. Frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin are both erotic and terrestrial, bringing a uniqueness that is at once bursting with passion and a little nostalgia.

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Maison Detto Noisette

For those who are partial to more delicate, softer nuances, this fragrance is just touched with French lavender, with base notes of elusive ambrette seed, musk, and amber for a warmth that grounds magnolia and orris. It melds with one’s body chemistry for something truly unique; it’s peaceful, strong, and feminine.

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Wonder Valley Hinoki Body Oil & Bar Soap

While these two products are excellent on their own as small gifts or stocking stuffers, together they make the ultimate due for a luxurious bathing experience. The packaging is unreal— gorgeous to give and to receive, you’ll almost want to forgo wrapping if it weren’t for the element of surprise and delight.

Both are formulated with Wonder Valley’s signature pure extra virgin olive oil, and inspired by the hinoki forest in rural Japan and the feeling of soaking in the hot waters of an onsen. Both are deeply cleansing and hydrating for a rich bathing experience.

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Wonder Valley  - Olio Nuevo

For the cook— this generously sumptuous olive oil is almost too pretty to use… if it weren’t so tasty! Just ripened olives are plucked fresh for a vibrant, spicy kick for an intensely bright fruit flavor of this limited edition blend. It’s manzanilla, leccino, leccino, maurino and frantoio varietals in 100% plastic-free glass, wood, cork, and paper.

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Saya Skincare Essentials Kit

This kit will make any skincare novice or guru stacked with the perfect line-up easy as 1-2-3. This trio is designed to meet normal, oily, or combo skin types with perfect balance. It includes a cleanser, exfoliant, and moisturizer— everything you need to soothe, smooth, clear, and hydrate anytime, but the size also makes this kit excellent for travel.

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