The Guide offers some cool ideas for your festive gift shopping
It’s not a secret that even a small present in bright wrapping decorated with a beautiful ribbon makes any person happy and will surely put a smile on the face of your beloved. And how intriguing it is to gaze under a Christmas tree at something prepared especially for you! No less exciting is giving presents to those who are precious to you. The winter holiday season is probably the most intense time for shopping in the whole year – after all, you need to buy gifts for your entire family, friends and relatives, as well as try to get something original and individual for everyone. The latter is not always easy, especially considering the long list you have, so to help you on this difficult task we list the places where you are likely to find the right gifts for the right people.
Simple pleasures
It is always a pleasure to surprise the one you love with something truly romantic. To add this touch of romance to a present you can choose a flask of perfume or some handmade cosmetics. Yet before making choosing such presents, you must be well aware of the tastes and preferences of your beloved and make sure he or she doesn’t have an allergy to any of the components in the cosmetics you choose. The store that offers the widest selection of various scents is the Brocard chain, but there are also DC, Cosmo and the recently opened Arbat Prestige stores to choose from, where the choice is smaller but the prices are often much lower. For handmade cosmetics it is better to drop by Lush or Stenders. The former offers a broad choice of soap (Hr 30), massage tablets, shower gels (Hr 20), lotions, temple and lip balms (Hr 47), and body and face creams (Hr 100 to Hr 200). All their cosmetics are produced without using animal based essences and suit even strict vegetarians. The latter shop mostly specializes in soap and bath salt (Hr 10 per 100 grams), and their production is high quality and won’t dry your skin.
Another present that can sweeten the mood of your beloved is fresh chocolate, which you can find at the city’s best confectionaries, like Repriza or Semadeni. Sweets sold there (Hr 5 to Hr 10 per one) are made according to special recipes and though rather expensive will come with a taste incomparable to anything found at a standard supermarket confectionery. By the way, Volkonskiy confectionery is going to introduce special treats for the Christmas holidays soon – honey-cake houses surrounded by sweet trees, rabbits, snowmen, and Christmas trees.
There is a saying that a girl’s best friends are diamonds. More true to life would be to say that the best friends of women are those who give them those diamonds. In any case, jewellery, especially the exquisite kind, is a present that will be highly appreciated by your mother, sister, friend or fiancee. More traditional jewelry is offered at such shops as Zolotiy Doshch and Yuvelir-Palats (brand store of Kyiv Jewelry Factory), while Bazel and Noblesse offer jewelry and watches by well-known brands and designers at considerably higher prices but designed more exquisitely as well.
Brocard (Globus, 585-1109)
DC (5A Lva Tolstoho, 235-0899)
Cosmo (63 Chervonoarmiyska, 287-5385)
Arbat Prestige (38 Volodymyrska)
Lush (15 Baseyna, 235-1965)
Stenders (Globus)
Repriza (10/5 Sahaydachnoho, 417-1908)
Passage (15 Khreshchatyk, 279-1209)
Semadeni (55 Chervonoarmiyska, TC Olimpiyskiy)
Volkonskiy (5-7/29 Shevchenka, 207-5995)
Noblesse (2 Chervonoarmiyska, 234-1932)
Bazel (114 Chervonoarmiyska, 528-3385)
Zolotiy Doshch (Globus, 238-5914)
Yuvelir-Palats (23 Khreshchatyk, 234-1361)
Sweet trifles
Among multitudes of things that surround us there are surely items that from first glance may appear useless trifles; however, without them it is nevertheless hard to imagine our life at home or in the office. Among them are stands for visit cards and important notes, clocks, stationery, and others. Moreover if these small items are accomplished in some unusual style they may also provide inspiration for us as well as comfort.
While I was cruising around the local gift shops I came across a great variety of necessary and unnecessary things, provided with electronic gear. Some of them, like a generator of right decisions (one in the form of a pendulum, the other looking like a ring rotating around a static core), a hand supporter for those who are tired of working with a computer mouse or a flying alarm clock. However, even if you are not going to rely on the advice of such a generator or don’t feel like catching the flying and squeaking alarm clock early in the morning, you can at least get distracted from your everyday routine or make fun of those who you decide to present with such a gift.
Among the funny and cute “necessities” I discovered were also funny voodoo dolls (Wow Shop), a photo key charm, elastic piano (Le Futur), miniature table games made of metal, a tablet box (Soondoock), radio lamps (New Ton), teapots and stationery with funny slogans (Punkt Sbyta Mecht). Things offered in multitudes are usually key chains, business card holders, lighters, colorful cups with Rolling Stones and Beatles logos (Wow Shop), posters, photo frames, lamps and wall clocks of all sizes.
Wow Shop (Metrograd, Noviy Proyizd Gallery)
Soondoock (1 Globus, 590-1879)
NewTon (Metrograd, Noviy Proyizd Gallery, 587-6709)
Punkt Sbyta Mecht (17/52 Khmelnytskoho, Leonardo business center)
Le Futur (Globus, 590-1820)
Krasniy Kub (4 Lunacharskoho, TC Komod)
Need to read
If you want to make a present for a person who prefers spending evenings in front of the fireplace reading a book and smoking a pipe, rather than partying, I recommend you to visit one of the city’s biggest book shops – Orfey. It offers a great assortment of literature in Russian and Ukrainian, though there is also a worthy choice of foreign literature as well. However, if you are interested solely in English language books, call by the Globe Bookstore in Metrograd, which is located right near Bessarabska square. There you can choose among text books, classics and modern fiction, books on history and culture as well as different dictionaries. Another advantage is that the shop constantly offers discounts on selected books.
If your friend is used to writing or drawing in pocket books and is likes high quality paper, there is only one place in Kyiv where you can buy him or her a famous Moleskine pocket diary in any format – Antresol cafe.
Acting as good company to the books filling all your friend’s shelves will be a fantastic mild fabric doll dressed in carnival clothing or a wooden doll made up in calm or bright colors. The dolls can also be easily used for home marionette theater, hanged on a Christmas tree or placed just near the pile of presents.
Looking for excellent cigars, pipes, hookahs, tobacco or smoking equipment, you shouldn’t miss Fortuna tobacco store, which offers the largest assortment at an affordable price. In case you want to make a bouquet of tastes richer, you can select an alcoholic beverage at Lavinia, Paradis du Vin, and Wineport stores.
Orfey (6 Moskovskiy Prospect, 464-4970)
Globe Book Store (Metrograd)
Antresol (2 Shevchenka, 235-8345)
Fortuna (10 Baseyna, 234-0212)
Franz (55 Chervonoarmiyska, TC Olimpiyskiy)
Lavinia (59 Zhylyanska, 569-5700)
Paradis du Vin (14/13 Nemyrovycha-Danchenko, 284-2204)
Wineport (67 Honchara, 501-1695)
Going oriental
While exotic decorations, furniture and tableware have always been popular, now they have are a common thing and no decor shop can manage without at least a small assortment of goods imported from China, India or Africa. In addition to the tea table sets (Hr 100 to Hr 500) and aroma candles that are offered at any shop, at Tea Club, Boutique 47 and Era Vodoleya you can find traditional Chinese clothing (Hr 250 to Hr 350) as well as Feng Shui accessories.
Exquisite teapots (Hr 746), cups, sticks (Hr 250), and furniture (up to Hr 14000) accomplished in a classic Chinese style are offered at Rosewood store. If you are not only a fan of the Eastern culture but a bit of a gardener as well you will surely enjoy various types of bonsai (Hr 50 to Hr 400), which you can buy at Ukraflora flower shop. A marvelous present for those fascinated by Chinese tea ceremonies will be a pack of rare Chinese tea that is sold in great assortment at Tea Club or Shanti tea house at Besarabska square.
The shops Birma and Silk Route offer not only small accessories but also decor items made up of reed or wood, like coaches, tables, wardrobes, photo frames, cup stands, caskets, and jewelry of semiprecious stones and silver.
Tea Club (7 Druzhby Narodiv, office No.60, 451-4283)
Seta Decor (1 Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Globus, 443-0546)
Birma (Chervonoarmiyska, Metrograd, Kvartal Podarunkiv)
Silk Route (Metrograd)
Era Vodoleya (9B Baseyna, 451-4283)
Boutique 47 (2 Ploshcha Slavy, Kvadrat)
Ukraflora (2A Salyutna, 442-4334)
Shanti (2 Besarabska, 234-0108)
Rosewood (29 Lesi Ukrayinky, 491-5639)
Fashionista paradise
Deciding what to buy for a true fashionista, don’t hesitate to choose some unusual accessory. Don’t try chasing the latest collections – you never know – your friend could have already bought the thing you choose. I would advise you to visit one of the stock houses and dig something special, like original striped socks or collar buttons, cool belts, handmade bags, bright sun glasses, or a funny sweater.
Veshchichka (23 Nyzhniy Val, 2nd floor, entrance through the arch, 417-2672)
Backstage (11A Moskovskiy Prospect, Alta Center, 220-3221)
Ex Boutique (20/1A Volodymyrska, 238-6468)
Raffinade (65 Saksahanskoho, 501-3215)
Grandi Firme Outlet (Globus, 590-1848)
Marki (17/1 Horodetskoho, 206-1707)
Cashemere&Silk (12 Klovskiy Uzviz, 254-4711)
All for kids
The hardest thing is probably finding presents for kids – it seems that their moods and desires change all the time. If you know the exact size of the child’s clothes and are sure he or she will like the model, you can easily buy clothes for a present. The most beautiful children’s clothes are offered at multibrand stores like Daniel and Baby Marlen, yet the prices there are also quite high. However, if you aren’t sure about the child’s preferences or the reaction of his or her parents, it’s better to choose something neutral, like a toy, a game or a book. The young ladies will surely like big teddy bears by Nici sold at Hallmark store, beautiful post cards, funny bags, and caskets. The largest choice of toys, books and games is to be found at Budynok Ihrashok and Antoshka stores, where you can roam for hours slightly envying the times when you were a child yourself.
Hallmark (12 Luhova, TC Karavan, 206-4257)
Baby Marlen (41 Pushkinska, 492-9179)
Daniel (6 Baseyna, Mandarin Plaza, 230-8590)
Budynok Ihrashok (3D Malyshko, 544-1335)
Antoshka (19/16 Lesi Ukrayinky, 285-5625)
