We fell hard for Natalie Alcala last fall, when the LA-based writer and blogger spent a week guest blogging for us. In fact, we loved her posts so much that we asked her to be a contributing editor. In addition to blogging for us once a week, she’ll also be writing for the Birchbox Magazine and keeping us up to speed on all things fashion, beauty, and fun.

(Photo: The Fancy)

We’ve been talking about it a lot lately, but only because it’s so true! Finding holiday gifts for your friends is always a stressful process. Do you go for the foolproof item on his or her wish list, or do you leave that up to their family and instead scour for out-of- the-box items that they didn’t even know existed? Oftentimes, I veer toward the latter, simply because it’s more fun. Thanks to the wondrous World Wide Web, there are a slew of sites that offer inventive giftables in a range of categories—including beauty. Here are some of my current favorites.

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