Present Perfect (Part 3)

At your leisure just go through the list I have compiled herein (I am aware that Xmas is near but you can use this list for any special occasion, including birthdays, weddings, St Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, house-warmings, retirement dos, etc.), and you are bound to identify elements for inspiration. At first sight, it may appear as a cash gift list, but it does go beyond, towards the personalised service-based experiential treatment.

It might not be the solution to all of your present headaches, but it will give you ideas. The list is customisable, flexible and you are more than welcome to add to it. In fact, without being limitless, the list will provide you with pointers and ample room for manoeuvre. The price range is wide (expect to pay £10.00 for the cheapest item, up to £hundreds+). Please note that for some of the more personal products, it is advisable to consult with the gift recipient before finalising that purchase.

Ready? Off we go then, with our customisable, re-usable present list. Still sceptical about its helpfulness? Just see for yourself, it may well surprise you...

Personal Care: private health check; private health insurance; hair salon treatment; pampering/ traditional beauty salon treatments (facial; manicure/ pedicure; hair removal; eye-brow threading, body massage etc.); male-grooming session; high-tech beauty treatment (IPL; dermabrasion; permanent make-up session; teeth-whitening etc.); make-up lesson; spa day; retreat; reflexology; aromatherapy; bespoke perfume creation; photoshoot session; --- etc---

Personal Advancement & Learning: Learn-a-Skill (ex: craft course; photography classes; language course etc.); charity donation; Sponsor-a-Child etc; Open University (or similar) distance learning course; society membership; SPICE (or equivalent) membership; Red Letter Day (or equivalent) experience of a lifetime (ex: drive a sports car; hot-air balloon excursion etc.); professional dating services; personalised horoscope; graphology study; professional membership fee; sports membership fee; magazine subscription; online or offline newspaper subscription; free-hand drawn portrait; ballroom dancing classes; sports classes (tennis, ice-skating, scuba-diving, etc.); Sponsor the recipient's marathon run; --- etc---

Food: fine groceries/ delicatessen shop; organic food/ fruit & vegetables hamper; mail-order chocolates (one-off or a year's supply, ex: The Chocolate Tasting Club); crate of selected/ connoisseur wines; afternoon tea experience at a luxury hotel; luncheon vouchers; store vouchers (supermarket/ department store); cocktail-mixology class; cookery classes; baking classes; themed baking classes (ex: cupcake-making, chocolate truffle-making etc.); --- etc---

Home Improvement: interior designer home visit and advice; feng-shui home visit; antique item valuation; home de-cluttering service; garden landscaping/ tidying; DIY course; --- etc---

Culture & Travel: museum membership; National Trust (or equivalent) membership; scenic/ guided tour; themed visit; day trip; exhibition/ expo tickets (ex: Ideal Home, Chelsea Flower Show etc.); public conference/ seminar tickets; theatre bookings, concert tickets; music festival tickets; amusement park bookings; upgrades to an existing holiday booking (ex: flight upgrade; hotel upgrade; excursion/ excursion upgrade); Sponsor a restoration project; Sponsor an arts venture; --- etc---

Lincoln (U.K): castle & cathedral visit, ghost tour... Photo: Andy O. Williams

I.T. & Comms:  internet domain name; software; software upgrade; smartphone apps; MP3 music downloads/ podcasts; --- etc---

Pets & Wildlife: dog-grooming session; agility classes; pet behaviourist; Sponsor-an-Animal scheme; animal charity donation; zoo visit (personalised with: behind-the-scenes tour, getting involved with animals for a day, cleaning cages etc; overcome snake/ spider phobia); safari park visit; Plant-a-Tree sponsorship; finance a conservation project; --- etc---

Motoring: driving tuition (package or customised); car service; car valeting; car maintenance tuition; off-road/ all-weather/ rallye driving tuition; --- etc---

Finance: professional financial advice; shares & bonds; --- etc---

The best thing to do is to copy and paste this list onto a sheet that you keep handy as work in progress. Change the list, add to the list, make it yours and soon enough the gift-buying headache will be a thing of the past.

To be sure you don't lose out either - as a gift recipient - be smart and pass this list around or leave it around as a hint (for added visibility you might have to double the font size and change the colour to bright red!). Soon enough those unwanted shower gels, foot scrubs and tea-light holders should be no more (or at least scarcer), I promise!