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Ever wish you could read people’s minds when giving them their Christmas presents?
Working for the Filter is like having that wish granted, only without the emotional fallout. You see, we get to find out which of our gift guide recommendations you’ve really loved – as opposed to the ones that make you say, “Oh, you really shouldn’t have.”
We’ve been busy testing for months, and have recommended hundreds of gifts in recent weeks, from Secret Santa presents they’ll actually want (there’s still time!) to pressies for pets. Your favourites so far have tended to be items you can all enjoy together, but there are a fair few self-care gifts in among the raucous card games, beer pourers and other party-starters. Clearly, you want to help your loved ones rest hard as well as play hard.
Here are the top 20 pressies you couldn’t resist, including a few you might end up keeping for yourself.
Your favourite Christmas gifts in 2025
The simple but addictive game for everyone
Flip 7 card game
Flip 7 ticks loads of Christmas gift boxes: it’s easy to wrap, small enough to send through the post, quick to learn, fiendishly addictive and suitable for all (well, all from about age eight). You can finish a game in 20 minutes, but it’s different every time, so you can replay for as long as you want. Family party gold.
The reading light that’s a gift for both of you
Gritin clip-on book light
It’s often said that the presents you give are things you really want for yourself. If you share your bed with a bookworm, this reading light is very much a gift for both of you, because it lets you sleep while they read on (and on, and on). This was one of your favourite Secret Santa ideas, which begs the question: how many of you sleep next to your Secret Santa?
The beer device that brings the pub home
Guinness Nitrosurge device
Oodles of you decided to give the gift of properly poured Guinness at home with this simple, portable and not-too-pricey pressie. The rechargeable device uses “ultrasonic technology” – plus special Guinness Nitrosurge cans – to pour the black stuff in that classic slow-pour style that’s inspired decades of classic adverts.
Booze n’ crisps guide book
The Crisp Sommelier by Neil Ridley
Books are a gifting staple, but it can be hard to guess which novels or biographies will hit the spot, so you opted for a witty, universally relatable alternative. Neil Ridley’s detailed guide to pairing wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks with Thai chicken McCoys, Walkers ready salted or whatever crisp fits best was your favourite readable recommendation by a mile.
Handmade ceramic garlic plate
Spanish pottery garlic rasp
A reassuringly high number of you have opted to save your loved ones from a lifetime of grated fingertips by buying them this plate, which lets you crush garlic or grind ginger against its ridges in traditional Spanish (painless) style. Every dish is handmade and hand-painted in your desired colour, and there’s still time to order for Christmas.
Michelin Man tyre checker
Michelin Bibendum pressure gauge
Most of your top gifts have some link to hosting or recovering from festivities, but a tyre pressure gauge? This stocking filler actually fits the party theme, too: perfect for the designated driver, or for anyone heading home after Christmas. The design-classic Michelin Man tool fits on their keyring and will genuinely come in handy.
The biggest, baddest Uno yet
Uno Show ‘Em No Mercy
Turn the ruthlessness up to 11 with hardcore new rules such as a 10-card draw. The latest version of Uno has flown off the shelves faster than anything we’ve mentioned recently in the Filter, and at least one of us has bought it for our family (by which we mean, for ourselves).
Football team beer mats gift set
Beer and football come together in this gift guide favourite, created by Etsy seller James after he grew “tired of the same old merch”. He takes legendary players from 28 clubs – including Championship and Scottish Premier League as well as the usual suspects – and reimagines them as brewery brands across a set of eight beer mats.
Giant ice cube trays
Large silicone ice cube trays
No spirit-forward cocktail is complete without a 2.5in ice cube, and you agree, judging by the popularity of this item in our gift guide. These silicone trays make eight giant cubes between them, so that’s more than enough old fashioneds to go around.
Hot sauce gift set
Sauce Shop hot sauce gift set
Either you want to find out why chilli queen Thomasina Miers chose Sauce Shop Original as one of her favourite hot sauces when she tested them for the Filter, or you want to recreate YouTube show Hot Ones in the privacy of your own Christmas hangover. Or maybe you just loved this gift guide suggestion because you’ll soon have a ton of leftovers in need of a kick.
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Personalised Cadbury chocolate
Personalised Heroes, Roses, Dairy Milk and more
It was inevitable that your favourite edible gift ideas would include chocolate, and a tin of Heroes emblazoned with your choice of message is a lovely idea for a sweet-toothed loved one. Personalised Heroes were on special offer at £11.90 at the time of writing.
The must-have Velcro rollers
Hershesons self-grip rollers
Your gift guide favourites occasionally read like the shopping list for a stag do (beer, football, hot sauce), but they include plenty of party prepping for the girls too, if you’ll forgive the gen(der)alisations. This affordable set makes a gorgeous pressie for anyone who put “bigger hair” on their Christmas list.
Rechargeable hand warmers
Ocoopa hand warmers
Give the gift of unfrozen fingers without buying them yet another pair of gloves or offering to pay their heating bill. The rate at which you bought these reusable hand warmers after they popped up in our gift guide suggests they’re not all being given away as pressies, and indeed we’ve had to buy one or two for ourselves, too.
The microwave toastie maker
Morphy Richards Mico
Toast is probably not top of your Christmas food list, but many of us believe it to be the perfect meal – especially when you can make it in the microwave. This ingenious toastie maker uses special plastic-sealed metal plates to do just that, and we’re not remotely surprised that you bought it in your droves to put under the tree.
Stubble & Co backpack
Stubble & Co the Rolltop
Clothes, shoes and bags tended not to be top of the pressie-buying pops for you this year, but this stylish and endlessly practical backpack sat comfortably in your top 20. The 20-litre version of Stubble & Co’s classic pack should bring some joy to your favourite commuter’s cold, dark mornings this winter.
Luxury hand cream bar
Edinburgh Skincare Luxury No 1 hand cream bar
Secret Santa gifts often tend to be fun but useless novelties, so we’re happy to see that so many of you were drawn to this natural hand cream bar that your recipient can use and adore. The bars are made with nourishing beeswax, coconut oil and cocoa butter, and come in lovely storage tins that they’ll want to keep.
Swedish snowball votive
Kosta Boda snowball glass votive
There’s a noticeably more relaxed afterparty vibe as we move towards the end of your favourite 20 gifts. Put a tealight in this snowball-inspired glass candle holder, as recommended by food writer Meera Sodha in Saturday magazine’s columnists’ gift guide. It’s handmade, comes in three sizes, and will cast beautiful light shapes around the room.
Guinness coffee beans
Guinness 232 coffee, 227g
We knew Guinness was popular, but popular enough to be two of your favourite gifts this Christmas? And neither of them is the actual drink. These beans acquire a Guinness-like maltiness by being roasted briefly at 232C, the same temperature barley is roasted at to brew the black stuff. Perfect after dinner – or the morning after – for the stout-drinking coffee lover in your life.
Scalp massager
Aveda Scalp Solutions massager
One of your favourite self-care gifts for men and women, this ergonomic hair and scalp brush will soothe the hangovers coffee can’t reach. More importantly, this simple device helps stimulate and exfoliate the scalp, so it’s a useful and original hair care gift that just happens to feel heavenly.
Wide-leg Uniqlo joggers
Uniqlo sweat wide joggers
Teenage boys aren’t the easiest to buy for, so we (and you, it seems) were grateful to Finn, 14, and Hunter, 16, who told our gift guide for teens that they wanted these voluminous joggers for Christmas. You don’t have to be a teen lad to wear them, of course – they’d work just as well on you on the sofa until you have to drag yourself off it sometime in January.
Christmas shopping can be tough – so we spent months finding the perfect presents for everyone on your list. We selected the best products from our testing; enlisted babies, kids and teenagers to find out what they really wanted; and sniffed, tasted and tested the good, the bad and the ugly to bring you 305 genuinely brilliant gifts.
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