41 Of The Best Gifts Under $10 To Give This Year

Promising review: “Very pretty color. Lasts a long time, doesn’t smudge when dry, and when I think I need to reapply, I can just put a new coat over it and looks good as new. Love it!” —Shawn

Promising review: “These lipsticks are so cute, so magical. The color that mine settles on my lips is subtle and not very dramatic. It almost gives me the feeling of wearing lip balm, which is my go-to for all things lips, so this was perfect!” —Daisy L. Alvarez

Promising reviews: “My wife and I have bought every wine aerator we’ve seen. We love red wine. This one works as well as any we’ve purchased (including the really expensive ones). This is a no-brainer for red wine drinkers. Get one!” —An @mazon Cu$t0mer

“I’ve lost count how many of these I’ve purchased! They make great gifts. Perfect for new wine drinkers who don’t buy the best red wines and are learning their palettes.” —Labecca L Vessup

This year, it just might have to be this one!! My colleague AnaMaria bough this for her dog Rocky, and says: “It is my professional opinion that this yellow “Duckworth” duck toy is woven with Valyrian steel. I purchased this on Nov. 24, am writing this as of April 16, and it is STILL GOING STRONG. It has not torn, ripped, there is no toy entrail fluff scattered throughout our living room.. nada. It’s still perfectly intact and Rockie generally prefers this toy over any other one in his ever-changing arsenal. It’s also perfect for his medium frame but I can see it being equally as ideal for smaller dogs because it’s lightweight, despite being on the larger side.”

You deal all the cards out to your two to four players, and everyone keeps their mini-deck face down. Everyone takes a turn putting a card down in the middle of the table, saying one of the words “taco,” “cat,” “goat,” “cheese,” and “pizza,” in that order. If the picture on your card matches the word that’s said, everyone slaps their hand on the card in a pile as quickly as possible. The last person on the pile has to take the stack and add ’em to their cards, and whoever runs out of cards first wins!

Promising review: “Ridiculous in a good way! I was skeptical about how much I may enjoy this game being in my mid-thirties. But it’s a lot of fun! Easy to learn, easy to play, my 8-year-old has lots of fun with it. Its a great family game with the potential to be a late-night more adult-oriented event if you’re picking up what I’m throwing down. Cheers!” —Amazon Customer

My colleague Emma Lord swears by these. She says: “I bought these for myself, and I love them to pieces. TBH, I use them as decor every bit as much as I use them to eat. Sometimes I just keep them in my work area to light them up during the day to feel fancy. They toggle back and forth between a bunch of different colors, like red, blue, yellow, purple, and multicolor, so you can either make them match *or* have a red and blue one together and bring ~balance~ to the Force.”

Promising review: “I purchased these for a friend’s birthday present (he is a sushi waiter) and these are flippin’ AMAZING. I ordered two sets by mistake, but I am totally keeping the second pair for another gift (or for myself!). These are sure to be great conversation pieces and attention getters. Way to go!” —T. Redwood

I used watercolor pencils for the first time a couple of years ago and was truly astounded by how easy it was — even though I have zero drawing talent or training beyond what, like, most adults could do — to make beautiful drawings of flowers. You just sketch out what you want and even if things are uneven, they instantly transform into something truly beautiful as you glide the watercolor brush over them. I could definitely see it working wonders in adult coloring books, especially the kind with thick-enough pages! They do still need rinsed in a cup of water when switching colors.

Promising review: “I’ve found that they’re reduced the amount of water mess that I usually have after using water-soluble paints. Since all of the water is contained in the brush, it means a whole lot less water all over my surfaces. The different brush thickness and designs will help pick out the brush type you want. If you put the brushes back in the original case after you’re done, the plastic sleeve has a brush guide that shows examples of the different brushes to make it easy to select the one you need. Pretty good brushes! Make watercoloring a bit cleaner!” —Kayla

Promising review: “I love the weight of it, the little thumb pad thingie, its somewhat irregular surface, the colorful pattern, the black speckling — everything! I get lots of compliments and I think it’ll make a great holiday gift for coworkers soon.” —Odesa

Promising review: (from the Q&A) “The cup is a good weight, of good quality, well balanced, and really really cute!” —Kathleen W

Bachan’s is a small Japanese-owned biz founded by Justin Gill and based in Northern California. He took cues from his grandmother Judy Yokoyama’s recipe, and refused to water the sauce down to cut costs. It’s cold-filled, vegan, small-batch, non-GMO, BPA-free, and preservative-free.

Bek, one of my former BuzzFeed colleagues, says: “I’ve tried this sauce and immediately made everyone I know try it as well. It’s the kind of sauce that makes you go “oh…wow, oh WOW” when you taste it.”

Promising review: “I purchased all three flavors after seeing a cooking demo on Good Morning America. This stuff is SOOOO worth the effort to get it — of course, not available locally to me in my tiny rural town. It’s tasty WITHOUT being overly salty as most of these types of sauces are. I have to say I probably love the hot and spicy the best, but ALL are exceptionally good. You can use as marinade, dip or drizzle! The dispenser bottle is a total bonus. I am sold and will certainly buy again. I just made a batch of wings using the hot and spicy (adding a little crushed red chilis) as fast as we ate them. I may have to find a way to get this stuff in on auto ship — which I never do! I say, try them all once — see what YOU think.” —ForeverYoung

They’re all paraben-, sulfate-, phthalate-, and retinyl palmitate-free, and work for all skin types.

Promising review: “Amazing stuff! I’ve tried two of the face masks so far and at first was hesitant being that I have acne prone and ridiculously sensitive skin. I have to say that I loved both, the charcoal one helped me fight a breakout and the glow one made me look so hydrated and fresh. I can’t wait to try the others. I will definitely continue to buy and gift these masks.” —Billie

Promising review: “I love this stuff! I received some for a gift and then purchased it for my daughter from Amazon. It feels like a clay mask going on, and then starts bubbling and turns to a thinner substance when it’s done. I feel like it is very gentle on my face. My skin feels amazing after I wash it off. It feels like I used moisturizer, even though I did not. I hear that these masks are very popular in Japan.” —L. Shea

I mean, who can resist grinning when slipping on something like that?

Promising review: “I ordered this headband mostly because I am a cat-lady-in-training. What I didn’t realize when buying this cutesy novelty item is that it is actually very functional as well. I had previously been using a regular elastic headband to hold my hair out of my face while washing it or doing face masks, but this is infinitely better. The terry cloth material soaks up any water that I accidentally splash too close to my hair when I’m washing. It holds my short, very fine baby hairs around my hairline out of the way as well. I recommend this to anyone!” —Littlebig

I had one of these for a long long time; it’s truly hilarious to hear the little scream.

Promising review: “I spend about 90% of my day silently screaming at the computer because, well, welcome to customer service. Since this little goat arrived, I no longer look like I am practicing for my appearance on Jerry Springer. I just push the little goat. He screams (but not in a disruptive way). I smile. I am no longer annoyed.” —Gab

There’s a spread for each week with a (secular) inspirational quote, then space to write down three things each day. I haven’t used this journal in particular, but I swear by gratitude journaling in general — it genuinely helps lift my mood and see the beauty in all kinds of everyday things! Promising review: “I’ve been using this journal for just over six months. I love the easy, three bullet point practice. It has helped to pinpoint the good in my day without being stressful (not an avid writer to keep a freeform journal or diary). Love the quotes, and enjoy looking back at all the positive things happening on the day-to-day. Would highly recommend!” —Amazon Customer

They’re each full of prompts relevant to the person the book targets, like “You are my favorite [blank] in the world” and “It’s hard to put into words how strongly I feel about your [blank].”

Promising review: “This was my first Christmas with my boyfriend, and I got this as a stocking stuffer. He ended up buying the ‘What I Love About Us’ version and we had so much fun looking through them and seeing our similar/different answers. The prompts are really cute and simple but allow for a lot of creativity, and you can set the mood with each page whether you want to be funny or sweet. This was one of our favorite gifts.” —Kerry C.

Promising review: “Heavy-duty cards. Nice for playing with but still easy to shuffle. Fun pictures. Some change positions and others just go from smaller to bigger. Very cute. Good for people who are tough on their cards and love cats!” —Rebecca

Each card also has a little description of each breed.

Promising review: “These cards so cute! The art is adorable, as is the design on the backs of the cards. They are a nice quality card that shuffles nicely. They broke in easily and there is hardly any sign that they have been shuffled countless times since I got them. This is something every dog lover needs, especially if they play any card games!” —Krista

Promising review: “This is super cute. Was a gift for my daughter and she loved it. Pretty good quality for the price and the brittles are pretty soft as well. This is a nice starter set for a young girl or anybody who wants to add some cute brushes to their collection, something cute to travel with.” —Alimah Ali Muhammad

Aubrey E Apothecary is a small biz in Winchester Center, Connecticut that makes all kinds of fun and adorable soaps — for more options, check out the store’s full selection of fun soaps, from donuts to sushi to cinnamon buns to succulent plants.

Promising review: “I’m in love with these soaps! I don’t even want to use them, that’s how cute they are. Definitely coming back.” —ZomBriAZ

Promising review: “Strong and sturdy hair clips that don’t break. I was going through the plastic clips, replacing every month or so. These grip tightly and since they are metal, the teeth won’t break. They haven’t tarnished yet. I’m glad I purchased them for my thick hair. No complaints.” —SMon

Promising review: “I love these clips so much I ordered them twice! They are surprisingly sturdy, I have really thick hair and my hair tends to fall out of most clips. I wore them in my hair to work and they stayed for most of the day, only having to adjust them a couple of times.” —Jaqulynn Zaccardo

Promising review: “I will admit I bought these from seeing them on TikTok and I needed new clips for my thick hair. I am not disappointed and beyond glad I got them. The colors are gorgeous and they stay put without hurting my head. I’m very impressed.” —Amazon Customer

Promising review: “My mom and I are ChapStick lovers, so I bought us each a pack of these. The marshmallow is clear, the chocolate is brown, and the graham cracker is tan. The color isn’t too extreme, but it will leave a little bit of tint on your lips. The flavors are DELICIOUS. Graham cracker reminds me of Golden Grahams cereal and chocolate is just perfect. I love the marshmallow best because it tastes slightly toasted.” —Elle Ardee

Promising review: (for the The Office stickers) “These seemed like really high-quality laptop stickers when I got them. It was actually a present for my friend for Christmas and she loved them. Not all of them are great but most of them are from really funny parts in the show. There were only a couple of repeats in the packages so it’s a pretty wide variety too. Definitely would recommend.” —Jillian

Soft Skin Bubbly Sins is a McRae, Georgia-based small biz that makes all kinds of fun-shaped bath bombs.

Promising review: “These are the MOST AMAZING bath bombs!! My kids and I are in love. the smell is fantastic, the colors and melt of it is out of this world, and it is my all time favorite!! will be buying repeatedly! Thank you so much for making a flawless shark bomb.” —Kati Holmes

Promising review: “Very cute earrings. They look just like they did in the picture. Excellent value for the money.” —N.K.

They’ll just gently twist the attached brush to dispense the solution, then brush that onto their diamond, sapphire, emerald, and other precious-gem rings for a sparkling clarity worthy of a professional cleaning. Rinse, dry, and done. (It works on all kinds of metals and precious stones, but not pearls). Promising review: “I worked several years in a fine jewelry store that sold this product. We used the Dazzle Stik from time to time to add a quick shine to merchandise that was just tried on and on days our jeweler was not there to professionally clean items. I was always impressed with the instant shine the Diamond Stik provided. The brush tip is very helpful for getting under the stones and in the setting where gunk builds up reducing that brilliant shine. I recently got engaged and immediately purchased a Diamond Dazzle Stik of my own. It’s the perfect way to quickly give my ring some shine before leaving the house. You simply brush, rinse, dry, and go.” —Amazon Customer

They’re designed so they can fit a variety of cords, not just iPhone chargers. The Mousierge is a Toronto, Canada–based small biz that carries all kinds of adorable products for Disney fans.

Promising review: “Love the balloon shape and I like that it came open so it’ll be easy to apply to any charger. So fun.” —Lisa Maycock

Promising review: “In a house full of almost adults, clips were definitely needed to keep stuff in order. Pros: cute, colorful, hard to lose track of, does the job. Cons: a little on the small side (but they still work for Costco-sized bags of stuff), not magnetic but we all knew what we were getting into.” —Goodjuju

It has three levels of brightness, and is powered by two (not-included) AA batteries.

Promising review: “It’s great for zoom calls which was not even my intentions when buying it, and you’ll literally never take a bad selfie again with this… get it!” —Bryce

BTW, the sauce isn’t included, so you’ll have to fill it from your own stash before giving it to them!

Promising review: “Bought these as a fun gift for my teenagers for their stockings. They absolutely loved them!! I now use one of them for work, never without my spicy Sriracha when I need it. I just refill when needed, and drop it in my lunchbox, and even my coworkers ask me if I have it whenever they get Thai food that just isn’t spicy enough. Perfect for travel too.” —5upermom

Promising reviews: “If life has taken you to the point that you need a key chain screwdriver I think you’d be hard pressed to do better. I like these a lot and have had a few occasions to put them to use where they’ve solidly performed.” —Paul

“I originally got these for my husband to be funny but he really does use them quite frequently when he’s at work cause it’s so convenient. He brags to the guys, ‘my wife got me these’, LOL.” —Vanessa

Sure it’s just cotton candy in a cute bag, but as it says on said bag, it’s 100% magical, 100% majestic, and 100% merry. Plus 10% of all profits are donated to charities that provide toys for children in need.

Promising review: “This was absolutely the best stocking stuffer of all this past year! Everyone, young and old, loved it! The laughs were many and the cotton candy inside was so good! Awesome product! I will buy again.” —Peggy N

Promising review: “This is the definition of ‘product you didn’t know you needed because you didn’t know it existed.’ I was FOREVER pulling the wrong chain on our bedroom ceiling fan. (Want the light off? Oh no…now the fan’s on high. Need to change the fan speed? Eek…now you’re in the dark.) They’re much better quality than I expected. They’re actually quite heavy-duty pull chains, and they add a bit of fun to the decor.” —LHD

Promising review: “After multiple containers for my brown sugar and continuously throwing my brown sugar away due to giant hard lumps… I began to wonder why our brown sugar never lumped as a child… And that’s when I remembered a weird brown bear in our sugar… After a quick Google search I found this! I soaked it in water for 30 mins and then added to my lumpy brown sugar… Two days later there is not a single lump in my sugar! Yay!” —Sneezeloaf

Promising review: “Son is obsessed with Rubik’s, and is able to solve the regular cube very well. This was a great next step challenge to him: the algorithm is not different, but the mirror faces to the sides adds just enough difficulty to the solve, without creating excessive frustration. If your kid learned to solve the regular cube, and is looking for another challenge, I’d say this is a great next step.” —A. Sun

Promising review: “These are adorable! My kids are obsessed with little squishy toys. They like to buy the surprise ones but they absolutely loved these. I wasn’t sure what to expect with these but am very surprised at the quality. They are soft and squishy and well made and cute! Definitely worth the buy. My kids have been playing with them for almost a week straight.” —aliciam

You’ll get seven extra-large bobby-pin-like clips, two triangle-shaped snap clips, and two rectangle-shaped snap clips.

Promising review: “These clips are beautiful. They don’t hold a lot of hair but do the job if you just want to add an accessory to your hair. I originally bought these for my girls but decided to keep them for myself. They will not disappoint at all. They look expensive!” —Nancy Logan

It can either set up as an easel or hang on their fridge as a magnet. Know it is mini: approximately 3.5″x2.5″x1.5″.

Promising review: (for the 2021 version) “I have been Christmas gifted this particular calendar for several years in a row now…I buy it for myself! It is a gift I use daily for a full year and it’s proudly displayed on my refrigerator at all times. Thanks, ME.” —RMJ92

Pretty enamel pins will help your giftee enliven their jackets, backpacks, hats, and more.