Best gifts for mum 2022: Thoughtful and personalised present ideas for your leading lady

Whether she’s the one you run to in times of trouble, she’s a pragmatic soul full of practical advice, or she’s the only person who shares your belly laugh, we can all agree that mums are the VIPs in the guestlist of your life.

That’s what makes getting them the perfect gift so challenging. How to find the ideal offering when there’s so much you want to convey?

It’s not just mums either; it’s a problem that can be applied to any mother figure in your life: think grandmothers, aunties, close family friends, mentors. There’s often little point in asking what they want outright: most will bat you away, telling you to save your money.

Obey this directive at your peril, especially on occasions like their birthday, Mother’s Day, or Christmas where gifts are an unsaid essential.

Luckily, we’re here to help with an edit of the best mum-friendly gifts to help you hit the mark. We’ve got the lowdown on the very best gifts to spoil her rotten, from hampers heaving with indulgent treats to luxury beauty she would never dream of splashing out on for herself.

Mother may know best, but we’ve got the right gift to bring her joy and happiness in our roundup.

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Best tech gifts for mum

A gift designed to make her life easier: who can say no to that? From smartwatches designed to help her monitor her fitness to wine gadgets that’ll keep her vino tasting bottle-fresh, we’ve got the best in tech to have her beaming with joy.

Honor GS 3

Rather an elegant take on smartwatches, Honor’s GS 3 looks like a classic wristwatch – and on test we found it really comfortable to wear all day long.

We appreciated the different watch faces available to suit all tastes, including a gorgeous night sky screen. The GS is ready for action, too, with over 100 workout modes and route tracking built-in. There’s also an accurate heart rate monitor and even a blood oxygen monitor that vibrates if yours happens to get low.

The menu is intuitively easy to use on-the-go for taking calls, setting reminders and navigating.

Buy now £179.00, Amazon

Theragun Mini 4th Generation Percussive Therapy Massager

Whether they’re into their fitness or suffering from muscle pain, give the gift of relief and recovery with Theragun. The Mini is the smallest and most portable of all the devices with a hand-held size. It uses the same percussive massage therapy as the more costly devices with vibrations of short pulses of pressure. There are three speeds and the option to customise treatments. It’s also quieter than the previous generation models. Prices from £175 to £549.

Buy now £175.00, John Lewis

Nokia C21 Plus

Although Nokia has stuck with the classic brick phone, it also makes modern smartphones like the C21 Plus. It’s an affordable Android smartphone that offers lots of impressive features for just £109.99.

This includes a 6.5-inch display, a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front camera, 4G connectivity, 32GB of onboard memory, dual SIM, facial recognition, a fingerprint sensor, two to three days of battery life and so much more.

With Google Assistant, elderly users can make phone calls, send text messages and perform many other tasks using their voices. The texturised back is lovely to touch, and the Dark Cyan colour is particularly easy on the eyes.

Buy now £109.99, Amazon

Coravin Pivot

How many times have you wanted just one glass of wine but wound up drinking the whole bottle for fear it will ‘go off’ from oxidation? We’ve all been there.

Thanks to innovative wine tool Coravin Pivot though, your mum can enjoy as much or as little as she likes, and keep the rest for up to four weeks, when it will taste just as fresh. Not only does it preserve wine, but it aerates as it pours too, so her vino will taste just as the producers intended.

There’s also the Coravin Sparkling, which can preserve Champagne and other sparkling wines for up to a fortnight. No longer will she have the excuse of waiting for a special occasion to sip something extraordinary. This little gadget will allow her to enjoy a little luxury, every day.

Buy now £130.00, Coravin

Amazon Fire Tablet HD 10 Plus

Amazon’s tablet device has gone through many evolutions and as a result, can hold its own against big names such as Apple and Samsung - but all at a fraction of their cost.

The 10th gen comes is offered both with and without adverts with slightly different price points depending on which option you choose.

Use the handheld computer to search the web, stream movies and music, and take pictures and record video. You can also download and enjoy apps like BBC iPlayer, 4oD, Instagram, Facebook, Ted Talks, Pinterest, email and much more. The Fire 10 comes with up to 64GB of internal storage and can run for 12 hours, charging wirelessly if you need to.

Available in black, blue, pink and forest green tones.

Buy now £189.99, Amazon

Best beauty gifts for mum

For fans of lotions and potions, a lavish beauty gift might be just the ticket to present-giving success (not to mention secure your status as her favourite).

Whether she’s got a cabinet dedicated to fragrances, is famed for her lippie collection, or loves nothing more than trying the latest anti-ageing product, we’ve found the best options below.

Harvey Nichols Beauty Sleep Hamper

If there’s one thing mums want, especially if they’ve school-age children running riot around the house, is five minutes of peace. Give them that and more with the help of this beauty and bliss-packed hamper, which has everything they need for an evening of real ‘me-time’.  Throw in a DIY voucher for babysitting and you’ve got the perfect treat they won’t be able to wait to use.

Contents include: This Works Deep Sleep Bath Soak 200g, ESPA Soothing Candle 200g, Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate 30ml, a white Slip Silk Pillowcase, Spacemask and a tube of 20 Harvey Nichols Sleep It Off Teabags.

Buy now £195.00, Harvey Nichols

Christian Louboutin Loubiworld Miniature fragrance gift set

If the way to your mum’s heart is through a brand new fragrance, this beautiful set from Christian Louboutin will hit the mark. The box, in the label’s signature red, contains the full Loubiworld fragrance portfolio.

Seven miniature scents sit waiting to be discovered, all finished with ornate caps that render each bottle a masterpiece. Each measures 9ml, the perfect size to stash in a handbag or for travel.

Buy now £225.00, Harrods

La Mer The Luminous Renewal Oil Collection

What better gift than the mother of all skincare brands? This gift set includes La Mer’s bestsellers: think The Renewal Oil, The Eye Concentrate and the Crème de la Mer Moisturising Cream, giving a boost to her skincare arsenal.

Buy now £205.00, Look Fantastic

Jo Loves Pomelo a Fragrance Paintbrush Gel

Jo Malone’s label Jo Loves has redesigned its cult Paintbrush gel perfume to elevate its sustainability credentials. House in the reusable and sleek silver packaging, you will find a refillable cartridge with the Pomelo aroma. It combines notes of pomelo zest, the namesake citrus fruit, patchouli and vetiver. This gel texture makes it ideal for travelling and is fast-drying.

Buy now £40.00, Space NK

Forest Essentials Soundarya Gift Box

Drawing from ancient Ayurveda, Forest Essentials brings age-old beauty rituals to a modern audience in ultra-chic Indian-style packaging. There is a wealth of products available to bring out the best in hair and skin, but for gifting, we’re loving the Soundarya set.

It offers five of the brand’s hero products: think a rich body oil to leave skin with the feel of silk, body milk, a 24kt gold infused face serum, radiance-boosting face cream and a silk soap. And, with packaging this pretty, all you’ll need is some ribbon for extra ceremony.

Buy now £180.00, Lookfantastic

Best fashion gifts for mum

If she’s got a thing for threads, a well-selected piece of fashion or a coveted accessory won’t fail to hit the mark. From luxury brands and cult labels to cool indie stores that will raise the style stakes of her wardrobe, we’ve gathered the best options around.

Rixo Austin striped cotton pyjama set

The label may be the It brand of the moment, but you can give your mum more reason to enjoy a lie-in with its line of chic pyjamas. In a classic stripe with a contemporary mix palette of pink, white and green, these 100 per cent cotton relaxed fit are a treat for all seasons of the year.

Buy now £175.00, Harvey Nichols

Jimmy Choo Cosmos low-top neoprene and leather trainers

A cool pair of kicks is all it’ll take to update your mum’s style. Whether she’s hitting the treadmill or taking the dog out for a walk, Jimmy Choo’s neoprene and leather trainers bring all the glamour of the brand without any of the blisters.

Buy now £625.00, Selfridges

Katie Loxton Kensington Weekend Bag

Proving you needn’t dip into your overdraft to find a thoughtful gift is British lifestyle brand Katie Loxton.

Find this spacious weekend bag in off white or a chic subdued blue for less than £100 - so if you’re clubbing together with siblings, this makes an extremely budget-friendly gift.

You can also get this design personalised on the side of the bag or on the luggage tag, giving it an extra special touch.

Buy now £99.99, Katie Loxton

Missoma

The pendant necklaces at Instagram-favourite jewellery label Missoma can be personalised not only with the birthstone of your chosen month but also with an engravable message up to 20 characters at no additional cost.

There’s a colourful gem for each month of the year as well as Zodiac Constellation necklaces with delicate embellishments to represent the stars. The necklaces are made from recycled 18ct gold plated vermeil set on recycled sterling silver so there’s a planet-friendly angle too.

From £98.

Buy now, Missoma

The Original Drowsy Sleep Mulberry Silk Eye Mask

New mums, insomniacs or light sleepers - no matter the sleep concern, we have the solution. The luxe Drowsy eye mask offers a complete black out of external light and has a sophisticated and sumptuously soft silk construction. It has a thick band for added comfort and puts next to no pressure on the face.

Buy now £59.95, Amazon

Best home gifts for mum

Anna + Nina Piped Taper Candle Holder

Whether for decorative purposes or for her dinner party best, these candlestick holders deliver well for a relatively small outlay. Made with tinted glass and manipulated into a playful silhouette, it’s a pretty offering for the hostess with the mostess.

Buy now £30.00, Anthropologie

Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker

It’s no exaggeration to say that Ninja appliances have changed our lives. We first tried its multi-cooker in lockdown; and if we were impressed with its capabilities then, it’s not a patch on what its successor can do now.

The brand spanking new 15-in-1 Ninja Foodi can practically replace your entire kitchen. It can do a range of cooking functions, from air frying and slow cooking to grill, steam and roast. It can even slow cook, using the same lid (saving you a ton of cupboard space).

Whether your mum loves whipping up family meals or could use something to make cooking easier, this Ninja is the sous chef she soon won’t be able to be without.

Buy now £299.99, Ninja

Nathalie Lete Apron

Protect clothing from flying flour, wet batter and egg spills in style. French designer Nathalie Lete’s illustrated apron is full of details so exquisite you’ll be hard pressed to take it off. The cotton one-size piece comes with a stitched belt which ties on the reverse and is machine washable.

Buy now £36.00, Anthropologie

Ferm Living Ripple Smoked Grey Champagne Saucer Set of 2

Bring a sense of mystery to your next Champagne moment with Ferm Living’s rippled glass saucers, made with subtly smoked grey glass. The beautiful craftsmanship means they stand out as a wonderful gift for a special occasion.

Buy now £39.00, Heal’s

Polspotten Green Chess Porcelain Teapot

For the mum who’s always ready to lend an ear, and a warming pot of tea, we present this chic teapot. The design is a class act from start to finish with a green and white diamond pattern finished with gold tone details. Check, check, check.

Buy now £75.00, Browns

Georg Jensen Bernadotte Stainless Steel Coffee Press

Georg Jensen’s Bernadotte Stainless Steel Coffee Press is for the coffee aficionados who want to pour their daily mug(s) with the same level of stylish flair that continues through the rest of their day.

This sleek cafetière deserves a place of pride on your kitchen counter - partially because of how frequently you’ll be using it but also because of its classy look. Adding a touch of Art Deco to the table every time you’ve got guests around, this cafetière is crafted from mirror-polished stainless steel and is double-walled to keep your coffee warmer for longer.

Buy now £119.00, John Lewis

National Art Pass

If she loves a lazy Saturday stroll through a gallery or museum she will be spoilt for choice using the National Art pass.

With over 240 museums and historic sites to select from she can save 50 per cent on major exhibitions and still have money left over to buy you lunch or perhaps a fancy art book.

Buy now £54.75, Art Fund

Personal biography by StoryTerrace

They say there’s a book in each of us. Get your mum’s story made into a beautiful book thanks to StoryTerrace. The company uses a professional ghostwriter to craft a life story following a number of one-to-one sessions with your mum, or anyone else you have in mind.

You’ll have the chance to edit the story and add pictures before recieving the personal hardback biography preserving their legacy. A beautiful gift for the big character in your life. Prices starting from £1,800.

Buy now £1800.00, StoryTerrace

Best food and drink gifts for mum

For a gift that’s guaranteed not to sit in the cupboard gathering dust, food and drink can’t be beat. Treat foodie mums to a taste of something special, be it a hamper stuffed with niche, hard-to-find goodies or a box of her favourite chocolate.

Comte de Grasse 44°N Gin 500ml & Candle Gift Set

An artisan gin wrapped up in a bright blue box with a candle to match might seem a dreamy enough present, but that’s before we’ve even delved into its bright, transportative notes. The spirit "is like having the Cote d’Azur on the tip of your tongue", with hints of salty samphire, lemony verbena, mimosa, jasmine and lavender in the mix. One for gin-obsessives as well as occasional drinkers, it’ll take pride of place on her home bar.

Buy now £75.00, Harvey Nichols

F&M The Teatime Gift Box

Who doesn’t feel peckish around 4pm? Spoil them with an afternoon tea treat from one of London’s glitziest grocers. F&M packs preserves, tea and biscuits into one of its famous duck egg blue boxes. Just add a ribbon bow and it’s ready to hand over.

Buy now £28.00, F&M

SodaStream Spirit Sparkling Water Maker

For the fizzy water fan in your life, the addition of a SodaStream to their kitchen appliances will change their lives. Not only is it far more cost effective than purchasing bottles of the carbonated stuff but it is also better for the planet as you are reducing their single-use plastic consumption - the definition of a win, win.

There are five different models to choose from all of which will create sparkling water in seconds with just the touch of a button. The devices are compact with a sleek, space-saving design and include the glass carafe pictured. You can also add flavours that will give them the chance to create their own kombucha, lemonade, coca cola, tonic and more. Shop more carbonated water machines here.

Buy now £103.99, Amazon

Panzer's Weekend Groceries Hamper

A weekend feasting on the finest north London has to offer? Priceless. Bring the best Panzer’s legendary deli to your mum’s door with this hamper, full of treats to offer a very special weekend indeed. For your money, you’ll get a classic green box heaving with seasonal veg, granola and milk, 1/2lbs of smoked salmon, four of Panzer’s famous bagels as well as cream cheese to spread on and a lemon for squeezing, a packet of luxury crisps and a choice of Panzer’s pies.

Buy now £70.00, Panzer's

Allday Goods Knife range

If they’re serious about their cheffing, introduce Allday Goods into their cutlery collection. The brand takes a sustainable approach to the formation of its kitchen essentials by crafting its knives entirely from waste that would have ended up in the landfill. The blades are made from scrap metals, while the handles - in attractive hues of yellow, white and green - save 48g of plastic per option. They are made in Sheffield, cutting down on shipping pollution too.

Buy now £180.00, Allday Goods