What I thought worked well....and some that didn't - Russian Ukrainian Belarus Travel Music Woman Dating News

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What I thought worked well....and some that didn't
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Posted by: annagybe

I went to a small town just south of St. Petersburg (Otradnoye) to see Alex. What happened is for another thread. But here's my observations of what presents were big hits, and what weren't.

For his mother, sister, and another female friend I got gift packs from Kiehl's (relatively high-end American toiletries). They were a big hit, because it was basically a bunch of travel sized products, from shampoo, conditioner, lotion, lip balm and some facial creams. I figured it was a good American brand, and not available in Europe to my knowledge, and I remeber Jill's article about getting shampoo as a present in the Ukraine. They never heard of it. But they all opened the bottles to see how everything smelled, plus it came in a nice see-through zippered bag. So Lena, getting stuff from Victoria's Secrett seems to be right on, given that their products are highly fraganced. I'm personally less influenced by fragance, than performance.
Often the major department stores (got my kits at Nordstrom's) have these bonus buys especially around the holidays and major sales.
Also for his mother I got one of those duty-free samplers of Dior perfume. For his sister I got two pairs of black opaque tights (DKNY and Nordstrom brand hoisery), I met her before and could guesstimate her size. Big hit, good hoisery (ie imported) are fairly expensive there. I didn't have time, but Marshall's, TJ Maxx and Ross are great sources for cheap tights.
One thing I met to get but didn't was lip gloss. I've noticed that many women there who are under 30 wear lip gloss (wand-style) rather than lipstick. Duty-free has great lip gloss sets, and like a previous poster said, if they don't like one of the colors, I'm sure a friend of their's will like it. Sephora has cute kits too, nicely packaged, seen one by Smashbox, and also Sugar; Urban Decay makes great lip glosses with killer flavors and colors, but don't always see kits.
Good cognac for my circumstances was a waste, given they drank it like vodka.
I gave his father a small Leatherman tool that came with a mirco MagLite (Costco). He's not very demonstrative, so don't know if he liked it. I tried explaining that it's made in Portland, Oregon, a rare thing these days.
Actually the biggest hit, were the homemade brownies with pecans a baker friend of mine made for me that I handcarried in a ziploc plastic container. They were an immense success, transported well, and even tasted good after a few days.
So there's my 2 kopeks on gift giving.

-anna-