Holiday Gift Trends to Watch: From Squishies to Retro Beauty

Toys, accessories, and beauty products have always been common categories for holiday gifts, but consumer expectations for these items are changing. Rather than products that simply fulfill a function, more and more consumers are looking for fun designs, personal expression, nostalgic elements, and small items that offer emotional value.

This shift has also led products that originally belonged to different categories to take on similar gift-giving qualities. Squishies, DIY kits, and plush toys can serve as lighthearted and fun small gifts; sunglasses, hair clips, necklaces, and phone charms can function as accessories that express personal style; and retro compact lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes, through their packaging and design, make everyday makeup more suitable for gifting.

From this perspective, what’s worth noting isn’t the emergence of a completely new gift category, but rather the emergence of new product directions and consumption scenarios within traditional product categories.

For retailers, this means that holiday assortment opportunities extend beyond traditional gifts to include products that are becoming more fun, more personal, and easier to give.

1Playful Toys Are Becoming More Giftable

Toys are gradually moving beyond their traditional role as children’s products and entering broader gifting and lifestyle contexts.

• Squishies

Squishies are a prime example. Faire observed that the Squishy craze began gaining traction on social media platforms such as TikTok during the 2025 holiday season, followed by a steady increase in retailer searches and orders. By the second quarter of 2026, transaction volume for the category on Faire had grown by +400%.

However, it’s not just the popularity of Squishies that’s worth noting—it’s the changes happening within the products themselves.

Compared with simpler designs in the past, today’s Squishies place greater emphasis on specific themes and visual recognition, including food, animals, and other playful designs. For holiday gifting, these products don’t need to serve a strong practical function. Their cuteness, playfulness, and tactile appeal can already make them appealing as small gifts.

For retailers looking to explore the category, different Squishy formats can serve different gifting occasions.

• Portable keychain squishies, for example, the crystal baozi，are small enough to attach to bags or carry around, making them suitable as affordable add-on gifts.
  A Little Comfort in Your Pocket →
  
  
• Other designs focus more on food-inspired shapes and slow-rise textures, giving the products a stronger visual identity.
  The Inedible Gentle Bakery →
  

• DIY Kits

DIY kits represent another shift within the toy category. Consumers aren’t just buying a finished product—they’re purchasing an experience they can complete themselves.

From beading and jewelry making to painting, clay modeling, miniature dioramas, and other creative crafts, DIY kits combine “play” with “making.”

This trend is also reflected in Etsy’s search data. During Spring/Summer 2026, searches for “beginner needlepoint kits” increased by +175% year over year, reflecting growing interest in hobbies, crafting, and more personalized experiences.

For retailers, DIY products can also work across different age groups and gifting occasions, making them relatively flexible additions to a holiday assortment.

EJET Spark offers a range of DIY products covering different creative activities, including painting and needle felting. 
DIY Crafts · Kids Educational →

• Plush Toys

Plush toys are also expanding their range of uses.

In addition to traditional large plush dolls, small plush toys, plush keychains, and bag accessories are transforming plush products from conventional toys into lighter, everyday items.

This makes them easier to incorporate into gift displays and seasonal assortments.

For example, seasonal designs such as Christmas-themed plush bears can work naturally within holiday gift collections, while characterful designs can appeal to consumers looking for something more playful. 
Genuine Teddy Bear · Christmas →

Run Series Plush Doll →

For a more humorous and unconventional direction, character-based plush designs can also add variety to a gift assortment.

2Small Accessories, Big Personality

If toys are becoming more giftable, accessories are becoming more personal.

Sunglasses, hair clips, necklaces, and phone straps are all relatively small items, yet they can directly reflect a consumer’s personal style. Compared with basic designs, products featuring retro elements, vibrant colors, unique shapes, or playful details are more likely to feel personal—or to remind shoppers of someone they want to buy for.

• Hair Clips

Hair clips are a prime example.

Originally a practical everyday accessory, hair clips have gradually evolved into a visual part of an outfit through designs featuring fruits, flowers, bows, animals, and other whimsical shapes.

For retailers, a mix of colors, materials, patterns, and shapes can help create a more visually diverse accessory assortment. Some current examples include:  Refined Twill Acrylic Grab Clip →  
           
Butterfly Print Clamp →
 
Diamond-Encrusted Shell Clip →
   

• Phone Accessories

Similar trends are emerging in phone accessories.

With beaded strands, charms, plush accents, and other small embellishments, phone accessories are becoming another way for consumers to express their individuality. Etsy’s 2026 trend data shows that searches for “polka dot phone cases” increased by +835% year over year. While this figure does not directly represent the phone strap market, it reflects the broader role that phone-related products can play in personal expression.

For retailers exploring this category, phone cases, phone straps, stands, and other accessories can be grouped around different aesthetics or use occasions.  Phone Accessories →

• Necklaces & Fashion Accessories

Necklaces and other fashion accessories are also moving toward more playful and eye-catching designs. Etsy’s 2026 trend report found that searches for “whimsical jewelry” increased by +84% year over year, reflecting growing interest in more unique, playful, and expressive accessories. 
Fashion Jewelry →

• Sunglasses

Sunglasses share similar characteristics. Retro frames, colored lenses, exaggerated designs, and Y2K-inspired styles can give what was once a primarily functional product a much stronger visual presence. 
Eyewear →

3Retro Beauty Is Making Beauty Products More Giftable

Makeup is another category worth watching in holiday gifting, but the changes here aren’t just about new shades or formulas.

More and more makeup products are emphasizing packaging, design, and the overall visual experience. Products such as retro-style compact lipsticks and mini eyeshadow palettes can go beyond meeting basic beauty needs to become items that are visually appealing and worth owning.

• Retro Lipsticks

Retro lipsticks are a good example.

Metallic tubes, vintage-inspired color schemes, classic packaging, and compact designs can make a lipstick feel more like a small accessory than an everyday cosmetic. 
Sea Foam Lip & Cheek Cream →

When a product has a strong visual identity, it becomes easier for it to move from the beauty category into the gift category.

This doesn’t mean consumers suddenly stop caring about functionality. Rather, functionality and gift appeal can coexist. A lipstick can meet everyday beauty needs while also working as a gift because of its attractive packaging, compact size, distinctive color, or nostalgic aesthetic.

The same principle applies to eyeshadow palettes. Smaller palettes with distinctive color combinations, shimmer finishes, retro-inspired themes, or playful packaging can turn a functional makeup product into something more visually memorable.

4What These Products Have in Common

Squishies, phone charms, and retro lipsticks may seem to belong to completely different product categories, but when viewed through the lens of holiday gifting, they share several common characteristics.

• First, they are generally small and relatively easy to purchase. Consumers do not need to make a major financial or emotional commitment to buy them.
• Second, they have strong visual or emotional appeal. Cute Squishies, uniquely shaped hair clips, and retro packaging can all offer something beyond basic functionality.
• More importantly, these products allow for a certain degree of personal expression. A consumer may choose a uniquely shaped hair clip because it fits their style, a DIY kit because they enjoy making things, or a retro lipstick simply because they love its packaging and design.

Therefore, these products aren’t necessarily chosen as gifts because they are highly practical. They can be chosen because they are fun, attractive, unique, or simply feel right for a particular person.

5What This Means for Holiday Retailers

For retailers, this trend means that holiday assortments do not necessarily have to be planned strictly around traditional product categories.

Instead, products from different categories can be brought together around a gift recipient, interest, aesthetic, or shopping occasion.

This does not mean that all of these products need to be bundled together for sale. Rather, themed displays, gift sections, and visual product pairings can help consumers understand the relationship between products that would normally sit in completely different parts of a store.

One consumer may not be specifically looking for “a Squishy.” They may simply be looking for a fun little gift for a friend.

Another shopper may not be searching for “a phone charm.” They may be looking for a small item that matches someone’s personality.

From Squishies to retro beauty, these seemingly unrelated products are sharing a new logic of gift-giving.

For holiday retail, the opportunity may not lie in any single category, but in discovering the common ground between different products and turning those connections into a more appealing shopping experience.