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Can you feel it? The gentleness and sensitivity in the air? Cancer season is here. I’m privy to this Water sign: if you’re lucky enough to have a Cancer in your life, you know just how deserving they are of pampering and gifting for their birthday month. Which makes them wildly easy to celebrate! Cancers are cosmically-ordained caregivers – often to their own detriment. Give them the love they so freely give to others for their birthday with the help of some carefully curated, Cancer-oriented gifts.
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Imply And Impose Mandatory Self-Care
Because they’re often the nurturers and caretakers of their social circles, Cancers are extra deserving of some TLC for their special day. Let’s start with their skincare routine. Nothing screams indulgent self-care like a luxurious facial oil. Take your pick from my favorites: Vintner’s Daughter’s Active Botanical Serum, goop’s Super Nutrient Bakuchiol Face Oil, and OSEA’s Essential Hydrating Oil. Add on a refreshing toner to keep them cool all summer long. I’m partial to OSEA’s Sea Minerals Mist and CAP Beauty’s Serotoner. Lock in that luxury with a night cream: Omorovicza’s Rejuvenating Night Cream, Honey Girl Organics’ Night Creme, and goop’s 72-Hour Water Cream are my favorites. If your Cancer is based near a Formula Fig or a Heyday, gift them a facial to enter a new year feeling more radiant than ever.
Why stop at just their facial routine? Let’s make that bathroom a full-body spa. Send OSEA’s Vagus Nerve Trio, a super-set of Bath Oil, therapeutic Nerve Oil, and Pillow Mist engineered to activate the calming response of the Vagus Nerve. The Cancer in your life likely doesn’t accumulate products senselessly, and instead considers the quality and necessity of every purchase. Gift them Soft Services’ Smoothing Set ($102), complete with the brand’s best-selling physical exfoliant, chemical exfoliant, and daily maintenance lotion, for a gift that pampers with a palpable effect. The gifts of a balanced nervous system and their smoothest skin yet? Priceless…
“As someone who suffers from Keratosis Pilaris (those red bumps on the backs of thighs, arms and hips), I was so excited to receive the Soft Services' Smoothing Set, featuring the original Buffing Bar, the Soothing Solution Gel & the Carea Cream. I've loved trying these products out because they're literally made for sensitive skin – they're fragrance free, include gentle exfoliants and keep my skin moisturized throughout the day. My KP gets worse during the winter months, so it's been a real blessing to have something to help combat the bumps and rough skin. The Soothing Solution Gel is definitely my favorite because it also treats areas prone to ingrown hair, and areas of discoloration. I can see it's made a difference & I would definitely love to keep using it.” –Naomi Joshi
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Make Their Home As Nurturing As They Are
Cancers are known homemakers of the Zodiac. Make their home as serene and cozy as they are all year round. Here’s a smattering of my picks, tailor-made for a Cancer’s refined taste: a candle (or two) from Le Feu De L’Eau and Liis – go with the Cardamom, Fleur, or Temper Affectionate. A soft, sumptuous blanket from Tekla. An egg cup set from glass artist Sophie Lou Jacobsen to make their breakfast a dash more artistic, joyful table linens from Misette to brighten their dinners (whether for a special occasion or just an everyday delight).
Tekla’s 100% linen kitchen towels ($38) crafted in Portugal that wield the power to make doing the dishes feel like a luxury. The Mini Garden Tour from Flamingo Estate, featuring a Sage Candle, Heritage Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Rosemary and Clary Sage Hand Soap to transport your Cancer to a lush California garden. Lastly, Comme Si’s trio of Cashmere Socks ($230), because you should give the gift you most want to receive (science-based karmic logic).
For The Culinary Cancer
In addition to being natural homemakers, Cancers are usually excellent cooks. They’re the kind of home chefs that make it all look easy and intuitive – because for them, it probably is. Whether they’re throwing a party or just making dinner for two, they’re experts at whipping up nourishing meals to express affection and care for the people they love. Upgrade their cooking fundamentals with ingredients that will make every moment in the kitchen feel like a treat (because they’re likely sourcing their own seasonal materials from the local farmer’s market weekly). Start with some quality cooking oil: Graza for the chef who loves EVOO and a lot of it, Algae Cooking Club for the foodie who’s game to try the latest innovation in food science and sustainability.
Send some indulgent bite-size chocolates made from premium ingredients to remind your Cancer that they deserve copious treats just for them, not for sharing. Anything from UNREAL Snacks; a stash of the best organic dark chocolate from HU; and a box of truffles from Loco Love (made from organic cacao paste) that’ll blow their mind. A kit from The Caker – good luck picking just one flavor – because it’s their birthday. Duh.
Every home cook deserves a materials upgrade to make moments in the kitchen feel even more joyful. Send them a new cast iron from Our Place; pick from your choice of knife sets at Misen; splurge on one quality Chef’s Knife they’ll cherish at every slice and dice.
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Intimates And Basics They’ll Turn To Daily
There are few things a Cancer prizes more than quality. If you know your Cancer well enough to get into their undergarment game, send them the best of the best bralettes, pointelle sets, bloomers, and effortless poplin basics that work as well at home as they do on a morning walk for coffee or a birthday weekend escape to the beach.
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Adorn Them With Elegant Sparkles
My mother and best friend are both Cancers; by process of trial-and-error, I’m very familiar with the jewelry preferences of these wonderful, intuitive water signs. Pick out something elegant, timeless, and one-of-a-kind, and they’ll never take it off:
- Splurge on a forever necklace from Kinn for the Cancer you really love. (If you really, really love them, see: the Tennis Necklaces.)
- A pair of handmade architectural earrings from Chan Luu – these feel very Cancer to me, as do these.
- A custom charm necklace, bracelet, or pair of earrings from Susan Alexandra – for the gifter who plans two weeks ahead of the birthday.
Radiant Health From The Inside Out
Speaking from personal gifting experience: every Cancer needs some externally enforced TLC. Gift them tools for sustainable (and preventative) well-being with WTHN and Wooden Spoon Herbs, two brands dedicated to bringing Traditional Chinese Medicine and herbalism, respectively, into your daily life. To ease long work days in front of a screen, send them The Recovery Bundle, complete with a mat that can target full body aches and tension, and a set of cups designed for at-home use in gently alleviating body aches, muscle tension, and promoting full-body circulation. For the Cancer who gets more excited about a facial than an acupuncture treatment, send a Rose Quartz Eye Mask. Browse from Wooden Spoon Herbs’ apothecary of delights: send a Tranquility Tonic to make their days a little more zen, and a delicious Light Ray tonic to help them achieve their most luminous complexion yet.
Get to gifting – and I’ll meet you back here next month to coach you through the process of pleasing a Leo.
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