Virtually any beauty treatment, product, or service that you can buy for yourself can be given as a gift, from skin care products to haircuts, from microdermabrasion to Botox injections. How commonly these are given as gifts often depend on the complexity and invasiveness of the service.

More invasive procedures, such as Botox and Restylane injections, are most frequently purchased with the recipient’s knowledge, according to Dr Derek Boyden of Olympic Surgical Associates in Port Orchard.

“There’s usually some degree of discussion when someone gives these types of treatments as a gift,” said Dr Boyden.

Less invasive procedures, such as laser hair removal and microdermabrasion are more commonly given as surprise gifts, said Dr Boyden. Most commonly given are gifts of products, such as medical grade skin care products.

Day spas and hair salons sell a lot of gift certificates this time of year, as well.

“I think it’s a fabulous thing to give someone a new haircut for Christmas,” said Jeanee Renee Brown, who owns Jeanee Renee Hair Salon and Esthetics Northwest, both in Old Town Silverdale. “And microdermabrasion can give you a good, clean look for the holidays.”

Services at salons and spas can be purchased individually, but most establishments will work with clients to put together custom packages of multiple services, such as a haircut with a manicure and pedicure, a facial with a massage.

“I do cuts, color, microdermabrasion – you can pay to have someone spend the whole day with me,” laughed Brown.

It’s usually a good idea to talk to the spa, salon, or clinic ahead of time when you are planning to put together a multi-service package, and to select a salon or stylist that you know and trust. Also, some salons and spas, including Brown’s salon lease space to stylists and estheticians, so coordinating multiple services, such as a haircut with a manicure and pedicure, might take some advanced scheduling, and making sure the stylist you purchased the certificate from will still be there when the recipient is ready to redeem the certificate can sometimes be tricky. This is another reason why choosing a salon you trust is important.

Buying services for others is not the only popular way to give beauty treatments during the holidays. Many people often give these types of treatments to themselves as gifts this time of year. Dr Boyden speculates that, for more serious procedures, this may be due in part to holiday vacation time. Individuals can have more invasive work done with a built in cushion of days off to recover.

“I did a facelift last year the day before Christmas,” said Dr Boyden. “And I have one scheduled this year for New Year’s Day.

In Brown’s business, she sees self-gift giving as a great way to rejuvenate during the busy holiday season.

“At Christmas time things tend to get stressful,” she said. “Women come in and get their nails done, and they can slow down and relax for a while.”.