9 Amazing Shops in New York City for Cool Wellness Gifts

Wellness-obsessed women are increasingly complex.

There's your friend who only wears indie activewear labels to her boutique workout classes, your sister who has a natural-beauty-product-filled medicine cabinet that could put Sephora out of business, and your mother-in-law, whose home is more Zen than a Buddhist temple.

Luckily, New York City is a gold mine of indie boutiques that serve the wellness in-crowd. You just have to know where to look. (Hint: it's not Bath & Body Works.)

We found nine amazing gift shops for every kind of healthy living-loving friend you have in your life. (Note: You may also want to send this article to your significant others with a strong Emoji wink.) —Jamie McKillop

 (Photo: Facebook/Shen Beauty)

 

Bandier
For your fitness fashion-obsessed BFF

Bandier, the fitness fashion boutique that debuted in Southampton last summer, recently opened a pop-up in Manhattan just in time for holiday shopping. It stocks the same curated selection of cool, indie brands it’s become known for out East, like Alala, Koral, Lucas Hugh, VPL, and Vimmia. So you don't run the risk of buying your fashionable friend the Nike leggings she already owns.

915 Broadway, at E. 21st St., Flatiron District, www.bandier.com

(Photo: Bandier)

 

Bash and Bow
For the girly yogi

Bash and Bow is a sweet little boutique tucked away on a quiet block in Gramercy. It's a curated gift atelier (with a clothing shop next store), so there's a huge selection of handmade letterpress cards, artisan crafted candles, and on-trend jewelry. The owner, Leema Basharyar, has a great eye, and everything's at an affordable price point. So you're bound to find a piece of jewelry for your friend who refuses to take off her necklaces and bangles during barre or yoga.

210 E. 21st St., between 1st and 2nd Ave., Gramercy, www.bashbowny.com

(Photo: Conkissta)

 

Bklyn Larder
For the healthy foodie

This provisions shop from the owners of Brooklyn hotspot Franny's is like the insider's Eataly. Think nut butter gift sets, artisan fermented foods, and Mast Brothers chocolate. (Did we mention cheese?) It's especially perfect for impressing clients and contacts with curated gift baskets that go way beyond tins of GMO, caramel-coated popcorn.

228 Flatbush Ave., at Bergen St., Park Slope/Prospect Heights, www.bklynlarder.com

(Photo: Facebook/Bklyn Larder)

 

Catbird
For your healthy friend who has everything

Catbird may occupy a tiny 200-square-foot Williamsburg, Brooklyn, storefront, but it’s got a mega following among the cool, jewelry-loving mavens of New York. Everything in the boutique is extremely unique, from covetable knuckle rings, handmade stationary, and luxe indie natural beauty products—making it the perfect place to shop for the friend who has everything. Unless, of course, she's a cool, jewelry-loving maven in New York who already goes there.

219 Bedford Ave., at N. 5th St., Williamsburg, www.catbird.com

(Photo: Crash Brooklyn)

 

Shen Beauty
For the natural beauty buff

New York City natural beauty stores are few and far between, but Cobble Hill’s Shen Beauty is a beauty boutique known for its curated selection of cool, up-and-coming brands (many of which are natural), like Ilia, H. Gillerman Organics, and LURK Organic Fragrance—and many more that you might be dying to test in person. Shen is right on the same stretch as fitness destinations Brooklyn Bodyburn and Pure Barre, so you can totally build your shopping trip around a workout, too.

315 Court St., at Degraw St., Cobble Hill, www.shenbeauty.com

(Photo: Brooklyn Magazine)

 

The Sill
For the green-thumb Instagram goddess

Gorgeous, chic potted plant brand The Sill has a cult following online (its products were basically made for Instagram, after all), and it just opened its first storefront on the Lower East Side. Stop by for swoon-worthy succulents, artisan planters, and a build-your-own potted plant bar, where you can personalize your gift. Plus, you'll be giving the gift of a more wellness-filled home, too.

84 Hester St., at Allen St., Lower East Side, www.thesill.com

(Photo: The Sill)

 

Urban Zen Center
For your charitable, Zen friend

Owned by wellness-obsessed designer Donna Karan, Urban Zen is a destination for globally inspired clothes and home goods like exclusively handmade Balinese furniture, Italian linens, and local and indigenous art pieces, with proceeds supporting Karan's Urban Zen Foundation. Just be aware that with the high price point, you'll have to be feeling pretty generous.

705 Greenwich St., at Charles St., West Village, www.urbanzen.com

(Photo: WGSN)

 

Warm
For the chic, surfer chick

Warm is a Nolita boutique where models like Hanne Gaby Odiele and other downtown fashionistas stock up on breezy dresses, alpaca blankets, and earthy, handmade home goods. Surfer-owner Winnie Beattie says she spends her life “in pursuit of warmth–in people, places, and objects” and the store is the physical manifestation of that journey. To that end, she stocks the store with multipurpose and beautifully simple products—or “things that make you look like you’ve had a good night’s sleep and a vacation,” she promises.

181 Mott St., at Kenmare St., Nolita, www.warmny.com

(Photo: Nolita Hearts)

 

Whisk
For the healthy home-cook

Everyone has a friend who is constantly spiralizing a zucchini or pureeing an avocado into soup. At Whisk, you'll find the kitchen gadgets to make her raw vegan foodie dreams come true and the pretty tabletop accessories she'll need to brag about her creations on Instagram. Hopefully your gift will earn you a helping of whatever she's whipping up next.

231 Bedford Ave., at N. 4th St.; 933 Broadway, between E. 21st and 22nd St., www.whisknyc.com

(Photo: Building Hero)

 

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