Shop Small: My Favorite Product-Based Small Businesses to Shop This Holiday Season and Beyond

The holidays are quickly approaching, and I’m SO excited to start gift shopping. I LOVE shopping for, creating, wrapping, and giving gifts. It’s not a burden for me to spend time shopping for the ones I love. 

Since becoming an entrepreneur, I’ve made an intentional effort to shop small. It makes such a difference in those business owners’ lives to receive sales during the holidays, and honestly, year-round. 

So today, I want to highlight some of my favorite product-based small businesses to shop this holiday season and beyond!

Key Takeaways:

• What it means to shop small
• Why it’s important to support small businesses
• 14 of my favorite small businesses to shop

What Does it Mean to Shop Small?

When you shop small, you purchase from and support independently-owned businesses rather than large national chains. These small businesses are often deeply rooted in their communities and offer personalized service, unique products, and genuine connections you can’t find anywhere else.

Why it’s Important to Shop Small

When you shop small, your money stays local. It supports jobs, fuels community growth, and helps small business owners continue doing what they love. You’re not just making a purchase—you’re investing in your community’s future and helping local dreams thrive.

From a business owner’s perspective, I know how much it means to have someone support your business. It’s your livelihood and passion, and when a stranger chooses to purchase from you, it means the world.

As a consumer, every gift I’ve given that I’ve purchased from a small business is appreciated and loved so much more. Maybe because it’s personalized, or maybe it’s something they’ve never seen before. Either way, gifts from small businesses make the recipient feel loved.

14 Small Businesses to Shop This Holiday Season

I have personally bought items from each of these small businesses and can confidently say their products are AMAZING. I highly recommend them to shop small this holiday season!

1. Eternal Light Co

Eternal Light Co. is a family-owned business in Alabama, creating Christian women’s apparel. I have a crewneck and a few shirts, and they are SO comfy. 

I love a good deal, and they constantly email me with discounts or even FREE stuff (with purchase, but still!) They are reasonably priced and have modern, cute designs.

2. Plaine Products

I was introduced to Plaine Products by my client Wendy. They sell sustainable, non-toxic skin and hair care products. 

How it works: Whatever you purchase comes in a reusable aluminum bottle. When your product is running low, order another one. Using the box it comes in, ship the empty bottle back to Plaine Products for sanitization and reuse. OR you can order gallon sizes of the products and refill the aluminium bottles yourself.

What a cool, creative way to reduce waste AND all their ingredients are clean and vegan.

I purchased the travel set to try it out, and all their scents smell amazing, and the products work very well.

3. Colorescience

Colorescience is my go-to makeup brand. My skin is suuuuuper sensitive and breaks out when I put literally anything new on it, so I have to be really careful about what I put on my face. 

Colorescience only uses 100% pure, natural minerals, antioxidants, and botanicals, so on the few occasions I do a full face of makeup, I know I’ll wake up the next day without a zit. AND a lot of their products contain sunscreen, so you don’t have to layer a ton of products to get protection and coverage —something my sensitive skin LOVES.

I use the mineral-tinted sunscreen with SPF 50 and the color balm SPF 50 in shade Blush as blush and lip color.

4. Primally Pure

Another Wendy non-toxic recommendation! I seriously buy so much from her Toxin Free Shopping Guide, it’s not even funny. 

During their Black Friday sale, I bought a few sets to try out: Body Butter, Deodorant, and Body Wash. The body wash was my favorite. It smells so good and has completely clean products. I also love the reusable container it comes in.

The body butter is oily, so I use it on my hands at night as an extra moisturizer. The deodorant works pretty well for me, but if I’m exercising or it’s really hot outside, I need to reapply.

5. Young Living

Okay, last Wendy recommendation, promise. I bought the Thieves Happy, Healthy Home Kit full of non-toxic cleaning supplies at this time last year, and I STILL have some left. The cleaner and laundry detergent are concentrates—you just have to mix them with water to get a full bottle. That makes the price worth it! 

I also bought a few essential oils to use in crafts I was making for Christmas last year. Young Living sells very high-quality essential oils, which is why the prices are higher. They usually have a pretty good Black Friday sale, though!

Young Living is an excellent place for all things toxin-free.

6. TONIC Templates

Are you really an entrepreneur if you haven’t heard of TONIC Templates? They are the go-to resource for Showit website and Canva templates. 

I’ve always said graphic design is NOT my strong suit. I knew I wanted to buy some social media templates after rebranding my business, and in my mind, TONIC was the only option.

It was so easy to add my branding to their beautiful templates. It made content creation so much easier!

7. Spell Books

Spell Books is a cute little bookstore in Littleton, CO. I actually know the family who opened it, but they’ve since sold it.

It’s a small bookstore, but they still have the popular BookTok books. If you don’t see the book you were hoping for, they can order it for you to pick up later, so you can still support a small bookstore. They also sell book accessories and gift items, and do Blind Date With a Book sets, which is so fun!

Spell Books hosts events and classes every month, including writing nights, book clubs, and author readings. Does anyone want to go with me?!

8. Nolia Jewelry

Nolia Jewelry makes everything by hand in Utah. Because of this, they offer many customization options across their products.

Twice, I have bought their Tiny Initial Necklace for friends expecting a child. It’s a personalized gift every mother-to-be will love.

9. Nikmini

Another mother-to-be gift: a custom onesie! Nikmini sells a lot of cute and custom baby apparel and accessories on Etsy. 

I found this newborn outfit when searching for a unique gift for my sister-in-law’s baby shower, and I was obsessed. Immediately Add To Cart.

10. Basketful of Grace

Basketful of Grace sells handmade personalized pictures and frames on Etsy. You can shop by occasion, including weddings, babies, pets, travel, and housewarming.

I bought my dad and mother-in-law this frame the Christmas after my wedding. It had pictures of me and my dad at our Father/Daughter dance, and of my mother-in-law and husband at their Mother/Son dance. The background of each picture had the lyrics to the songs we danced to. 

I can confirm there were tears when these gifts were opened!

11. Multiple Shops: Custom Ornaments

Custom ornaments are a classic gift, especially when your loved one has had a monumental year. I purchase custom ornaments pretty often for my friends and family who have gotten married, had a baby, adopted a new pet, or purchased a home. It’s a fun and simple way to remember these significant life moments.

Here are some Etsy shops I purchased custom ornaments from:

• Keptsake: An ornament for our Christmas tree to memorialize our wedding!
• Ornamentally You: A mother/daughter ornament to thank my mom for all she did to help me plan my wedding.
• HomeSweetO: Wedding gift for some close friends.

12. ReImagine Brewing

During our wedding ceremony, my husband and I put some meaningful items into a time capsule box to open again on our 10th wedding anniversary. I purchased the custom box from ReImagine Brewing, and it’s super high-quality and something we’ll keep even after we open it!

13. Bluegrass Sips

Okay, I clearly bought a lot of stuff on Etsy for my wedding! These custom cups from Bluegrass Sips were gifted to my bridesmaids. It had their name and birth flower engraved on the tumbler. They all loved it!

14. LeiMarie Limited

LeiMarie Limited is a small shop I discovered while visiting my mom in Cincinnati. It’s the type of boutique you walk into and wish you could buy everything they sell. My wallet didn’t allow for that, so I just bought a pink suede crossbody purse. It’s the one I carry with me everywhere.

Shop Small!

I encourage you to shop small this holiday season. One sale makes the day of a small business owner, while one sale on Amazon isn’t even worth their time. Support small businesses today and every day!