The glitziest industry party in the world is almost upon us.
The 90th annual Academy Awards goes down on Sunday night, with all of the stars from Hollywood packed into one giant room to determine the very best in acting, directing, costume design and so on.
There are some who think that the Oscars is just a massive industry piss-up in which politics plays a bigger role than quality of work, and those conspiracy theorists will likely bug out their eyes at the contents of the 2018 Academy Awards gift bag.
Exclusively given to all nominees in the acting and directing categories, the opulent gift bag in question has become a controversial aspect of the Oscars in recent years. In 2016, the take-home item was valued at a whopping $230,000.
Perhaps mindful of splashing around such wealth so casually, this year’s gift bag amounts to ‘just’ $100,000.
So that’s a well-stocked six-figure memento that rather outdoes The Late Late Show gifting a loaf of bread to everyone in the audience.
The 2018 edition of the gift bag – put together by Los Angeles marketing company Distinctive Assets – boasts such freebies as holidays to Tanzania, Greece and Hawaii, a $10,000 donation to an animal shelter of the recipient’s choice, an 18-minute ‘phobia relief’ session and, er, pepper spray.
USA Today has the full ludicrous rundown, which looks like this:
- Edible jewelry from Chocolatines
- Underarm sweat patches from Dandi Patch
- Lemonade-flavoured moonshine from Southern Wicked Lemonade
- A 12-night Tanzania trip for two from International Expeditions
- A seven-day Hawaii trip at Koloa Landing Resort in Poipu
- A stay at Avaton Luxury Villas Resort in Halkidiki, Greece
- A week-long spa retreat at Golden Door
- Pepperface, a lightweight pepper spray
- Chao Pinhole Gum Rejuvenation dental procedure
- 23andMe genetic service
- A Luxura Diamonds “conflict-free” necklace
- NeverMissed dating app, available pre-launch
- A 10,000 bowl donation to an animal shelter of their choice and bags of pet food
- MZ Skin firming eye cream and golden treatment mask
- A lifetime supply of Oxygenetix foundation
- Locally-grown oranges, courtesy of delivery app EpiFruit
- A memoir by Esther Fairfax about her mother, Lotte Berk, innovator of Barre
- Healing Saint’s skin serum and follicle stimulant
- Jarritos, the Mexican soda
- 10 sessions with personal trainer Alexis Seletzky
- A one-year supply of ALLÉL’s skincare program
- Bangarang’s Positive Cube, a wooden box filled with 199 cards of positive action and quotes
- Colour-changing lipstick from Blush & Whimsy
- Charleston & Harlow soy candles
- Danish cookbook Cook Yourself Happy
- Curlee Girlee children’s book
- Organic, vegan and small-batch Delicacies lollipops
- Face It and Eye Love It facewash and makeup removers
- Happiest Tee’s American-made T-shirts
- Weight loss supplement Hydroxycut Organic
- 10-piece Inception of Beauty makeup set
- Justice for Vets symbolic coin
- An 18-minute phobia-relief session with Kalliope
- LE CÈLINE eyelashes products
- Liwu jewelry from Ireland
- Look Fabulous Forever makeup specially formulated for older women
- My Magic Mud toothpaste, which combines activated coconut shell charcoal and bentonite clay
- M.Y.O cosmetic clutch
- 99 Creative WOWs creativity kit
- Nurse Gigi skin rejuvenation procedures
- Oumere anti-aging skincare
- Paiva Aloe cleanser and mask,
- PETA’s cruelty-free bath bombs
- 2 gourmet pretzel gift boxes from Posh Pretzels
- A.I. beauty startup PROVEN’s personalized skincare products
- Quincy Herbals detox tea
- Quip’s oral care kit
- Commissioned work from Reian Williams Fine Art
- Rouge Maple syrup
- Safi Kilima bracelet with oval tanzanite stones
- Shop Modern Innovations’ levitating bluetooth speaker
- The Green Garmento’s multi-use Gigantote
- Vaya’s Tyffyn lunchboxes
- Totalee hair care products
- Wetsleeve on-the-go hydration sleeve
- Youthblast anti-ageing supplement and 24k Gold Facial
Phew. That’s a lot of re-gifting by the time Christmas rolls around…
