Mother's Day gifts are hard to get right. Here are the only ones worth buying this year

Most mothers are gracious recipients of bad gifts. And over the years our shopping desk has, collectively, bought the wrong Mother's Day gift more times than we'd like to admit: a jumper in entirely the wrong colour (donated to a charity shop, we later discovered), candles described as 'lovely' before gathering dust on a shelf, and books she's already read. And of course, she's never said a thing. This is, somehow, worse. It means there's no way to truly tell if we've ever gotten it right.

This year we decided to be more deliberate about it. Below is an edit that covers the full range: beauty gifts she won't already have stocked at home; interior objects that could slot into any living room; a selection for new mums who deserve more than a bath bomb; and something considered for grandmothers (because we can't forget about our matriarchs).

A note on timing, since it differs across the Nordics: Mother's Day falls on the last Sunday of May for Sweden, Norway and Finland and the second Sunday for Denmark. Which means you have slightly more time than you think, but still slightly less than you'd like.

The most common mistake our shopping desk makes with beauty gifts (and we make it more than we'd like to admit) is choosing based on what we would want rather than what she actually uses. The variables here are important: skin type, sensitivities, the specific texture of moisturiser she'll reliably finish.

The safest move with skincare is to go universally beloved over targeted with a cult lip treatment, a body oil she'd never quite justify for herself, a face cream from a brand with a long track record of actually working. If she's a makeup wearer, sidestep anything colour-dependent and invest in format instead: a brush set she'd never buy for herself, a highlighter that works across most skin tones. For the beauty tech-y: a cleansing device, an LED tool, a Dyson: the thing she's been researching and hasn't yet justified. If in doubt, rummage through her bathroom cabinet on your next visit and stock up on whatever is almost empty.

Home gifts are where our shopping desk tends to end up when every other category fails. When, done well, this is where some of the best gifts live. The ones that work hardest hare the same logic: a clear function, enough aesthetic consideration that she'd have chosen it for herself, and no assembly required.

For us, this means a designer candle or perhaps sculptural candleholders she wouldn't have thought to buy but immediately knows where to put. Glassware that earns its place on the dinner table without requiring a matching set (perfect to add to throughout the year, basically sorting Mother's Day, birthday and Christmas all in one) A coffee table book is the reliable wildcard, with one caveat: it should be tied to something she actually cares about, not just something that looks good on a surface.

Shopping for our discerning grandmothers requires a different calibration, and our shopping desk has learned this the hard way. The trend-led pick that seemed right on paper, the skincare kit too complex to work through in the right order... Neither lands the way a genuinely thoughtful thing does.

What grandmothers tend to value most is quality over currency. Be it jewellery she'll reach for every day rather than a statement piece she won't know the occasion for, a perfume (if you dare) that will make her think of you every morning or a helpful home object that improves with age. When in doubt, the shopping desk always comes back to jewellery. Preferably a pair so you can match the next time you see her.

New mums are, in our view, the most deserving recipients on this list. The brief is specific: something useful for the baby, and a little something-something just for her. On the practical side, the investment baby items make particular sense as gifts here. A pushchair used every day for three years is, by most calculations, a more meaningful gesture than something decorative. But we'd always pair it with something special and – crucially – indulgent just for her. A body oil with real provenance. A pyjama set in a fabric that wears well past the newborn stage. Or, honestly, an experience. A massage, a facial, or a morning somewhere quiet which requires zero lead time is, in our collective experience, the thing most new mums say they need most.

We are, as a shopping desk, people who have bought last-minute Mother's Day gifts. We are not ashamed. The underappreciated truth about last-minute gifting is that a well-chosen piece of jewellery that ships in two days is indistinguishable, when it arrives, from one ordered three weeks ago. The same applies to a cult beauty product that ships quickly precisely because it's always in stock.

The other reliable last-minute move is an experience: a spa voucher, a cooking class, a museum membership. Zero lead time, no dispatch anxiety, and it shows (if chosen well) that you to have actually thought about what she would enjoy most. The picks below prioritise fast availability without sacrificing the impression of foresight. Because the two are not, it turns out, mutually exclusive.

This is the brief our shopping desk finds hardest and takes most seriously. The mother who has everything is the person for whom the standard gift-guide playbook (candle, skincare, jewellery) fails precisely because it's reliable. What lands for her is the gift she wouldn't have thought to buy for herself: a facial tool she's never seen before, a subscription that maps to something she's mentioned in passing, a piece from an obscure ceramicist or a textile designer. A personalised or monogrammed piece is even better. The underlying logic, whichever direction you take it: specificity. The more clearly a gift reflects the actual person receiving it, the less it matters what form it takes.