Lunar New Year is approaching again! Being of Chinese descent, I celebrate with my family every year. I’m hoping that we can do the same again but, due to the COVID-19 situation, will have to see how things go – I have a fairly large family (with a lot of kids) and it’s always our tradition to have a reunion dinner. There’s also the giving out of red envelopes (li shi in Chinese), but I find that spending time with my loved ones is a lot more important to me now.

In Chinese, we call the Reunion Dinner tuan nian fan and it’s really the most important get-together event of the year. In Western Society, it’s really common to have parties or even go on holidays to celebrate the new year, but Chinese culture is all about being with your family. Around this time, people will almost never go on holidays unless they are travelling back to their hometowns to be with relatives.

I’ve always loved that tradition. As everyone gets older and busier (with most of the family working jobs, having a couple of kids and trying to navigate life in general), it can be so hard to find time to get together again. Personally, I think it’s important to see your parents and family throughout the year but it’s also nice that there’s a special dinner especially for that!

Because the Lunar New Year is so important throughout all of Asia, there are a lot of makeup brands that also release limited edition collections for the occasion. You’ll find that there are a lot of repackaged products – since it is customary to give gifts rather than buy things for yourself – but well… there’s no harm in having a bit of fun ourselves!

Here’s a short gift guide on some things that are available this year around. Click below to jump straight to the brand you want or head right to the bottom for some gift-giving tips!