Re-Gifting at TIFF?
By Heather Christie

Oh, re-gifting! That frowned-upon though totally ubiquitous activity to get rid of that orange shaggy sweater from Auntie Philomena or the puke-colored lipstick from the (not surprisingly) ex-boyfriend.

But—gasp!—re-gifting at the TIFF swag lounges? Say it isn’t so! Well have no fear, friends, because this particular instance of re-gifting isn’t as tasteless as it seems. In fact, if anything, this year’s gifting suites aren’t just about dishing out sweet swag, they’re about gifting it forward to those in need. For example, for every celeb who visits the Sharpie booth and picks up any one of their amazing items—seriously, from their rainbow-coloured markers to a steel-encased black Sharpie or even the new Sharpie pens!—they also have the chance to decorate a teddy bear to be auctioned off to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto. Goody is putting on a similar initiative with their awesomely versatile Ouchless Flex hairbands—celebs autograph and doodle on them and Goody auctions them off for Girls on the Run, a program that helps build self-respect and healthy lifestyles for preteen girls. What a worthy cause!

Another awesome product with a great re-gifting mandate is SoU! SoU! produces amazing all-natural liquid vitamins that come in a vial. They can be mixed with some juice or even taken as a shot to help bring more energy to your day and more antioxidants to your diet. But here’s the kicker: SoU! Has a special line of these that are also the definitive hang-over cure. Now if that’s not a gift that keeps on giving, I don’t know what is! After the debauchery that ensued after we attempted to crash the Whip It! party last night, SoU! was an absolutely life saver this morning. I’m sure Drew and Ellen will concur.

Throughout my stroll at the IT Lounge down at the Windsor Arms, I got hungry. Not a problem, Richart Chocolates and the Penny Protein Plan were there to save me from my angry stomach. Richart creates a beautifully designed and gastronomically divine chocolate with a variety of innovative tastes—who knew balsamic chocolate could be so good?! Richart is also spreading the love by way of a generous donation to the Sick Kids Foundation. And the Penny Protein Plan? Created by Naturopath Dr. Penny Kendall-Reed, these products pack a huge protein punch for people on the go. Dr. Penny’s paying it forward with donations to the kids and volunteers at Camp Oochigeas, a camp for kids living with cancer.

But the IT Lounge isn’t the only gifting suite with a re-gifting mandate; the Tastemakers Lounge is jumping on the bandwagon too. The Lounge has chosen War Child Canada as its official charity this year with Rosie Levine, photojournalist extraordinaire, kicking around to click celebs for her upcoming book Celebrity Encounters of the Peace-ful Kind, a collection of celebs flashing the peace sign for Rosie’s camera. All proceeds of Levine’s book will go to War Child.

VIPs and their ilk will be invited to take home the all-new Pictionary Man game from Mattel. A unique hybrid between Pictionary and charades, Pictionary Man gets players to draw on a character and make the character act out the particular clue. How hilarious! Another great aspect of the Tastemakers Lounge is the Joe Fresh Beauty station…helllooo, inexpensive yet professional make-up brushes, eye shadow, lipstick!

Phew! Who knew re-gifting could be so exhausting! Lucky for us at this year’s TIFF, rather than ditching lame stuff, the gifting lounges are—in addition to providing really cool previews of some awesome products-spreading the love to those who are a little more in need of a pick-me-up!