The best gifts for teenage girls

Anker built its reputation on delivering most of the flagship experience at a third of the price, and Soundcore does that here. They sound good, the case is pocketable, and the battery is honest. We keep earbuds off our older lists for one specific reason: touch controls misfire against glasses, hats and hearing aids, and a lost single bud costs more than half the price of the pair.

The standard recommendation for anyone starting or returning to watercolour, and deservedly so. Cotman is Winsor & Newton’s student range — genuine pigment rather than dye, which is the difference between colours that mix cleanly and colours that turn grey. Muddy colour is what convinces beginners they have no talent, so this specification matters more here than anywhere else.

The best-known star projector and genuinely lovely for the first few nights — the laser-and-nebula effect is more convincing than the cheap LED versions. Our score is low because the novelty is the product: adults stop using these within weeks, and the housing feels like its price. It still earns a place on the teenage and grandchild lists, where delight is the point and permanence is not.

The specification that matters is full-grain rather than corrected or bonded leather: full grain ages into the shape of a hand, the cheaper grades peel. The second is refill availability and price — a cover you can slide a finished volume out of and shelve, with the same cover carrying on, is what separates a journal used for a decade from a notebook filled once.

Turkish cotton waffle, light enough for summer and warm enough over pyjamas, and it dries on a hook overnight — which is the specification that matters in a British or New England winter. Sizing is generous and unfitted, which also makes it one of the few safe clothing gifts when someone’s size is changing.