Gift hamper for your best friend: a handmade candle chest for her birthday, his first flat or the day one of you moves awayGift hamper for your best friend: a handmade candle chest for her birthday, his first flat or the day one of you moves away

The friend who already has everything you could think of

By the time you have been best friends for a few years, you have given each other every obvious gift: the mug, the hoodie, the photo frame, the chocolate box. A hamper you build yourself gets around that, because you choose each piece for the person and the moment, and the message is in your words.

On Raajkosh the gift chest builder lets you pick 3 to 6 handmade soy candles, then the chest style, a ribbon and a personal message. We deliver it anywhere in India. Each piece is charged at its shop price, plus the chest style. Choose 4 or more pieces and 10% comes off the pieces. The builder shows the full price before checkout, so the totals below are pieces only.

Three chests for three friendship moments

Add the chest style to each. Add a fourth piece and 10% comes off all four.

Her birthday. A teddy in a blue bonnet and coat, ten daisy tealights in mint and ivory or purple and ivory, and a little ivory candle ringed with pink and yellow wax flowers. It is cheerful and small, and it fits a hostel shelf.

A first flat. When your friend moves to Bangalore or Pune for a new job, the empty flat is the hardest part. Four braided rounds in pastels for the table, ten sunflower tealights for the windowsill, and Vanilla Reverie, our only scented candle, for the bedroom. The message can say what you will miss.

A male best friend. Most men are not sent hampers by their friends, which is exactly why it lands. One navy spiral, the vanilla jar with its black lid, and ten sunflower tealights. Plain, useful, no hearts.

How to choose for a best friend, not just a friend

• Use what only you know. Her favourite colour from school, the city he moved to, the joke from the trip. Put it in the message.
• Think of where it will sit. A friend in a PG or hostel needs pieces that look good unlit; one with her own place can use tealights every evening.
• Keep the size honest. A three-piece chest is plenty for a birthday. Save the six-piece chest for a wedding, a move or a hard year.
• One scented jar at most. Only Vanilla Reverie has a scent. Every other piece is a shaped soy candle with no fragrance stated.

Friendship Day, a bad week, or a goodbye

In India, Friendship Day is marked on the first Sunday of August. A small chest is a better Friendship Day gift than a band, and it travels to a friend who now lives in another city.

For a friend going through a breakup or a rough patch, send three calm pieces and a message with no advice in it. For a friend leaving the country, add a Heart Rope Candles single at Rs 279 as a fourth piece, and put the date you will next meet in the message.

If you want both your names on matching candles, our personalised gifts for your best friend page covers that through custom orders. Every other kind of chest starts on our gift hampers page.

Chocolates, snacks and skincare are a different basket

Our chest is only candles. If your friend would love a basket of snacks, chocolates or skincare, a gifting site or a local store does that well. Plenty of people send a snack box locally and a candle chest by courier, so the snacks get eaten and the candles stay.

Getting it there, and paying

Orders dispatch in 24 to 48 hours and arrive 2 to 7 days after dispatch. We do not promise a delivery date, so order early for a birthday and check the estimate for your friend's pincode on the product page. Orders of Rs 999 or more ship free; below that, Rs 79. Payment is prepaid only (UPI, card, net banking or wallet); no cash on delivery. Report damage within 24 hours of delivery for a replacement or refund.

The safety line for the card: trim each wick to about 5 mm, keep each burn to 3 to 4 hours, and never leave a candle burning alone.