It’s crunch time for holiday shopping. But that doesn’t mean your gifts have to be any less personal or special than if you bought them weeks ago. It just means you’ll need to purchase them in person, and at local shops.

That comes with plenty of benefits to boot — you’ll be supporting local businesses, many of which are small and independent. And even at this busy time of year, you’re more apt to get personal attention. Procrastination has its rewards after all.

Here’s a list of last-minute special gifts that can be bought in-person from a few of my favorite local shops.

Let’s start at one of the spots in town that’s a veritable gold mine of handmade and unique, beautiful and thoughtful presents: the SOWA Winter Festival, New England’s largest indoor holiday marketplace. (Admission: $10 per person, open 7 days a week through Dec. 22 at the SoWa Power Station, 550 Harrison Ave., sowaboston.com.)

Breeze through and you’ll find a feast of art, crafts, accessories, new and vintage clothing, jewelry, home decor, and extremely tasty treats from local farms and makers. In that last category, you’ll find a spectacular, single origin extra virgin olive oil called Torre di Gamberaia ($23 for a 500 ml bottle; $35 for a 750 ml bottle, torredigamberaia.com) — harvested straight from a family farm above Florence. And it’s as pretty as it is delicious, its bottle comes in a cloth bag topped with a holiday pine cone and red berry accent.

I also love the beautiful paper quilling Christmas tree ornaments (most under $10) sold at the festival and made by Artschatz — a family-owned company creating intricate and lovely snowflakes and angels that will look as stunning on your own tree as they will on any friend’s.

Equally singular, and with a boutique-meets-glam quality is Mancera’s Instant Crush Eau de Parfum ($190 at neimanmarcus.com). Its status as a current cult favorite fragrance notwithstanding, it’s also a scent both women and men can love, with an intoxicating fusion of jasmine, amber, and soothing vanilla.

But if you want a truly individual and over-the-top shopping experience, do your shopping at The Ritz-Carlton. The hotel’s just taken up a new partnership with Neiman Marcus that provides guests of the hotel’s luxury Parkview Suites access to full-size bottles from the “Heavenly Scent” Collection (of which Instant Crush is one), as well as access to Neiman Marcus’s private personal shopping, spa and styling services.

Over in Wellesley, some of my favorite independent shops are right downtown — like Flyte 70 (555 Washington St, Wellesley, 339-225-8258, flyte70.com), a savvy boutique co-founded by local beauty maven Elena Frankel, who’s created a chic makeup line for grown-ups. For holiday, she’s offering a limited edition  S+S Lip Sheer Vault ($118) — six shades of buildable lip care balms that are saturated hues full of moisturizing ingredients. (They come neatly packaged in a cloud-gray vanity case, too.) Oh, and in a cool nod to Gen X, all of the colors are named after ‘80s tunes.

And right nearby at Grettacole (95 Central St., Wellesley, 781-237-5201, gretta.co), my salon in Wellesley, you’ll find one of the things I love surprising friends with most: Body Glow by kai Fragrance ($30.40). The magical spray is one of my personal beauty secrets. A few spritzes on legs and arms before going out, and you’re hydrated and lustrous, and subtly scented with kai’s ethereal fragrance.

And a few doors over is Wasik’s Cheese Shop (61 Central St., Wellesley, 781-237-0916, wasiks.com). They’re my go-to every holiday season for over-the-top customized platters of exquisite nibbles. But I always make sure to pick up a couple jars of their incredible signature mango curry chutney, and bring one with me as a host/ess gift whenever I show up at a party throughout the month. It’s a small gift, but one that’s always raved about  — and guarantees that I’m always invited back.

The S+S Lip Sheer Vault is six shades of buildable lip care balms from Flyte 70. (Photo courtesy Flyte 70).
The Heavenly Scent collection includes cult fave Instant Crush. (Photo Kate Benson)