Dig Into The Oscars Goodie Bag That's Worth Nearly $140K
Make no mistake, it pays to be Oscar-nominated. Not only do you get to go to the ceremony and rub shoulders with the rich and famous, you also get a gift bag with some truly staggering presents inside. For 20 years now, the company Distinctive Assets has handed out “Everybody Wins” prizes to the nominees — and it’ll blow your mind to know the level of extravagance that entails. Here’s a look at what recipients could expect in 2022.
1. Warmies stuffed animal
Value: $22
Warmies are those cute little soft toys that you can heat in a microwave and use like a hot-water bottle. They’re incredibly popular, as you might imagine. Sure, they’re at the lower end of the scale when it comes to expensive Oscars gifts, but it’s nice to have a fluffy friend to cuddle if you don’t win.
2. Life coaching session
Value: $700
Among the non-tangible gifts offered in 2022 was a free life-coaching session — originally worth $700 — with wellness expert and Instagram star Kayote Joseph. The bio on her official website reads, “Using research-driven methodologies rooted in neuroscience, quantum physics, and psychology, Kayote’s clients consistently report long-lasting change and inner-to-outer results.”
3. Tangle Teezer: The Ultimate Detangler brush
Value: $14
If you want hair like a Kardashian, the Academy Awards have you covered. The 2022 gift bag contained a snazzy brush known as the Tangle Teezer: The Ultimate Detangler, and later the company’s Instagram showed people how to use it to get their own version of Kim Kardashian’s Oscars afterparty hairdo.
4. A year’s supply of Oxygenetix make-up
Value: $700
Oxygenetix is a make-up brand that many Hollywood stars swear by. Supermodels Elle Macpherson and Cindy Crawford are both fans, as well as Kourtney Kardashian and Margot Robbie. Buying a year’s worth of the stuff would have set any of them back at least $700, but Oscar nominees got it for free!
5. Qai Qai Doll
Value: $29
There’s something for the kids inside the Oscars goody bag as well. Tennis superstar Serena Williams — who was one of the subjects of the Oscar-nominated film King Richard in 2022 — designed this “Qai Qai” doll alongside her husband and the animation studio Invisible Universe. It was actually inspired by a doll belonging to her own daughter.
6. Chai gift set from The Chai Box
Value: $90
This particular brand of chai — which none other than Oprah Winfrey listed as one of her “favorite things” in 2021 — is sustainable and ethically sourced, as well as being blended by hand. The company Instagram announced on the night of the Academy Awards, “Honored to be included in Oscar Nominees Gifts.”
7. Karma Nuts pack
Value: $14.99
There was no shortage of delicious snacks in the 2022 Oscars gift bag. The company Karma Nuts contributed a variety pack of four types of their award-winning air-roasted cashews: Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Golden Turmeric and Cocoa Dusted. They’re great for Hollywood health nuts — excuse the pun — as they’re not oil-fried and are suitable for vegans.
8. Project management from Maison Construction
Value: $25,000
You could go to the Oscars and come back with plans for a new house. No, really. One of the things offered to nominees in 2022 was $25,000 of project management from the Los Angeles firm Maison Construction. Absolutely ideal if you’re planning on winning a lot of Oscars and want somewhere to store them.
9. The book “Building a Legacy of Love”
Value: $14
Did you know they offered books in the Oscars gift bags? Now you do. One of them is Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation by Christy Byrne Yates. It could be useful to have a book on hand if the Oscars ceremony starts to get boring.
10. Hotsy Totsy Haus + Devour Por Vida Bath Bomb
Value: $24
After you’ve attended a massive Hollywood party you probably want nothing more than to go home and soak. Luckily there’s something for that in the Oscars goody bags: a positively luxurious “Hotsy Totsy Haus + Devour Por Vida Bath Bomb.” Believe it or not, this thing contains 24 karat gold and a raw quartz stone.
11. Coal and Canary candle
Value: $30
Coal and Canary first featured in the Oscars gift bag back in 2015, and it seems the firm’s vegan candles were so good the Academy Awards kept asking them back. The company describes its products on its website as, “hand-poured luxury wood wick candles for every occasion.” Such occasions, of course, include the Oscars.
12. Shinery Radiance Wash
Value: $28
There was a lot of eye-catching jewelry on the Oscars red carpet in 2022. Take, for example, the stunning De Beers set that best supporting actress Ariana DeBose was wearing. Well, neither she nor any other nominee need now worry about keeping their diamonds clean. Among the items in the Oscars gift bag was Shinery’s Radiance Wash, which cleans your jewelry as well as your hands!
13. Piper & Perro Veil Fragrance
Value: $35
You gotta smell nice at the Oscars, so it’s handy that Piper & Perro included their unisex “Veil” fragrance in the goody bag. They claim on their website, “The subtle smell of skin and tattoo ink brings an air of mystery to this fragrance; like glimpsing into private memory not meant to be shared.” Fair enough.
14. Euka’s On-The-Go Kit
Value: $58
On March 27 the company Euka posted on Facebook, “We’re thrilled our On-The-Go Kit was selected to be a part of the 2022 ‘Everyone Wins’ Nominee Gift Bag for the big night!” The recipients would’ve gotten, among other things, saline spray, a “Breathe Well” shower bomb, and Fite Vite Multi-Vitamins.
15. Happiest Tee t-shirt
Value: $20
Happiest Tee items have made their way into a lot of awards show gift bags, not just Oscars ones. That’s because Distinctive Assets founder Lash Fary created the line. He told the website Music Connection in 2017, “Happiest Tee shirts are literally the softest, most comfortable shirts I’ve ever worn. I have never come across a better tee shirt.”
16. Self-love coaching session
Value: $1,111
This gift is a free session about “self-love” from Nicola Fernandes, who promises on her website she can get people to drop “the fear, disconnection and need for external validation so they can live a life of spiritual alignment, deep self-love and soul-led manifesting.” So, you can win an Oscar and then learn why you didn’t need to.
17. Cosmetic treatments from Dr Konstantin Vasyukevich
Value: $10,000
Without naming any names, it’s probably safe to say that lots of people in Hollywood are no strangers to plastic surgery. So unsurprisingly, cosmetic procedures are one of the gifts up for grabs at the Oscars. Nominees could claim up to $10,000 worth of treatments from Upper East Side plastic surgeon Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich.
18. Golden Door spa
Cost: $6,000
The iconic Golden Door in San Diego, which has welcomed visitors for over 60 years now, was named the greatest spa in the entire world in 2019. If you were a 2022 Oscars nominee, you would’ve gotten a free four-night stay at the place. And you got to bring along a guest of your own.
19. Stay at Turin Castle, Scotland
Value: $50,000
Ever wanted to stay in an old Scottish castle transformed into a five-star hotel? A three-night, two-person stay at the beautiful Turin Castle was the most expensive of the freebies offered to Oscar nominees. The castle is set among beautiful scenery, and when the guests arrive they’re even greeted by bagpipers. Real ones, who can actually play!
20. Serucell KFS: Cellular Protein Complex Serum
Value: $225
Serucell products have actually been featured in the Academy Awards gift bags more than once. At the 2022 ceremony their “Serucell KFS: Cellular Protein Complex Serum” — which promises healthy skin — was the product given away. And that stuff is worth a whopping $225, so you know it’s gotta do its job.
21. Skinny SBU socks
Value: $43
Whether you’re an Oscar nominee or not, you’re probably going to need socks at some point in your life. The $43 ones featured in the Oscars gift bag are from Skinny SBU Socks, one of the leading sock companies in the whole of Africa. You would’ve also nabbed a free pair if you were nominated for a Grammy that year.
22. Youth Anti-Blemish Concentrate
Value: $20
Like it or not, youth is a big part of the Hollywood game. Even if you’re a veteran actor like Belfast nominee Judi Dench, it helps to have young-looking skin. So handily, one of the beauty products the Academy gave away in the goody bag is a tube of Youth Anti-Blemish Concentrate.
23. Bahlsen chocolate biscuits
Value: $20
Chocolate lovers were in luck at the 2022 Academy Awards. Among the many delicious treats in the gift bag, there were ten-packs of Bahlsen chocolate biscuits, worth $20 altogether if you bought them in a store. Bahlsen also live-blogged the Oscars on their Twitter account that night, possibly while eating their biscuits.
24. NutriFit meal delivery
Value: $1,734
The major award shows even have their nominees covered when it comes to meals. If you were nominated for an Oscar or presenting at the Grammys in 2022, one of the things in your gift bag was $1,734 worth of NutriFit meals. They were even customized to your own tastes and health goals.
25. Byroe Skin-Care Gift Set
Value: $365
There were some truly luxurious beauty bits in that goody bag. A particular highlight included a set from Byroe, which offers cruelty-free skin care products inspired by salad. Recipients would’ve been treated to Byroe’s Salmon Cream, Bitter Green Essence Toner, and Tomato Serum. If you want any of that stuff too, good news: it’s also available online.
26. Liposuction treatment
Value: $9,500 — $15,000
Many celebrities have had liposuction, but they’d probably tell you it doesn’t come cheap. Luckily, the Oscars will give you it for free! Included in the gift bag is a very specific treatment called “Celebrity Arms Sculpting,” which you can get at the Florida clinic Art Lipo. This place is owned by specialist Dr. Thomas Su.
27. Soul Diffuser
Value: $38
Lash Fary singled out this item from the 2022 gift bag in an iHollywoodTV video just before the Oscars. He claimed that Jessica Chastain — who’d accepted some of the home-based free gifts in the past and who was nominated that year for The Eyes of Tammy Faye — was “gonna love these things for her home.”
28. HempHera Kosmetikos gift box
Value: $36.99
The company HempHera Kosmetikos proudly declares on its website, “All of our products are lab tested, third party tested, and hand-made with good vibes.” It brought those good vibes to the Oscars with a free gift box that would set you back $36.99 if you bought it from a shop.
29. Turboflex eyewear
Value: Unknown
This product from the bag is so exclusive, no-one’s totally sure how much it cost. It’s a pair of Turboflex glasses, which feature a 360-degree rotating hinge. Allegedly, they’re more or less unbreakable and won’t ever lose shape. So, if you suddenly see a whole bunch of A-listers wearing glasses when they didn’t before, the Academy is responsible.
30. Golden Olive Oil
Value: $71
One of the most unusual edible options in the 2022 Oscars goody bag was gold-infused “Exclusive Luxury” olive oil from the company Ariti. Their website proudly brags that stars such as “Penelope Cruz, Denzel Washington and Olivia Colman” were gifted the oil. Alas, we’ll probably never know what they used it for.
31. Exploding Kittens games
Value: $19.99 — $24.99 each
One of the more normal and not-expensive things inside the Oscars gift bag is a trio of games from the hilariously named games company Exploding Kittens. The games are Throw Throw Avocado, Mantis, and Exploding Minions, if you’re curious. And the previous year, their game Poetry for Neanderthals — which came with an inflatable club — was featured.
32. Posh Pretzels
Value: $20
If you’re going to the Academy Awards you don’t just want regular food, you want posh food. Luckily the Tarrytown-based company Posh Pretzels has you covered there. Their delicious snacks, some of which are sprinkled with gold flakes, have actually been featured in the gift bags four times so far.
33. S. Pellegrino gift box
Value: unknown
This one’s another gift where the true price is unknown. But we do know that the lucky Oscar nominees got a bottle of Tolani Al Passo 2018 Chianti Classico and a bottle of S.Pellegrino Natural Sparkling Mineral Water in their bag. So, everyone got to remain hydrated during the ceremony.
34. Spermidine Life supplements
Value: $396
According to the official Spermidine LIFE website, their product is “the first dietary supplement worldwide that has a high spermidine content.” Spermidine, apparently, is “a natural polyamine that exists in our cells.” Oscar nominees now have a chance to try it out for themselves, as the goody bag contains $396 worth of the supplements.
35. Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer
Value: $17.49
Yes, alcohol is served at the Oscars — this might explain some of the high-profile incidents that have happened there over the years. In 2022 a variety pack of Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer was included in the goody bag. It’s not one of the more expensive items though, and it’s available to buy online.
36. PETA “SeaWorld Blows” inflatable whale
Value: Unknown
Controversial animal charity PETA decided to use the 2022 Oscars gift bag to send a message. They gave the nominees inflatable whales emblazoned with “SeaWorld Blows” as well as postcards people could send to the CEO of the equally controversial SeaWorld. It’s not known how much the whale is worth… or if any of the nominees really did send a postcard.
37. Vahdam India’s Rover Bottle
Value: $12.50
In March 2022 Vahdam India released a statement saying, “We’re thrilled and humbled to have Vandam India as a part of the prestigious 2022 Oscar goodie bag. We have always strived to make the best of India to the world under a home-grown brand.” The gift from the company was a sustainable flask called the Rover Bottle.
38. OPOPOP Flavor Wrapped Popcorn
Value: $34.99
What’s a celebration of movies without some popcorn on hand? A very special type of the foodstuff was included in the 2022 Oscars goody bags: the “flavor wrapped” Opopop popcorn, which was apparently the first of its kind. It comes in delicious-sounding flavors such as “Fancy Butter,” “Vanilla Vanilla” and “Salted Umami.”
39. An aristocratic title
Value: $197 per 100 square foot of land
As if being nominated for an Oscar wasn’t enough, nominees at the 2022 Academy Awards also walked away with the ability to become an actual titled landowner. Among the gifts offered was the right to a piece of Scottish land, which came with the title Lord or Lady of Glencoe. Wow!
40. Gold leaf brownies
Value: $44.95
What’s the only thing better than brownies? Brownies covered in decadent gold leaf, of course. These creations from the Austin-based company Wunderkeks — who were once saved from ruin by actress Busy Phillips — were in the 2022 Academy Awards gift bag. And they were also available to buy online if you were a non-Oscars attendee who was feeling hungry.
