Yet another gift-giving occasion is creeping up on us, and far be it from me to leave you hanging without any good gift ideas. Whitman’s samplers be damned, you all deserve better than that. Valentine’s Day! Hallmark lives for this stuff, and so do you. The good stuff. Here are some of my personal top choices for “Stuff To Clamor For” on this most romantic of days. And if you don’t have a significant other to send a hint to, or even if you do, there’s no better time to treat yourself. You deserve it.
Chocolate- but since it’s gourmet, let’s call it chocolat
The Love Catcher’s Hatbox from Vosges. This stuff is the real deal- unbelievable combinations of spicy and sweet; top quality chocolate that is truly for the gourmand. This collection contains, in addition to the Aztec truffles and the chile/cocoa dusted tortilla chips, the Red Fire Exotic candy bar, sure to bring a flush to your cheeks and perhaps other places too. There’s a reason ancient tribal chiefs chugged down chile-infused cocoa!
Flowers with a Twist
Forget those boring cheap-o rose bouquets that die off in half a week, THIS is the flower bouquet you want. It’s all edible, so no waste or having to mess with all that annoying water-changing stuff. As an added bonus, it’s fruit, so you can munch away without guilt.
The Lotions and Potions
Sick of the same Bath and Body Works baskets over and over? Yes, the little teddy bear is cute, and oh boy, there’s glitter on the basket. Anyway, you’re ready for something more sophisticated. There is a proliferation of bath and body storefronts on the internet- Bathed and Infused, Make Me Smooth…and let me draw your attention to a small hidden gem, Bird’s Nest Body Products. This line of handmade products comes in a variety of fragrances like White Ginger Amber and Sandalwood Vanilla. The products offered include the unique and wonderful Goddess Massage Bar, which shouldn’t be missed. It is a solid lotion that melts in your hands, or wherever else you choose to put it on Valentine’s Day. And at $7 for a full sized bar, you won’t need to be stingy.
The Perfumes
Boutique perfumier Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has a constantly evolving and changing scent catalog. For Valentine’s Day, owner Elizabeth Moriarty presents the Lupercalia series, with fragrances inspired by the ancient Roman celebration and based on well known love poems, bawdy celebrations and ancient Indian love shrines. C’mon, you know you want to smell like Smut (I know I do.) Another internet based business, these handcrafted perfume oils (they are 85-100% perfume oil, as opposed to the 8-15% of an eau de parfum) cost less than $18 a bottle.
The Break Up Gift
It happens, even on Valentine’s Day. If you’re dumping your dud to look for a stud, and you want to make a real statement in the process, give him a scorpion sucker. Or an ant farm encased in chocolate (the description reads “Wafers of delectable white chocolate, swirled with real ants and milk chocolate. Yum!”) Yes, it’s real, stingers and eyeballs and exoskeletons and all. Show em how much you love em!
Jesvet
The sad thing is I’m sure people have eaten the ant chocolate. Ick!
The yellow scorpion sucker actually makes the scorpian look encased in amber. Pretty cool.