“Gee, Rae,” you must be asking yourself right now. “Who are you calling out?” Well, dear reader, here is a question in response: have you ever met any 20-something cis man ever? There’s your answer. This is all about gifts you can get yourself while you celebrate Valentine’s for one: one chocolate tart; one bouquet of roses; one entire bottle of bubbly. And, of course, a few gifts for them (for you).
A girl once brought me chocolates on the first date because it was close to Valentine’s Day and I was like damn, what a power move
And then I handed her the box of chocolates that I had in my purse for her and she screamed. https://t.co/kipOeYUk6Q
— Rae Chen (@theNotice) December 2, 2018
I lucked out with my current partner. He’s rarely around during the week, but shows up for every special occasion and family dinner. Our first year together, long before we were even dating, he bought me a tube of orchids for Valentine’s Day. I don’t know what the industry term should have been, but they were orchids, and they were lovely, and for some reason, they were in a large, plastic tube.
For years before that, however, I was plagued with Valentine’s Day after Valentine’s Day full of excuses and sub-par partners. (Sub-partners?) Every year was a battle ground, shared with some guy who a) refused to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and b) completely lost his mind at the suggestion that I might therefore have a nice day without him.
This Valentine’s Day gift guide is for all of you, and all of me. Here’s what (else) to buy yourself in your chocolate-induced solo haze, plus a few bonus finds to help you get your man in ship-shape.
Super-luxurious skincare
I first tried Bella Aura Skincare back in 2016, at the brand’s launch. Even then, their products were something else: extremely fluid, with the fanciest fancy-lady scent you’ve ever smelled. My review was waylaid by the fact that my skin kept reacting to their moisturizer and antioxidant booster, but I’m ever so pleased to be back in the game. Their eye cream and cleanser are two of my favourite products ever (seriously, they smell so good), and the brand’s new packaging is just as exquisite as their original design.
The brand is back with a few new products: a Rapid Repair Clarifying Elixir ($99 CAD) to cleanse acne-prone skin, and a Hydra Revive Treatment ($135 CAD) to hydrate and sooth dry skin. I have the Hydra Revive to try alongside a new bottle of the brand’s Instant Lifting Eye Contour ($130 CAD), and I’m so excited to start testing now that my skin is in great shape again.
The fragrance-free Hydra Revive Treatment features Icelandic moss, peat moss, and polypody fern extracts. They’re said to retain and store water, which is perfect for my always-dry skin. I’m excited to re-test the Eye Contour as well, which is supposed to firm, rejuvenate, and replenish the skin with ingredients like prickly pear and cumin seed oil. The Eye Contour cream smells just as exquisite as its original launch, but the scent is much, much more subtle than the original. (I could be wrong about this, but I doubt it). The updates make them the perfect splurge products to treat yourself with if you have a little extra cash left over.
You know, from not going to dinner with people you don’t want to be dating.
Valentine’s for one? Not a problem with the We-Vibe Wand
If you didn’t indulge in the Womanizer Premium I just reviewed, here’s a little reward for sticking it out: the brand new We-Vibe Wand. This will get its own review in due course, but I couldn’t help but share early!
The We-Vibe Wand ($170 USD/international) is everything you’d want from We-Vibe. It features a smooth, single-piece body covered in silky silicone, and it delivers bedframe-rattling vibrations despite being conveniently rechargeable. The purple design reminds me a lot of the Sola Wand, but while I hated the Sola’s buzzy vibrations and finicky controls, the We-Vibe Wand is exquisite.
You can find Womanizer’s Smart Silence technology in this We-Vibe toy (We-Vibe bought Womanizer at the end of 2018), plus a joystick-style design to slowly take “from 0 to 100.” The Wand has a flexible head and comes with two attachments to suit most bodies (one for the clitoris & one for the penis), and lasts for about 2 hours on a 90 minute magnetic charge.
Smooth sailing in rose gold (AKA the jewelry section without kitschy hearts)
These products can be rose gold, but they don’t have to be. My Kristin Ess Gloss is in Smokey Topaz. I can’t wait to try it (I’m often left toning my hair on my own mere weeks after leaving the salon), but the brand does a very cool Rose Gold Tint as well. Both products are so affordable — think $14 toning at home instead of $60 toning at the salon.
The next is the Profusion Magnetix Eyeshadow Brush ($10.99 CAD), which is obligatorily rose gold. The brush that I have feels weighty and luxurious in the hand, with soft, dense synthetic bristles. As a fun quirk, Profusion’s Magnetix brushes all stand up on a metal plate, keeping your vanity nice and tidy. (Their hold is pretty secure, too!)
Finally, the big feature of this post: O Necklace’s V Shaped Ring ($77.95 CAD)*. The struggle to find affordable jewelry that comes in odd sizes is real, but O Necklace ships their pieces to Canada with no problem. Each piece is customizable, and most of their rings come in a wide range of sizes. This one in size 4.5 fits my finger comfortably, and the V-shaped jut actually makes it easier to put on and remove — plus, it comes in everything from size 3-13, with options for a sterling silver finish, rose gold plating, or 14k gold plating.
Valentine’s for one, for your spectacles and testicles!
Every girl I’ve ever dated has had a ballin’ skincare cabinet. We’re talking Sunday Riley, Ole Henriksen, and LUSH levels of goodness. But every guy?
Well, every single cis guy I’ve ever dated has had an absolutely crap skincare cabinet, which improved slowly over time as I forced his silicones and crappy off-brand face pastes out.
As a gift to your partner—and to yourself—may I please present: ball cream. This Fresh & Dry Balls version from Below the Belt ($9.99 CAD) has silicones in the formula (so I haven’t been able to test it), but it has a distinct advantage over the one from LUSH in our downstairs bathroom. While the LUSH version works well, the application gets everywhere, and smells odd. If you can tolerate silicones, Below the Belt’s version is much cleaner — and smells better.
Gift number two for him is an eye cream that’s at least half decent. I like this one from Burt’s Bees as a starter: the brand’s packaging is very non-threatening (again, ugh, men), and it’s easy to find. You can pick this one up at Shopper’s on your lunch break, and its easygoing price point won’t crush your soul every time he tries to apply a quarter-sized amount. As a bonus, this eye cream has a really unique applicator—think a cross between a computer stylus, a jumbo crayon, and a squeeze-tube of frosting. It’s honestly amazing.
Burt’s ingredients are always top tier (this 99% natural formula contains royal jelly), and their gentle products are formulated so nicely that I frequently steal them back from my partners.
Y’all, I am going to look young forever.
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Disclaimer: The products in this post were supplied by PR for editorial consideration only, save for the Kristen Ess (purchased) and O Necklace (sponsored).
*This post was sponsored by O Necklace.
