ROSIE: Hey, it’s Rosie from The Wirecutter Show. Valentine’s Day is coming up and today we’ve got a special mini episode for you ahead of the big day. That’s in heavy air quotes if you didn’t quite catch it. In a minute, Christine’s going to chat with Samantha Schoech, a gifts writer here at Wirecutter. We love Sam because she’s brilliant, but also because she has impeccable taste and great gift recommendations and suggestions.
For Valentine’s Day, you might think you’re limited to a Russell Stover’s sampler box or I don’t know, a bouquet of red roses. But Valentine’s Day gifts needn’t be perfunctory, and they also don’t have to be intended for a significant other. Therefore, we’d like to present to you the Valentine’s for All Gift Guide, unusual gift ideas, subversive ones, gifts for your Galentine or my favorite, gifts for yourself, because you know what, Rosie? You’re worth it and I love you. All right, we’ll be right back.
CHRISTINE: Welcome back. I’m here with gifts writer Samantha Schoech, who was on the show last December to talk about gifts for the hard to please people in your life. This time we’re going to chat all about Valentine’s Day.
Sam, what’s your take on Valentine’s Day? Do you get into it or do you see it kind of as just another cynical consumerist holiday?
SAM: I would say a little of both. I fully realize that it is a consumerist holiday and that it was made up kind of to get us to buy things. That said, I also kind of really like it. So my mantra for gift giving is no junk. So I’m opposed to Valentine-themed stuff, things you might buy last minute because you feel like you have to get something like, “Oh no.” So teddy bears holding hearts. But I like to acknowledge the day for sure.
CHRISTINE: Yeah, I think that’s nice. You don’t have to go overboard.
SAM: Right.
CHRISTINE: What’s your favorite type of gift to give or to receive on or around Valentine’s Day?
SAM: I like to keep it pretty simple. I like traditional. My family goes pretty low-key in terms of gift-giving. I am kind of a artsy, crafty kind of person, so I’m a big handmade card person and I always have been since I was a kid. So I will make handmade cards. I might give my kids candy or lip gloss, or if I’m really feeling generous, a Jellycat stuffy when they were younger. My husband gets a card and that’s it. As a family, one year we made heart-shaped hamburgers. That was the big celebration.
CHRISTINE: Like actual hamburgers to eat?
SAM: Yeah, like heart-shaped patties. And then I’m sure we had cookies or something. And I always get flowers delivered because I love fresh flowers, and my husband is well-trained in that regard. So that’s always my Valentine’s gift. So I like low-key, but kind of traditional.
CHRISTINE: I sometimes make heart-shaped pancakes for my kids on Valentine’s Day. That’s as far as I go.
SAM: Yeah. I mean, that’s as far as you really have to go on Valentine’s Day. It’s a gesture. It’s an acknowledgement. It’s not to my mind a huge gift-giving. And if you do give gifts, I think they’re also of the gesture and acknowledgement. They’re not the birthdays. This isn’t a birthday or a Christmas or an anniversary.
Okay, so let’s say you don’t buy into the whole Valentine’s Day thing, but you also like to treat yourself. I mean, it’s the dead of winter. Gosh, it’s dark. What are some things that you suggest for people who maybe want to just kind of invest in themselves in some kind of self-care things?
SAM: Yeah, any excuse to give yourself a little pick-me-up. And again, it doesn’t have to be big, but just a little something, something, especially if you don’t have a romantic Valentine, be your own romantic Valentine.
So we have a couple of things that we recommend that I think are perfect little Valentine’s gifts for yourself. I love these sparkly socks that we have. They’re like… I love all things sparkly, but these are gold or silver metallic socks. They’re super warm and cozy, but they’re also super fun. And they’re really affordable. I think they’re like 15 bucks. It’s like a pair of little pick-me-up socks. Not a big deal, but it can make you feel cute.
I am a big fan of these silk hair accessories from LilySilk. You can buy this whole set that’s a silk pillowcase, a silk hair bonnet, and this silk heatless curler thing. And I swear to God, if you have longish hair, this curler thing will make your hair… You’ll look like a movie star when you take it out of your hair in the morning.
CHRISTINE: I was about to say this is the perfect gift for our co-host Caira who loves LilySilk products, but also maybe my 11-year-old who’s really gotten into hair care, curling her hair at night and stuff.
SAM: Yes. So it doesn’t damage your hair. It’s silk, so it slips through the hair. So it’s not breaking anything. It uses no heat. I mean, seriously, you look like a movie star. But even if you have short hair, the silk bonnet keeps your hair from breaking, and it’s just this sort of luxurious, comfortable way of sleeping, as is the silk pillowcase, which is nice on your skin and nice on your hair and a little treat for yourself.
I am also in love with this gold chain from Laura Lombardi. It’s just a very simple, very classic herringbone gold chain. And it’s actually gold-plated brass, but it looks like the real thing. And it will last forever. It’s not going to tarnish or turn green or anything like that. And it’s a hundred dollars and it’s so elegant and I really, really love it. And again, I’m always in favor of chocolates. Buy yourself what you want. We have tons of chocolates that we love on the site. Our favorites are this box of Recchiuti chocolates.
CHRISTINE: I’ve had those. They’re delicious.
SAM: They’re amazing. I love them so much.
CHRISTINE: So good.
SAM: And so there’s this XOXO box they do for Valentine’s Day and it’s 16 pieces and it’s kind of a jaw-dropping $56. But I’m telling you if you want to treat yourself and you love chocolate, this is the gift that says I love myself and I’m going to buy myself $56 worth of chocolate because it is so good.
CHRISTINE: They’re also kind of little gems that you get to pop in your mouth. They’re so beautiful.
SAM: They’re so gorgeous. Yeah, they’re like little art pieces and they’re delicious. And same with flowers. Obviously you can go to your corner store, your bodega and get yourself flowers, but you can also go a little bigger and order yourself something to arrive.
And we also have stuff that’s maybe a little less gendered. Oh my gosh, these Eugénie cookies that you can get from the Ladurée Paris, which they’re famous for their macaroons. You can get them from Goldbelly. These cookies are insane. They’re so beautiful. They’re these pastel, thin shortbread cookie with a little bit of jam or caramel on top, and then they’re coated in this very thin layer of chocolate, but the chocolate is pastel color. Sometimes it’s normal brown chocolate, but sometimes it’s like pistachio green or pale pink. I mean, talk about jewel-like. They’re gorgeous and they’re incredibly delicious.
And personally, gummies would be the way straight to my heart. I love gummy candies. So that’s a good gift to anyone. I also love these paper flowers from a company called Unwilted, and they are made of Italian tissue paper and they are so beautiful and so colorful. And they look like the real thing, but of course they last way, way longer. And even a single stem is gorgeous. The bouquets are pretty expensive. The single stems are around 20 bucks. They’re kind of like getting fresh flowers, but they’re going to last you forever. And they’re handmade and they’re exquisite.
CHRISTINE: I love all of those. I want all of them. It kind of seems like there’s a theme here of extravagant things, but they’re not over the top super, super expensive. They’re like small luxuries. Right?
SAM: Exactly. You don’t need any of this stuff, but all of them make your life just a little bit more pleasant and they’re not going to break the bank.
CHRISTINE: Delightful things that you might not buy for yourself or you need to be prompted to buy for yourself.
SAM: Right. And that’s kind of, I think, the point of Valentine’s Day. Not a big… You’re not going to give somebody a, I don’t know, a Cuisinart for Valentine’s Day. You’re just going to give them a little delight, and same goes for gifting stuff to yourself.
CHRISTINE: Okay, so I think Valentine’s can be a little tricky for people who are in new relationships.
SAM: Oh, for sure.
CHRISTINE: How soon is too soon to give someone a Valentine’s Day gift?
SAM: Oh God, it’s so nerve-wracking. If you’re just dating someone and Valentine’s Day rolls around, it’s terrible.
CHRISTINE: Terrible timing.
SAM: Yeah. You don’t want to scare anyone off with a big gesture and they do nothing, but you don’t want to disappoint anyone either if they’re expecting at least an acknowledgement. I think my rule of thumb is that if you’re seeing someone beyond a hookup situation, you should acknowledge the day in some very small way and just kind of solve the whole problem.
I remember one of the most charming gestures when I was younger, I was just dating this guy that I would later go on to date for quite a while. And for Valentine’s Day he gave me a package of Sno Balls, which are those Hostess, pink, puffy terrible things, and a little note written on binder paper and I was totally charmed. And cost him maybe $5, probably less, but it worked.
And if you’re unsure, go tradition, go flowers, go chocolate, be the judge of how big you want to go. But I think a small gesture that’s not overboard but is more just sort of friendly and if you need to, you can pass it off as just sort of cute and platonic.
CHRISTINE: I think the Sno Ball example you gave is kind of great because if he had given that to you and you’d been like, “Ew, what is this,” it would’ve been a good sign that you guys probably shouldn’t be dating at all.
SAM: Right. And I also feel like if you’re kind of at the beginning with someone and you have no desire to acknowledge Valentine’s Day, that might be a sign you want to look at. If you’re like, “I don’t even feel like giving them a heart-shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.”
CHRISTINE: Right.
SAM: Well, maybe this isn’t the one for you.
CHRISTINE: It’s an early sign on the trail of the relationship, turn back.
CHRISTINE: If you personally do not buy into Valentine’s Day, but your partner does, what’s your advice?
SAM: Oh, indulge them. I mean, why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to make them happy with some small gesture. Anti-Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be the hill that you die on. That just seems kind of like Scrooge-y to me.
CHRISTINE: There’s a lot of other things to die on.
SAM: Fight about money or the dishwasher, but give your partner a card at least. Come on.
CHRISTINE: I want to know, because I think you’ve mentioned before that you do make art, how do you like to make your cards?
SAM: I buy the ready-made blank cards of watercolor paper and then I paint them. But I also do all sorts of… I mean, I’ve done lots of things. Collage. I grew up having kind of Valentine’s card-making parties with my mom and our best family friends, and we would do really elaborate things like collages with sequins and feathers and old picture books we would cut up. But I’ve definitely simplified now and I mostly just do watercolors.
CHRISTINE: I love that. My sister actually, she does watercolors and she’ll send us a postcard every once in a while that she has painted, and it’s very meaningful. It’s quite delightful to get a little piece of art from someone that they’ve made.
SAM: Yeah.
CHRISTINE: Sam, as you know, before we wrap, we usually ask our guests about something they recently purchased that they really love, but I’m going to flip it this time and ask you what are you planning on giving for Valentine’s Day this year?
SAM: My daughter’s name is Magnolia, and I found a really pretty mug that says Magnolia on it and I sent her that. She’s at college. It’s just a little gesture. I’ll probably send my son candy. I’ll make them both cards. That’s my big plan.
CHRISTINE: That’s lovely. All right, Sam, it was great to chat with you and I’m looking forward to the next holiday that we can bring you on.
SAM: Me too. Thanks for having me. This was fun. Happy Valentine’s Day.
CHRISTINE: Happy Valentine’s Day.
If you want to find out more about Wirecutter’s gifting coverage or if you want to check out the products that Sam recommended today, see our show notes or go to our website. Also, if you love gifting, you’ll probably love Wirecutter’s newest newsletter, The Gift. Get weekly handpicked gems from Sam and other gifting experts delivered straight to your inbox. You can sign up at nytimes.com/thegift and we’ll also drop a link in our show notes. I’ll be back with Caira and Rosie for a brand new episode on Wednesday. Thanks for listening.
The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Maddy Masiello and Nick Pittman. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, and Diane Wong. Wirecutter’s deputy publisher and interim general manager is Cliff Levy. Ben Frumin is Wirecutter’s editor-in-chief. I’m Christine Cyr Clisset. Thanks for listening.
