The New Year barely landed before accelerating to take off at incredible speed. Then, a few days out from Valentine’s Day, collective skid marks grind the rat race to a halt. That’s because love stops the craziness of daily life, and everyone switches gears to some form of emotional celebration.
Gifting is not easy, because there’s both tradition and personalisation. Choices, decisions, date nights. Valentine’s Day gifts should be seen as somewhere in between a birthday and a Christmas present. It must hold meaning, joy and an element of wow, the latter not necessarily because of the price tag, but rather because of the thought that went into its selection.
There are the Valentine’s Day gift ideas South Africans are loving in 2026:
Personalised and custom gifting
It’s a cliché because it works, it’s tender, and it’s a multitasking gift. Traditional couples, throuples and other relationship shapes, even platonic love, can be expressed through a personalised gift. A mug that features an image of a moment spent together, a name or phrase embroidered on a fluffy gown, a T-shirt or even a tablecloth that expresses love and a shared memory. Personalisation is not just about someone’s name. Like a picture, it can capture a moment.
Giving the gift of experience
Combining date night with an experience that draws you closer to your partner. A couple’s spa day is always a fantastic option and a bit more intimate than just a restaurant booking. Activities like pottery classes together (think the movie Ghost), wine tastings or food-pairing experiences, a night at Le Petit Chef, a skydiving experience together, or simply a picnic by a waterfall at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. The memories you create will be the gift that keeps on giving.
Classic Romance
A bouquet of flowers, some delicious chocolates, a bottle of wine and some jewellery. Classic gifts that have stood the test of time, changing generations and fast love trends. These kinds of gifts are always appreciated. Personalise them, too. Create your own wine label, draw the card that accompanies the flowers or gift a piece of jewellery that holds a bit of yourself, engraved with a phrase, a fingerprint or your names.
Self-care and wellness
Gifting this does not have to be a yawn or be seen as uninventive. Stores like Lush offer wonderfully creative self-care products, crazy-beautiful bath bombs, and pampering goodies.
Valentine’s Day is a day of care. So do not hesitate to give bath and body goodies. Bath and body sets, aromatic oils, scrubs and candles breed romance. It all says that you care and that your lover’s well-being matters to you. Day spas and solo pamper sessions at premium venues like Life Day Spa or Octavia’s at Emperor’s Palace are hot tickets.
Lingerie, socks and so on
Socks are no longer a last-minute dot-com kind of thoughtless gift. Funky, awesome and personality-matching socks, even sexy little heart-shaped love-day designs, are a fun and cute way to gift on Valentine’s Day. Check out sites like Sexy Socks for wonderful ideas, or even retailers like PNA and The Crazy Store offer fabulous footy selections.
Lingerie, and sexy bits of it, is undoubtedly stock standard V-Day fare. This year, treat your man to a pair of locally designed and manufactured, incredibly comfortable APT underwear. For her, there’s Sexy Curves for the naughty, and retailers like Edgars offer great options.
Check out Typo for novelty socks and other great, super cute ideas. Whether it’s a mug or a Bluetooth speaker for shower hour, here’s where you’ll find everything from ancillary gifts to big ideas.
Also Read: Valentine’s Day: 7 ways people are celebrating love
Eat Love Popcorn
Popcorn is the new sexy, and at Woolworths, get a slab of Joe Seph’s rose and raspberry popcorn. It’s imported from the UK’s bespoke popcorn confectionery with the same name. Locally, Maverick and Jane have made popcorn the go-to sexy. Not only do they stock wildly delicious, flavoured popcorn, but they have also cottoned on to slabs. They’re delicious.
Handmade with love
This is the currency of love. Because it’s not just the gift that counts, but the time it took you to make it. Effort varies a lot in emotional weight. Whether it’s a decorated candle, a snack box, a handmade card or, if you are good with woodwork, a nightstand for your partner’s favourite reading material. How about creating a beadwork keyring? The options are limitless.
Tech Gifts
Tech is always a great gift when it’s the right kind. It’s also pricey, and for Valentine’s Day, consider a pair of earphones or, for folk who love a bit of 007, a pair of sunglasses that double as a recording device for both video and audio. Give playful or imminently useful tech. E-luggage tags that track your bags or anything else are an affordable option.
Now Read: SA romance author: Modern love is pizza, wine and feeling good.
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