Valentine's Day gifts: A guide for 2025

If you shop for Valentine’s Day gifts, we urge you to consider spending with small businesses this year for any goods or services you decide to purchase. We’ve curated a list of Black- and Brown-owned companies with options that will allow you to look beyond the traditional chocolates, flowers and jewelry.

Please note that shipping times can be variable. Be mindful if you’re making online orders.

FOR READERS

Souce: RosemaryRenea.com

If the reader you love would appreciate a selection of creative, fun bookmarks, check out Rosemary Renea.

For more books and knickknacks, try Nā Mea Hawai’i, in Honolulu, where you can buy books and learn about the language and culture of Native Hawaiians.

Cloth & Paper has some of the nicest planners around.

Octavia’s Bookshelf, in Pasadena, Calif., is an independent bookstore featuring books by BIPOC authors. In recent weeks, the store, its owner and staff have also mobilized to help their community after the devastating wildfires that have affected Pasadena, nearby Altadena and Southern California in general.

THE WAY TO THE HEART IS…

Source: TeaCozy.biz

Tea Cozy, a store in Sacramento, Calif., has reasonably priced tea and tea accoutrements for the tea drinker in your life.

Make sure your loved one can snack to his or her heart’s content with the Asian Snack Box.

3 Parks Wine Shop has some of the best wines — and best service — in the Southeastern U.S. (and if you’re within the Atlanta city limits, you can get it delivered to you directly). If your loved one is a wine drinker, new and delicious vino is among the best Valentine’s Day gifts you can give.

Black Whisk Bakery, in Washington, D.C., has the kind of sweet treats that make people smile to see you coming, and they ship nationwide.

PERSONAL GROOMING IS ALWAYS KEY

Soom Shower offers a shower starter kit that would be a lovely for personal-care baskets you could give as Valentine’s Day gifts.

Bevel is the product for the man in your life who cares deeply about his own grooming — especially if he has a beard.

Kulfi is a makeup brand designed to accentuate South Asian beauty.

JUST FOR FUNSIES

Joeydolls sells lovely dolls designed to match Asian cultures and traditional fashions.

Philly & Friends makes handmade dolls of color, adding “a drop of color and diversity to the playroom.”

FOR THE HOME

Designer and Justina Blakely (of “Jungalow” and “The New Bohemians” fame) has impeccable taste. We think you literally could close your eyes and throw a dart at anything on her website and find something that will improve your home’s decor.

Is it even possible to have enough mugs? We don’t think so. Consider shopping for Valentine’s Day gifts with Eighth Generation, owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe in Washington state. The organization has a lovely selection of mugs that certainly will make your loved one smile over morning coffee.

FOR A NIGHT OUT

It’s hard to get a dinner reservation for Valentine’s Day, especially when it’s on a Friday or Saturday. If you’re still trying, give these Black- and Brown-owned spots a try.

The Consulate, a 2021 James Beard grant recipient in Atlanta, Ga., prides itself on a globally-focused menu that changes frequently. It’s pretty rare that the same thing will be on the menu twice. That makes it a favorite. As a bonus, it’s a moody spot with a romantic vibe.

Dama, in Los Angeles, is a good spot for the finest in Latin American cuisine.

Omakase Yune, a sushi restaurant in Chicago, offers 17 courses, featuring the work of chef Sangtae Park, who learned Japanese cooking as a young chef in Busan, South Korea, before moving to the U.S.

Selam, in Orlando, Fla., offers Ethiopian and Eritrean food.

GETAWAYS

Source: HubbardMansion.com

Take a trip to the Hubbard Mansion in one of America’s most romantic cities, New Orleans. The bed and breakfast boasts five guest rooms and claims to treat its guests like royalty.

Sweet and cozy, The Amelia in Hudson, N.Y., offers eight rooms, an English garden and a library. Great for when you just can’t anymore, you know?

The Kah-Nee-Ta Hot Springs Resort, near the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon, boasts mineral soaking pools and a cultural heritage center.

If you prefer to lodge in larger, fancier environs, The Salamander Resorts may have some options left in their locations in Middleburg, Va.; Charleston, S.C.; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Palm Harbor, Fla.; Aspen, Colo.; and Washington, D.C.