Valentine's Day gifts: The best Valentine's gift ideas

Your guide to the best Valentine's Day gifts for her and for him—from fun and casual to romantic to sexy

Chocolates and roses are so passé! This year, surprise your Valentine with a unique gift idea. Find pretty, racy underthings and delicate gifts from the heart for her. For him, celebrate his photography hobby or win him over through his taste buds. From tight budgets to money's-no-object tastes, we've got your best Valentine's Day gift ideas.

Recommended: See more Valentine's Day in Los Angeles

Photograph: Courtesy Cast of Vices

Valentine's Day gifts: Cast of Vices' Handcuff Bracelet
$250. Available at A+R.

Why leave the handcuffs in the bedroom? Take hold of your honey with this provocative yet delicate cuff bracelet to wear as a reminder of the last time you played cops and robbers—under the sheets.
Photograph: Courtesy The Pleasure Chest

Valentine's Day gifts: The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex

$25. Available at the Pleasure Chest.

Required reading for your sexy sex partner: The ultimate guide to getting your rocks off, erogenating your zones and satisfying even the most insatiable of lovers, written by Daily Show vets Kristen Schaal and Rich Blomquist.

Use the code TIMEOUT13 for a 15% discount on your entire order through Feb 14.
Photograph: Courtesy Poketo

Valentine's Day gifts: Forget Me Knot ring
$50. Available at Poketo.

Slip this ring on your sweetheart's finger. It may not be a blinged-out band, but the dainty sterling silver love knot symbolizes two people bound together as one, and is sure to pull at her heart strings.
Photograph: Courtesy PostalPix

Valentine's Day gifts: Aluminum print photos by PostalPix
$15-$25. Available at postalpix.com.

Is your honey obsessed with Instagram? Memorialize his filter-heavy photos on 1mm-thick aircraft-grade aluminum. Download the free app on your iPhone or Android and order 5x7-, 8x8- and 8x10-size prints. The unique prints are created using a sublimation process that gas-infuses the photo directly to the surface of the aluminum—resulting in a glossy, scratch-resistant image that'll bring his most "liked" smartphone pics to life.

Enter code TIMEOUT at checkout for a 15% discount on all orders through Feb 14.
Photograph: Courtesy Kiki De Montparnasse

Valentine's day gifts: 24K gold vibrator

$550. Available at Kiki de Montparnasse.

For the lady who likes to class it up and still have fun, this 24K gold vibrator doubles as a chain. Discreet enough to fit in your pocket—it's the size of a tube of lipstick—the cigar-shaped pendant is also waterproof and temperature-sensitive.
Photograph: Courtesy The Giving Keys

Valentine's Day gifts: The Giving Keys
$35-$60. Available at thegivingkeys.com.

Give your beloved do-gooder a recycled-key pendant with a positive message and a charitable backstory. Individuals who are transitioning out of homelessness are employed by the company to engrave each key with a powerful word such as Hope, Dream, Believe, Love and Strength. When you receive your unique piece you are supposed to keep it until you find someone else who needs the one-word message on the key more than you, then give it away and share your story on the website. Keys come in unisex necklaces and bracelets.
Photograph: Courtesy PSC

Valentine's Day gifts: Pocket Square Clothing tie

$45. Available online at pocketsquareclothing.com.

Dress up your dude with one of PSC's smart, stylish ties (or bow ties, or pocket squares if he's feeling extra dapper). Each piece is handcrafted in Los Angeles, and there are enough colors, fabrics and prints to please any palate.

Use the code TIMEOUTLA for a 15% discount through Feb 14.
Photograph: Courtesy Strange Invisible Perfumes

Valentine's day gifts: Aquarian Roses eau de parfum
1.7 oz. $195. Available at Strange Invisible Perfumes.

Forget next week's wilted blooms. Give the gift of (parfum) roses that keeps on giving. Handmade in Venice.
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman

Valentine's Day gifts: Chocolates from José Andrés
8-piece bon bon box, 6 chocolate chip cookies, 6 double-chocolate-pecan cookies, chocolate Pop Rocks, 4 rice-crispy bon bons; $50. Available at the Patisserie at the Bazaar by José Andrés.

Not your usual box of chocolates, José Andrés gets sweet (and playful) with this pink-boxed delight of chocolate Pop Rocks, rice-crispy bon bons and mini chocolate cookies.
Photograph: Courtesy Wacko/Soap Plant

Valentine's Day gifts: Lip Flask
$14. Available at Wacko/Soap Plant.

For the femme fatale in your life, this incognito Lip Flask let's you travel light with booze in hand. Pour your poison out of a red lipstick-shaped flask that stands 5-inches tall—perfect for a little tipple to spice up date night.
Photograph: Courtesy Taschen

Valentine's Day Gifts: Nobuyoshi Araki: Bondage, Collector's Edition
$1000. Available at Taschen.

The notorious photographer archives the erotic art of Japanese bondage. The Collector's Edition features three hand—dare we say—bound volumes chronicling Nobuyoshi Araki's greatest works. Each book is numbered, signed and packaged in a wooden box—the perfect discreet piece for your coffee (or bedside) table.
Photograph: Courtesy Prospector Co.

Valentine's Day gifts: Prospector Co. Burroughs Beard Oil, 5oz.

$28. Available at Rudy's Barbershop.

Scratchy beard derailing your makeout sessions? Lube up your man (no, not in that way) with this woodsy-scented beard oil. It's made with soothing sandalwood, cedar and argan oils, doubles as cologne and has a moisturizing effect that will have your kissing back on track in no time.

Mention Time Out at checkout for a 15% discount through Feb 14.
Photograph: Courtesy Brooklyn Brew Shop

Valentine's Day gifts: Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer Making Kit
$45. Available at Sunset Beer Company.

The perfect DIY project for your beer-loving boo, this kit comes with everything needed to make a tasty elixir in the style of your choosing. May we suggest Grapefruit Honey Ale (for your honey); Chocolate Maple Porter (for its aphrodisiac effects); or Jalapeño Saison (to spice things up).

Mention Time Out at checkout for a 15% discount through Feb 14.
Photograph: Courtesy Gentleman's Breakfast

Valentine's Day gift guide: Vintage West German Aviators
$295. Available at Gentlemen's Breakfast.

Help your partner protect his peepers in style with a pair of vintage shades from Gentlemen's Breakfast. Find old '60s prison frames (made of soft, comfy plastic to avoid any shiv repurposing) or fancy, designer driving glasses from the '40s, all while sharing a nip of Scotch with the shop's knowledgeable, friendly owner—and resident optician—Van.

Mention Time Out at checkout at either location for a 15% discount through Feb 14.
Photograph: Courtesy Sugar Paper

Valentine's Day gifts: Letterpress card
Eyes for you card, $6. Available at Sugar Paper.

Tell him how you feel in a letterpress card, folded in a polka-dot lined envelope. Swoon.
Photograph: Courtesy Santa Maria Novella

Valentine's Day gifts: Massage candle
$70. Available at Santa Maria Novella.

Function meets erotica in Santa Maria Novella's massage candle. Made with shea butter and avocado and coconut oils, the pretty-smelling votive can also be used as body oil that your partner can light and pour (complete with spout).
Photograph: Courtesy Getty Store

Valentine’s Days gifts: Degas silk shawl
100% silk, woven in Nepal, 21” x 72”; $125. Available online at the Getty Store.

For the artsy gal in your life. The bands of color on this smart hand-loomed silk shawl are inspired by the colorful ribbons on a milliner's table in Degas’ famous oil painting The Milliners, a piece in the Getty Center’s collection.
Photograph: Courtesy Kellygreen

Valentine's Day gift guide: Regenerated throw blanket
$160. Available at Kellygreen.

Snuggle up with your sweetie under soft, supple blankets made from post-industrial T-shirt scraps that are saved from landfills, sorted by color and rewoven by family mills here in the U.S. Good for your love life, good for the planet.

Photograph: Courtesy Cast of Vices

Valentine's Day gifts: Cast of Vices' Handcuff Bracelet
$250. Available at A+R.

Why leave the handcuffs in the bedroom? Take hold of your honey with this provocative yet delicate cuff bracelet to wear as a reminder of the last time you played cops and robbers—under the sheets.