Valentines Day is right around the corner, but no doubt you already knew that- there have been aisles full of cutesy gifts, cards and other Valentine-y things in shops pretty much since the calendar changed to 2015! I know there are very mixed feelings towards Valentines Day but I've always been a fan, yeah it's commercialised (and designed to sell you as much stuff as possible) but lets face it, so is Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day and just about every other special 'day' of the year. Sure we should love and appreciate each other all year round but lets be honest- this is real life and with a million other things going on day to day it can be easy to take the people around us forgranted. What's wrong with a little day in the middle of a cold and dull February to remind us to appreciate the one we love? If like me you're on board with Valentines Day, here are some of the things I think make the best gifts.

I think people can be iffy about buying perfume as gifts, as what you like comes down so much to personal taste. However unless the person you're buying for is especially picky, then perfume can make a perfect Valentines present. If you're not sure about the kind of perfume they like, you wont go far wrong choosing a popular scent from a nice brand (there's a reason they're popular...most people like them!) I highly recommend the new Hugo Boss Man and Woman fragrances, as both are very likeable and are truly suitable for all ages; they're pretty much a guaranteed hit. Hugo Woman (originally lauched in 1997 as an EDT and re-released in 2014 as an EDP) is a beautiful fruity floral with very fresh and green notes. Hugo Man is an amazing timeless scent, described as 'fresh sea breezes with masculine spiciness of wood.' While they obviously don't smell alike, they definitely follow the same 'fresh and clean' theme. Despite being new you can find both of these at reduced prices from Fragrance Direct, plus if you've left gift buying until the last minute you can still get your order in time for Valentines Day. Just order by the 10th (UK standard delivery) 11th (UK express tracked delivery) or the 12th for next day delivery or click and collect.

There's a good reason jewellery is such a popular Valentine's gift; with it being a bit of a luxury it's not really something people buy for themselves very often which makes a really nice treat. Plus jewellery is something that will last, and is quite special and sentimental. I recently wrote about a company called Absolute Pearls (see the post here) and think the pieces on the site would make great Valentine's gifts, they're genuine pearls and there's something for every budget. Pearls aren't something I'd have probably considered previously but after receiving this bracelet I swiftly changed my mind, it's just beautiful. Although pearls are generally considered as quite traditional, this (along with everything else on the site) is still very modern. Rings are a bit more tricky as you need to know their ring size, so necklaces, earrings and bracelets are your best bet when buying jewellery gifts.

Candles

Rather than buy pre-packaged beauty sets, why not make your own little hamper? A basket with some of their favourite beauty treats or some nice pampering products to use in the bath on Valentines Day, you can't get much better than that. If you're looking to go high end anything from Elemis, Origins, Laura Mercier etc is bound to go down well; you can also find lots of gorgeous pampering products from brands from the highstreet too such as Dove and Lush. The Vitamin Ace body creme tin above is by a brand called SBC and would make an ideal little beauty hamper addition, not only does the pink colour look the part for Valentine's Day but because of the innovative ingredients (the dark speckles are actually vitamin c capsules) it brightens, moisturises and revives the skin. Great for pampering your skin before your Valentines night out.

There are so many great beauty gadgets on the market at the moment, but one I'm particularly loving and highly recommend for any beauty lover is the Braun Silk Epil 7 SkinSpa. It's a three in one tool with a cleansing brush, shaver and epilator attachments. I mainly use this for the cleansing brush; it refines the skin four times better manually exfoliatong, removes dead skin cells and stimulates the regeneration of the skin surface, your skin is left feeling like actual silk. At £120+ it doesn't come cheap, but if you're planning on spending a bit more this Valentines Day (and know this is the kind of thing the person you're buying for is into) take the plunge and buy it, it's seriously amazing! If you have a bigger budget, other beauty tools I think would make fantastic gifts are the Clarasonic and any of GHD's styling tools.