Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is not just about romantic gestures that go heavy on the cheese and cliché (not that there’s anything wrong with that). It also happens to be the first established gift-giving occasion on the calendar year, and given 2020 was an absolute shitshow, that means a lot. Brightening up your signature other’s life with some good old fashioned consumerism is just the thing to keep 2021 rolling onto green pastures, so here’s a few gift ideas we’ve been loving lately, across technology, fashion and a few cheeky drinks thrown in for good measure.
Technology
Sonos Arc
The Sonos Arc is now considered one of the best soundbars ever made, and it’s not really a surprise. With the reputable audio company finally deciding to catch up with competitors and make a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar, they’ve outclassed the competition with an incredibly seamless aesthetic, remarkable energy efficiency, and 11 transducers driven by class-D amplifiers, for ultra-wide 3D multi-directional sound and a refined theatre-like performance. Intelligent features include Speech Enhancement for crystal clear dialogue, and Night Sound to temper loud effects in content, like gunfights, theme music and explosions. Users will be able to customise their experience using these effects in tandem with the powerful acoustic-driven design that also allows for easy expansion with Sonos’ other new products. If your loved one is looking to built the best home cinema they can, the Sonos Arc is the perfect gift
The Sonos Arc is priced at $1,399. You can buy it here.
LG CX
LG’s acclaimed CX has gone down as the “it” TV of 2020, and that’s still the case in 2021. The OLED TV is a remarkable demonstration of LG’s prowess when it comes to producing this technology, sporting incredible picture quality with deep, inky blacks, the easy-to-navigate WebOS system, and the newly recalibrated Filmmaker Mode (along with other pre-sets) to really dip into cinema-quality production. Top that with the zippy and smooth Alpha 9 Gen3 AI Processor, support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, a comprehensive smart home experience with support for all the major players (including Apple HomeKit), and HDMI 2.1 specifications on all ports, making it the best gaming TV money can buy. Plus, LG has finally brought their 48-inch version to Australia, making OLED technology more accessible than ever. Other sizes range from 55-inch to 77-inch.
Price starts from $3,959. You can buy it here.
Bose Sports Buds
Could Bose have just made the best sports-geared earbuds to date? There’s certainly a case to be made with the Bose Sports Buds, which retail for an easy $249 and sound incredible for the specific design fitness earphones require.
You can buy them here.
Bose Sleep Buds
Bose may not have hit the target as hard with the first generation of their ambitious Bose Sleepbuds, but a renewed focus and finessed features has made the sequel an essential for those into their wellness tech. Working with the clean and intuitive Bose Sleep app, these exceptionally comfortable buds offer solid noise-masking technology with up to 10 hours on a single charge to last all night. These aren’t the type of buds you’ll be streaming Spotify from, rather they tap into a library of other 40 tried-and-tested soothing sounds and relaxation content like tranquilities and naturescapes to help you fall asleep easily, softly and effectively. They have been designed especially to stay in the ears even in the face of constant movement, and can even set gentle, progressive alarms to gradually wake people up while maintaining that sense of clean, restorative rest. If you know someone who has trouble sleeping – and in 2021, who doesn’t? – these are a fantastic idea for your loved one at $379.
You can buy them here.
Fashion & Beauty
ECCO Dress Shoes
Browse through ECCO’s collection and take your pick. They have been really impressing lately when it comes to dress shoes, like the ST.1 Hybrid Men’s Wingtip Derby shoes. Crusted from hand-finished full-grain crust leather or full-grain cow-crust leather (depending on colour preference), these lace up shoes are pretty much the perfect formal addition to any man’s wardrobe. But they’ve also got plenty of women’s dress shoes in the collection. Take your pick via the link below.
You can buy them here.
Ark Swimwear
Northern Beaches born brand Ark Swimwear should be familiar to pretty much anyone who has been on social media in the past few years. The cult-following the local brand has amassed has been well-earned through quality. They’ve been killing it with the hybrids and high-cut trends lately so if your loved one is looking for some beach kit, this is the place to get it.
You can buy them here.
Icebreaker’s Natural City Collection
Icebreaker may be best known for high-quality outdoor gear, but their limited edition Natural City Collection expands the brand like never before. Take the Men’s Cool-Lite Merino Jacket for example, a highly breathable and moisture wicking jacket that looks like a unique formal blazer but with handy front pockets in forward offset side seams and a chest welt pocket. Who said you had to play by the rules?
You can shop the collection here.
In Essence Aromatherapy Oils
If there’s one thing growing in popularity this year, it’s the natural scents of aromatherapy oils. In Essence creates the purest essential oils to enhance emotional and physical well-being. Offering a wide variety of oils that promote different health properties, the oils aid with energy boosts, stress relief, improved sleep and better focusing. Their collections include Therapeutics, Australian Natives, Australian Landmarks, Lifestyle Blends and Individual Oils. Try out their Sleep Essential Roll On, Breathe Essential Oil Mist or the Immune Pure Essential Blend. You can choose one of their packs that also include a diffuser to really impress your valentine. There’s currently a 30% of Valentine’s Day edit deal so now’s a good a time as any.
You can buy them here.
Drinks
Fireball Whisky’s Flamin’ Valentine’s Day Heart
If VDay is going to get a bit rowdy, might as well get something a bit more playful when it comes to drinking the night away. The folks at Fireball Whisky have launched a special “Flamin’ Valentine’s Heart” to celebrate the occasion, replacing the typical chocolate buds with something much, much better. They are even giving up to 100 of these away on their Instagram page (linked below), just head there and follow the instructions on their latest post before Monday 8th Feb 11:59pm.
Find them on Instagram here.
Pure Scot & Bladnoch
Want some smooth whiskies that you can mix into some super slick cocktails on Vday? Go for a bottle of Pure Scot Scotch if you a blend, or Bladnoch if you want a single malt. They both come from Scotland’s southernmost distillery but are more recently Aussie owned after being purchased by local businessman and philanthropist David Prior in 2015.
You can find more information about each here.
