The best Valentine's Day gifts for him

From Sifr Aromatics

There’s nothing more intimate than picking out a fragrance for your partner, and Sifr Aromatics specialises in customised perfume blends, ranging from woody to floral scents. A 15ml bottle of perfume starts from $55, but if your partner enjoys switching between scents, Sifr Aromatics also offers travel sets (from $55) with 10ml bottles that are a good sample size to experiment with. Choose between two, four, and six scents depending on your budget and your partner’s scent preferences.

Make it a date: If you’re willing to splurge a little, attend a perfume making workshop with your partner and craft a scent to remind your partner of you. Scentopia offers a perfume-making experience where you can experiment with scents starting from $95.

From Swatch

Here’s a quirky Valentine’s Day gift for him – an adorable watch (or two) featuring members of everyone’s favourite animated family, The Simpsons. This old-school animated sitcom has been a favourite for decades. Choose between two designs: SWEET EMBRACE ($152) or ANGEL BART ($137). The former is a vibrant red Swatch NEW GENT model that has Homer and Marge Simpson enjoying a romantic moment, a nod to the lovey-dovey relationship of this iconic couple. Despite their many squabbles, they’re the epitome of “couple goals” throughout the show’s 35 seasons. Or, for a cheeky Valentine’s Day gift, go with Angel Bart who’s playing Cupid with a catapult drawn. This pale blue NEW GENT also features cloud motifs on the strap. 

These watches are available at all Swatch stores.

From Morning

Sometimes, the key to a great day ahead is a good cup of joe. Morning offers a variety of coffee capsules in its store, but we recommend its Bright as Day coffee capsule collection ($48). This collection contains 40 coffee capsules that are Nespresso-compatible, so you don’t have to worry about having to buy another coffee machine. Besides one of Morning’s signature blends Wander & Wonder, the collection also features blends from other coffee roasters such as Singapore’s The Coffee Academics, Father’s Coffee Roastery from Czech Republic, and His Majesty the Coffee from Italy. With these coffee capsules, your partner can expect an amazing brew in a short span of time – without having to spend $6 at a café too.

Make it a date: Take your partner to a coffee roasting workshop at The Sundowner, where you can select and roast raw coffee beans and experiment with different brewing techniques to create your perfect cup of coffee. Enjoy your special brew with a fresh bagel afterwards, and you get to take home a pack of your customised blend.

From Lego

Camera buffs are sure to love Lego’s new Polaroid OneStep camera set complete with a functional viewfinder and an exposure compensation dial that you can turn. The set features the iconic Polaroid as well as three illustrated photos you can load into the camera, eject using the shutter button, or store it in the Polaroid Time-Zero land film pack. Build the replica model together as a fun bonding activity, or have a friendly competition to see who can figure out the steps first.

Make it a date: If you enjoy building and creating together, try making a rug together at Tuft Club. Choose from over 100 different types of yarn and create a rug or a hand-tufted mirror to represent the both of you.

From Thirsty

The best way to end a day is by kicking your feet up and having a can of beer that hits the right spot. Thirsty works with over 90 breweries to curate a selection of the best craft beers. You can get a box of eight craft beers with either a beer glass or a mystery can of beer from $79. Thirsty’s gift boxes are designed to prank its recipients, decorated to  look like it contains a jigsaw puzzle or a phone. It’s a little silly, but just imagine the grin on your partner’s face when they realise they didn’t get a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle for Valentine’s Day.

Make it a date: Head over to Smith Street Taps and try over 20 different craft beers, or go on a bar crawl at some of the best craft beer bars in Singapore.

From Mecha

Mechanical keyboards are all the rage now, with more people becoming more concerned about ergonomics to prevent wrist pain after long hours of typing or gaming, and some simply just enjoying the look and sound of a creamy keyboard. Either way, keyboards make for a useful gift, and it’s also one that you can customise to your liking. Mecha offers a multitude of prebuilt keyboards starting from $139, where you can choose the keyboard size, colourway, and the type of switches according to your partner’s preference. Those who are familiar with keyboard building can purchase parts or a full kit from Mecha and build the perfect keyboard for him.

Make it a date: Building a keyboard can be a daunting and tedious task, especially when there’s a lot of decisions to be made. Mecha offers keyboard building workshops where you will be guided by a professional, so take this opportunity for you and your partner to build a custom keyboard for each other.

From Almost Athlete Club

While most people would look to buying shoes and apparel for their favourite gym rat, workout grips are practical accessories that significantly aid workout experiences. Almost Athlete Club’s Almost Pro grips ($65) are strong, durable, and sweat proof, ensuring that you won’t lose your grip in the middle of a set. Despite its durability, these grips are not very thick and won’t take up a significant amount of space in your partner’s gym bag.

Make it a date: Check out some of the best gyms in Singapore with your partner on Valentine’s Day and carry out an exercise plan together. It may be intimidating at first, but working out and cheering each other on in between sets will leave you feeling closer than ever.

From Woah!

Although cheat days are completely fine and necessary when following a fitness schedule, some desserts tend to leave you with post-indulgence guilt. Woah!’s protein ice cream ($19.90) combats this problem by being high in protein and low in carbohydrates, calories, and sugar. Choose between four flavours: coffee, salted caramel, matcha, and chocolate, or just get them all – it’s not cheating if it’s healthy!

Make it a date: Take your partner out for an ice cream date at Kind Kones, an ice cream parlour that serves healthy, vegan, and mostly gluten-free ice creams.

From TableMinis

If your partner is an avid fan of Dimension20, sign them up for one of TableMinis’ Dungeons and Dragons beginner workshops. The workshop is a three hour session where you and other beginners will play through a small quest with one of TableMinis’ professional dungeon masters. Don’t worry about having to undergo the complicated and stressful character creation process – the workshop includes preset characters for you to choose from. The workshop costs $25 per person, so sign you and your partner up for an exciting adventure.

Make it a date: If you’re comfortable with the rules of DnD or are a seasoned player, TableMinis regularly hosts events and campaigns where you can play as your character and take part in original quests. Team up with your partner and show off what a power couple you are in the face of adversity.