Style clinic

Dear Style Clinic

I am always a last-minute buyer of Valentine’s Day gifts and I suspect this year will be no exception. Do you have suggestions for something I can run out and buy?

Some of us are romantic and meticulous Valentine’s Day planners, and some of us are, er, very much not. I had better not say which I am. Still, there is much romance in last-minute spontaneity (that’s what I always say) and really, you just have to look to know where to find the sort of Valentine’s gifts that will make it look as if you have spent days, at least, planning and researching.

The heart is a running motif all year at the White Company, so head there and find candles, bowls, soap, chopping boards, jewellery, keyrings and more, all in heart shapes or with hearts involved – it’s an excellent last-minute place to go for gifts.

If you are feeling more flush, head to Harvey Nichols in Leeds and the ground-floor fragrance counters.

One of its most popular romantic scents is Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait de Parfum which has jasmine grandiflorum from Egypt and bitter almond from Morocco, extracted as an essential oil using an ancestral process, for a gift evoking time and travels.

If money is tight, head to Asda, where you might still be able to pick up some of its very reasonably priced Valentine’s offerings, including mugs and faux roses (very on-trend). Fill the mugs with favourite sweets and add a ribbon, push the rose inside a ribbon wrapped around a book or a bottle of prosecco. It’s the thought that counts.