Valentine’s Day is this Friday, and even if you don’t intend to celebrate, it’s hard not to be tempted by the myriad treats seen on the store shelves, passed around at the office, or advertised pretty much everywhere. To indulge is heavenly—a slice of cake with the perfect icing, a chocolate-covered strawberry (sort of healthy, right?), a handful of those powdery little hearts—sure they’re nothing more than sugar and food coloring, but that chalky goodness comes only once a year!
After you come out of your sugar coma and regret chowing down on every Valentine’s Day treat possible (don’t worry, I’ve already done it for you), remember this: Sweet things don’t have to come in calorie-laden packages. Any of these jewels below—the equivalent of of those tempting desserts mentioned above—will bring smiles for years to come, rather than just a few seconds on the lips. So remind your shoppers to give the sweetest gifts this Valentine’s Day; my favorites are below.
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Thinkstock | Persona
Really the sweetest candies out there, I love the sentimental messages emblazoned on each sugary little heart. But ingesting too many warrants a trip to the dentist, so this is even better: Persona’s enamel candy heart beads are available in a variety of colors and messages, so the purchaser can get straight to the point.
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Thinkstock | Sabrina Designs
So. Good. Who doesn’t love red velvet cake? It’s chocolate. I’s red. It’s amazing. Even more amazing? Velvety red agate earrings that can be worn day after day, calorie-free. Sabrina Designs’ red pair is so luxurious looking, they’re beyond yummy.
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Flickr | Stuller
I admit I have a stash of Hershey’s Kisses hidden, the whereabouts of which I won’t disclose to officemates reading this. They’d be a heck of a lot cuter if they were embellished in brown diamonds (the Kisses that is, though the officemates are welcome to adorn themselves in diamonds, too). Stuller offers these Hershey’s Kisses drop earrings in 14k white gold—more than enough chocolate to get us through the day.
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Thinkstock | Le Vian Chocolatier
My mom used to get one of those Russell Stover chocolate boxes from work each year and hide it on top of the fridge. I was a tall kid—no challenge for me. I would raid that box of chocolates searching for my favorite: the ones filled with some sort of airy, raspberry cream, taking little bites out of all of them along the way. Le Vian Chocolatier’s Cotton Candy Amethyst and Raspberry Rhodolite ring reminds me of that: guilt-free and chic, to boot.
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Thinkstock | Oscar Heyman
There’s no denying the deliciousness of chocolate-covered strawberries. They’re not so bad healthwise, super romantic, and just plain good. But as tasty as the classic Valentine’s dessert staple is, Oscar Heyman’s strawberry brooch is better. Sure, it’s not covered in chocolate, but it is bathed in more than 18 carats of rubies and accented with diamonds. If anything is better than chocolate, it’s precious gemstones, right?
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Thinkstock | William Lam & Co.
Those red, heart-shape boxes filled with chocolate that your secret admirer used to give you on Valentine’s Day? That guy may have gotten a date if the gifts were in the form of a pendant, like this one from William Lam. Covered in sparkling rubies and diamonds, it’s a keepsake of love and admiration that can be worn year-round. (Okay, would it be the worst thing if it was hidden inside that box of chocolates?)
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Thinkstock | Nada G
Ah, bubbly. No celebration is complete without it. So imagine when someone special dons theses Bubble earrings from Nada G, sprinkled with colored sapphires and diamonds in satiny 18k yellow gold. Instead of substituting one for the other this time, though, don’t resist the urge to have both. We’re celebrating, after all. Cheers!
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