Simple Ways to Show You Care on
Vegan Valentines Day

Struggling for ideas for a vegan Valentines day?

Stop worrying.

Most of the things you would buy for a "regular" valentine will work for a vegan as well, you'll just have to put a little more thought into where you buy it.

When you're looking at any lotion, perfume, makeup, or body care product, check for the vegan tag at the bottom of the package. If it's cruelty-free, it will definitely tell you so.

Food items work the same way, and if you're skilled at looking at ingredient lists, you can usually figure out whether something qualifies or not.

And most importantly, remember that you don't need to spend money to let someone know you care, so just come up with the most creative way to appreciate the people you love and you'll be covered.

I put together a list of several different options for vegan Valentines day gift ideas and ways to celebrate. Enjoy!

There are tons of amazing vegan chocolates, and many come in cute little chocolate boxes, sometimes even shaped like hearts. You can find assortments with caramels, rice crisps, nougat, peanuts, raspberry filling, mint, and just about any other flavor you love to combine with chocolate.

Here are a few of my favorites vegan chocolate boxes:

• A heart-shaped box of assorted vegan chocolates from Rose City Chocolatier
• Present a huge tub of amazing dark chocolate cherry truffle Sjaak's hearts
• Give a box of valentine heart pave glace
• Sjaak's makes some really pretty heart-shaped boxed of chocolates, so you can be super traditional with your vegan gift.

When you're buying candy, keep in mind that sometimes ingredient lists vary in different locations. For instance, I've seen some SweetTart Hearts made with egg albumen, but others are just the regular sugar and food coloring. So, always check the ingredients list before buying.

Here are a few candy present ideas:

• Box up some precious bright red Swedish fish with a bow
• Order a basket of yummy cookies
• Send a bouquet of Blow Pops and Jolly Rancher pops
• Pick out your honey's favorite Sweettart hearts and put them in a pretty box
• Check out the list of other vegan candies and put together a basket of your Valentine's favorites.

If you're more of a flower giver on Valentine's Day, your sweetheart probably has no ethical beliefs that would prohibit any particular flower. Some vegans might not like cut flowers, so you could get a cute potted plant with pretty flowers, a small fruit tree, or even a fruit bouquet.

Candles make an awesome present, but there are a few precautions to take before buying a vegan a candle. Many normal candles contain beeswax or stearic acid that comes from rendering animal parts. The great news is that there are tons of soy candles available at most stores, and almost all should be animal-free. You can also buy organic soy candles from Vegan Essentials or another online retailer to be certain they're vegan.

Here are a few of my favorite vegan candles:

• Lumia Organic Soy Wax Votive Candles
• Way Out Wax Scented Soy Wax Tea Lights
• Green Moon soy wax candles
• Hot Dandy soy candle in birthday cake, pumpkin pie, or strawberry scent!

People often wonder if perfume is vegan, and unfortunately, in a lot of cases it is not. Musk is a secretion from an animal's glands, and of course they have to abuse/kill the animal to get to their glands, caprylic acid comes from milk, there are fixatives such as ambergris that come from whale intestines, and sterols from euthanized pets, cows, and sheep in normal perfumes and colognes. Those animal ingredients are used to stabilize, texturize, and scent the colognes.

You can, however, find vegan perfume and vegan cologne by doing a quick search online, or using a noted vegan online retailer. You could also get a set of scented lotions as a vegan Valentine's day gift. Here are a few vegan perfumes I like:

• Eco Bella Parfums for Women
• Organic Grooming Dusk Blend Cologne for Men by Herban Cowboy
• Urban Organic perfume
• Pink Lace roll-on perfume

A lot of the intimacy products on the market are not vegan. Condoms are often made with casein, the protein in milk, and are usually tested on animals. There are a few brands that are cruelty-free, such as Glyde and Condomi. Just like with regular lotions, lubricants and other intimacy products are often not vegan either. Here are a few of my favorite "intimacy products," that could make for fun vegan Valentines Day gifts:

Luxury Vegan massage oil in vanilla scent

Pangea Organics Lavender Cardamom massage oil