February 14 is nearly here, as the big day fast approaches, you need a gift and you need it quickly. It can be overwhelming to try and figure out where to even start.

Whether you’ve just started dating or have been together for years,  it’s the perfect time to show you’ve been paying attention to the things they like. Selecting a gift that is based on a hobby or passion is a meaningful way to show that you are attentive to details.

Lucky for you Le Panier has something for everyone, this one stop shopping spot is located in the heart of Pointe Claire Village and has a store full of unique gifts for even the impossible to shop for, as well as the person who has it all.

Chocolates are the ubiquitous go-to gift for Valentine’s Day, and they have all kinds of chocolates. If you want your love to remember you, how about Louis Sherry New York chocolates – in beautiful keepable metallic tin boxes? Or for something even sweeter, they are one of the few places in town making homemade fudge so you could choose a delicious favorite flavour.

For aromatics, Michael Design’s shea butter soaps, handwash and lotions are there or look for the big display of everything lavender.

 Consider a scented candle of their favorite scent, a coffee mug with a cute saying filled with their favorite sweets, there’s ED Ellen DeGeneres tableware collection,  winter getaway clothing and accessories, or how about filling up a gift basket with all their favorite gourmet food items, or a wine purse with a favorite bottle of wine.  One corner of the store is filled with jewelry options like Alex and Ani.

For those of you who are looking for practical ideas, a cool gift might be an “upside-down” umbrella which closes without water dripping on you or your car. You will be remembered everyday if you buy the Mighty Mug. It won’t fall over – EVER – and can be used near a keyboard without worries.

Browse around and enjoy the vast selection of just the perfect gift. Need suggestions, their staff is always eager to help you find exactly what you are looking for.

Le Panier won the title of best gift store in Canada so this store worth a trip from anywhere. The huge shop is chock full of gourmet food, kitchenware,  and gifts at prices mostly under $25. You will not walk out empty-handed when you can choose amongst the jewelry, jams, hot sauces, kitchen gadgets and cool accessories.

Location: 274 Bord du Lac, Pointe Claire
corner: de Lourdes
Tel: 514-695-7038
Hours: Regular plus Sun 10-5
www.thepanier.com

Maison Fusion offers mainly hand-made treasures from all over the world: gifts, accent furniture, niche perfumes, jewelry and scented candles, as well as Eastern sweets.

Every piece has been carefully chosen by the owner, Reem Owais, who had the chance to travel to exotic places where she collected these special products. This shop is a house of tales, where objects tell stories about those who crafted them, their traditions and cultures. They collaborate with organizations all over the world which assist rural women in generating income. This improves the standard of living not only for themselves but for their dependents and their communities as well.

For the month of November, they have highlighted some clothes, housewares and gifts and will be giving them to you at 25% discount if you use CODE: MFSB1115.  Look below for: alpaca wool cloaks, ponchos, gloves, hats and scarves, Egyptian cotton clothing, a re-cycled glass and pewter collection, Egyptian leather stools and Barbery fig oil

– Alpaca wool cloaks, ponchos, gloves, hats and scarves handwoven by skilled Peruvian artisans.  Alpaca is soft, lightweight, strong – and keeps you snuggly warm.
– Egyptian cotton/gabardine urban chic collection of Amina K, an Egyptian designer. The look is young in spirit, trendy yet elegant.
– Recycled glass and pewter glasses made by artisans in Swaziland (Fair Trade group)
– Stools made of sturdy Egyptian leather and wrought iron. There are two models and sizes available.
– 100% pure organic Barbary fig oil which is an excellent un-perfumed anti-aging and moisturizing product. Can be used instead of  night and/or day cream. A tiny drop is sufficient to keep the skin moist, nourished and firm all day.

Location: 328 Chemin du Bord-du-Lac, Pointe Claire QC H9S 4L7
corner: ave du Golf
Tel: 514-630-1190
Hours: Mon-Wed 10-6, Thurs & Fri 10-7, Sat 10-6, Sun 11-6
Sale dates: until Nov 30
www.maison-fusion.com
FB: http://on.fb.me/1MlQkJl

It’s rare to find warehouse deals on the South Shore. For 3 weeks you can score up to 80% off famous brand names in clothing, scents, health and beauty products.

If you like the brands Garcia, Lacoste, Sean Jean, DKNY,  Jack & Jones, Calvin Klein, President Stone, Only, Bench, Mink Pink, Vera Mode, then head to this 80% off clearance sale. You will also be able to buy perfumes by CK, Lacoste, Ferrari, Burberry.

At this sale look for health and beauty products by: Fruits & Passion, Band-Aid, Revlon, Glade, Olay, Dove, Playtex, Old Spice, Mitchum, Fructis, Garnier, L’Oréal Paris, Vaseline, Lever 2000, Almay, Elastoplast, TRESemmé, Pantene, Nivea, Maybelline, St. Ives, etc.

Location: 6445 boul. Milan
corner: Lapinere
Dates: May 31 – June 23
Hours: Wed-Fri 10-8, Sat & Sun 10-5

Le Panier and Clair de Lune are 2 different types of gift shops. Clair de Lune is all about candles and decor accent pieces while Le Panier offers up gourmet goodies, useful gadgets, jewelry, toys, Christmas tableware, and sweets.

Here are some of the cool items I found this year at Le Panier (300 bord du Lac in PointClaireVillage) www.thepanier.com
– Mop Slippers ($9.99) which you wear on your feet, walk around and clean the floor
– Credit Card shield ($5.99) prevents thieves from passing you and grabbing information off of the card in your purse or pants.
– Hot chocolate variety 12-pack ($22.99)
– Bagel guillotine ($22.99) to slice bagels and not fingers
– Trudeau cutting board with drawers (24.99) which separate food you are cutting
– Cake lollipop molds ($17.50) for the latest craze
– BBQ Spatula in the shape of a guitar ($22.99)
– BBQ lighter in the shape of a fishing rod ($22.99)
– Purse perfume atomizer ($12.99) to keep your favorite scent at hand
– Scarf hanger ($19.99) to keep your favorites in view in a closet
– Angry birds toque ($11.99)
–  Solar motor kit: car, boat, animal ($24.99)
–  Diet Dog bowl has posts in it so your doggie slows down his eating ($19.99)

Claire de Lune (6801 Rte Transcanadienne, Pointe-Claire in Fairview Pointe Claire Tel: 514-426-8797 and other locations www.clairdelune.ca)  is Canada’s most extensive candle store. A gift from here  can make your home (or someone else’s) smell just delicious as they have the many fragrances, exclusive decorative candles, aromatic lamps, reed diffusers and scent diffusers.

Choose from Clair de Lune’s exclusive collections of candles: floating ones, aromatic decorative pillar types, tealight, scented votives, mosaic and striped options and even a bird, cactus, rabbit or sparrow candles. To add a wonderful ambiance to a room, you can even buy hanging candelabras which hold real candles. There are many candle holders (of course): ceramic ones, mosaics, 5′ tall giants, elephants and glass blown beauties.

Gift ideas such as Eden & Berger Lamps for diffusing fragrances can be purchased, but also vases and dried flowers, Buddha statues, potpourri, piggy banks, cute notebooks, paper napkins and decorative dancer statuettes, small fountains, cozy throw blankies or scents for a car.

The yummy candle aromas come in: vanilla, Brazilian coffee, eucalyptus, cranberry, mint chocolate, spiced orange, ocean breeze, country fresh, lemon & lavender, mandarin and cranberry, apple, black-eyed Susan, lilac, lily and rose.

Q1: The summer plays havoc with our skin since we’re outdoors a lot, so now it’s time to do some maintenance. Where can we go in the city to find someone that can help in this area?

In the past, we used to have to wander through the first floor of a department store from counter to counter trying to figure out what might be best for us. Each brand had salespeople vying for our loyalty so it was uncomfortable and sometimes difficult leaving one to go to another.  There are now stores that have taken that whole floor, turned it into a specialized store for skin care and cosmetics.

Q2: Who are they?

First we had Sephora, the world-wide chain show up at Fairview. Then Kiehl’s the famous NYC shop settled itself down on Ste-Catherine St near McGill College and lastly we have our homegrown Murale which is an offshoot of Pharmaprix in Place Ville Marie.

Q3: How are they different than the department stores?

The concept is to take all the possible brands of makeup, skin care products and perfume and put them all together in one store, so you can compare them side by side. Salespeople are trained for a month in ALL of the brands. You can mix it up and buy one brand of moisturizer, another of shadow and still another one’s lipstick.

Q4: Okay walk us through the 3 of them and tell us the differences.

Sephora‘s brands are endless:  Philosophy, Bliss, Makeup Forever, Bare Escentuals, Too Faced, Du Wop, Hourglass, B Kammins, Smashbox and on and on and on… Make up applications are free with appointments.

Locations: Fairview Pointe-Claire, 6815 Transcanadienne at boul. St-Jean  (514-630-6100); Carrefour Laval (450-688-8886); Promenades St-Bruno (450-441-3400).
Hours: Mon-Fri 10-9, Sat 9-5, Sun 10-5
www.sephora.com

Since 1851, Kiehl’s has been a venerable NYC purveyor of fine quality skin and hair care preparations. With simple packaging and repeat results, it has continued to have loyal fans. The Creme de Corps, a custard-like body lotion, is a perennial favourite.

New products come out in response to customer demands and after rigorous testing. One, the Blue Herbal (appeared in 1964) gel cleanser, magically zaps pimples, and the lip balm has SPF4.

Men too can shop here, and try the mint or lavender shaving cream as well as cleansers. There’s 8 shower scents, like coriander or acai, and even baby has a line too. In a salute to the owner, each store has a motorbike to oogle. Curb service and mail order are available.

Location: 760 Ste-Catherine ouest
corner: McGill College
Phone: 514-788-4226
Hours: Regular plus Sun 12-5
www.kiehls.com

Pharmaprix has spun off its beauty department into Murale for makeup and skin care. The overwhelming whiteness is a canvas for about 200 prestige brands of cosmetics, creams, lotions and makeup. Some brands are only here, like June Jacob, and there’s Organic by Stella McCartney, Skin by Monica, Smash Box, Mommy, Skin Lab Series, Chanel and Barcelona’s Natura Bisee. For makeup there’s Bare Escentuals, Bobbi Brown and the Danish line GOSH.

You can try out the Free high-tech skin analysis computer called “Beauty Metrix” to find out about your: hydration, sebum, wrinkles, pores and hyperpigmentation, in order to get a list of recommended products. There’s a brow bar for shaping ($19) and private rooms for treatments.

Location: 1 Place Ville Marie
corner: Rene-Levesque
Phone: 514-875-1593
Hours: Mon-Wed 9:30-7, Thurs & Fri 9:30-9, Sat 9:30-5
www.murale.ca