Pamper Your Girl Squad With These Galentine’s Day Gift Ideas — As Seen On “Great Day Houston”!

The term “Galentine’s Day” was first coined by Leslie Knope, Amy Poehler’s character on Parks and Recreation, to reference a holiday dedicated to bonding with her girl crew. “Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style, ” Knope famously says on the show. “Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas.”

On Parks and Rec, the festivities took place on February 13th, but the IRL version of the holiday is often celebrated on Valentine’s Day itself, as single gals take the opportunity to celebrate their friends, bestowing thoughtful gifts upon them or organizing small get-togethers (mani and pedi parties, anyone?).

No matter when you choose to toast your girl squad, the goal is to show your endless appreciation for the strong, funny, kind women who have blessed you with their friendship. So, on that note, I stopped by “Great Day Houston” to showcase some great Galentine’s Day gifts for your lady friends. As they say, “real queens fix each other’s crowns” so go ahead and start polishing your BFF’s tiara so she can sparkle!

Express Yourself Via Jewelry With Chamilia by Swarovski’s Spoken by Chamilia ID Bangles 

There’s something so special about a piece of jewelry gifted with intention, one that has a story behind it. That’s what makes these Chamilia by Swarovski ID bangles, part of  the brand’s Spoken by Chamilia collection, so very touching: each dainty bracelet features a positive and uplifting message such as “Always in My Heart,” “You Got This,”and “Treasured.” For Galentine’s Day, give your BFF a grown-up and sophisticated take on a friendship bracelet with the “Friends Forever” bangle pictured above ($69 at Chamilia.com), which is made of sterling silver with 14k gold plating. Or, you can let her know you support her goals with the “Dream Big” bangle pictured above ($69 at Chamilia.com), which is made of sterling silver with 14k rose gold plating. Each bangle features a delicate charm: a star in the case of the “Friends Forever” piece and a lotus blossom in the case of the “Dream Big” piece.

Basically, it’s all about saying it with jewelry!

Give Her Roses — Without The Thorns — With The Body Shop’s British Rose Collection

Smitten sweethearts everywhere might be smooching over extravagant bouquets of roses today, but that doesn’t mean single ladies can’t bring the lovely scent of roses into their homes! With The Body Shop’s British Rose Collection, they can enjoy the classic floral fragrance without having to deal with cutting any stems, avoiding thorns, or sweeping up fallen petals.  All the products in this collection are formulated with the essence of handpicked roses grown on a farm in Heredforshire, England, so that the scent is light and authentic — never overpowering. Moreover, each product in the collection contains skin-loving ingredients.

The soap-free Shower Gel ($10 at TheBodyShop.com), for instance, contains  community trade sugar, a natural humectant that draws moisture to the skin and provides long-lasting hydration. The Petal-Soft Bath Foam ($15 at TheBodyShop.com) is perfect for a relaxing soak in the tub and it’s enriched with moisturizing, community trade honey from Ethiopia, so that it leaves skin silky and smooth. The Exfoliating Gel Body Scrub ($24 at TheBodyShop.com), meanwhile, is contains real rose petals and community trade honey from Ethiopia so that it gently refines skin while moisturizing it. And for the ultimate indulgent treat, there’s the British Rose Body Butter ($7 at TheBodyShop.com) which leaves skin velvety soft thanks to a combination of rose essence, community trade shea butter from Ghana, and soybean oil.

Pick as many products as you want and create a bouquet of rose-scented bath and body goodies!

Say Cheers To Good Hair With The HASK Unwined Collection

Happy hour for your hair? Cheers to that! The Hask Unwined Collection, available only at Ulta, features targeted treatments that replenish and moisturize tresses by harnessing the power of wine — or, more specifically, the power of resveratrol, an antioxidant naturally found in grapes that helps to nourish and hydrate hair, strengthen strands, smooth frizz, and boost shine. The collection is divided into three subsections, one inspired by white wine, another inspired by rosé wine, and yet another inspired by red wine. There are two deep conditioner treatments and a leave-in conditioning treatment that correspond to each type of wine, and they all smell divine!

The Red Wine 10-in-1 Leave-in Spray ($8.99 at ULTA) contains wine extract, as well as full-bodied fruits like pomegranate, plum, and black cherry. It has 10 unique benefits – among them it conditions hair, detangles strands, tames frizz, and repairs dry and brittle strands — and is particularly beneficial for those with brittle, breakage-prone, damaged strands.

The Rosé Wine 10-in-1 Leave-in Spray ($8.99 at ULTA) also contains wine extract, but it’s combined with more summery fruits such as watermelon and strawberry. This leave-in treatment again offers 10 unique benefits, and it’s recommended for  for color-treated hair since it contains antioxidants that block the hair’s absorption of UV rays, preventing them from fading hair color.

And, of course, you can pair these leave-in sprays with their respective deep conditioning treatments and really give your gal pals the tools to achieve hair that’s fine like wine!

Enjoy Some Bubbly With The H20+ Beauty Rapids collection

Were Edina and Patsy of Absolutely Fabulous onto something with their incessant popping of Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot, and Moet champagne bottles? As it turns out, champagne contains polyphenols that reduce redness and inflammation, as well as tartaric acid, which helps to even out skin tone. That’s why champagne extract is one of the main ingredients in the new H20+ Beauty Rapids collection, alongside Yuzu extract, which is rich in vitamin C and flavonoids that boost radiance, and probiotics, which balance the skin microbiome, promoting the perfect balance of healthy microflora so that skin can defend itself from environmental aggressors, maintain the proper moisture balance, and produce collagen and elastin.

The H20+ Rapids Soothing Probiotic Bubble Mask ($6 at H20plus.com and Ulta stores) fizzes as it works to calm red and irritated skin, preserving the skin’s moisture balance and visibly improving its overall appearance. Another standout in the collection is the Rapids Probiotic Illuminator ($22 at H2oplus.com and Ulta), which has a water-based jelly texture that’s lightweight and pleasant and which and features illuminating pigments, so that you can use it to highlight your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, and your brow arches — all while moisturizing and soothing your skin.

Best of all: these products are so affordable that it’s perfectly acceptable for your skin to have champagne tastes!

Keep Eyes Wide Open With The Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydra-Gel Patches

Soaking in a tub with cucumber slices propped on your closed eyelids may seem relaxing in the movies but, in actuality, it’s a recipe for a slimy, sticky, uncomfortable mess. And while cucumber slices do have de-puffing and hydrating benefits, they pale in comparison to modern-day eye patches. Case in point: the Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydra-Gel Eye Patches ($52 for 30 pairs at Sephora and PeterThomasRoth.com), which contain a plethora of ingredients to minimize puffiness and inflammation, brighten dark circles, moisturize skin, and leave eyes looking perky and refreshed. First, they contain hyaluronic acid, which can attract and retain up to 1,000 times its weight in moisture, locking that hydration into the skin. They also contain: collagen, which helps to make skin appear smoother and minimize any fine lines; marshmallow root extract, which softens and soothes skin; ceramides, which are the glue that hold skin cells together and which therefore help to reinforce the skin’s moisture barrier; caffeine, which improves circulation, preventing blood from pooling under the eyes (the main cause of dark circles) and keeping puffiness at bay. The gelatinous eye patches adhere perfectly to skin and provide an instant cooling sensation. And, within 10 to 15 minutes, your eyes will be transformed. Remember: clear eyes and full hearts can’t lose!

Perfect Your Pouty Instagram Face With Skyn Iceland’s Plumping Lip Gels

You don’t need fillers to enjoy a plumper and fuller pout. There’s a lot of great products you can use at home such as these Skyn Iceland Plumping Lip Gels ($35 for 5-pack at SkynIceland.com).

In just 10 minutes, these gels address the 3 biggest lip-related concerns: loss of volume, lines and wrinkles around the mouth, and depleted moisture levels. They’re formulated with powerful plant- and marine-based active ingredients like red algae, wild berry extract, mineral-rich Icelandic glacial water, and arctic cloudberry seed oil. Not only do they deliver visible results, but these lip gels adhere to the contours of the mouth perfectly, so that you can walk around, cook a meal, make some coffee, or dance around and they’ll still stay in place!

Enjoy The Sweetest Mani With Le Mini Macaron

For a girl who loves getting manicures, this kit is sweeter than a baked treat. It’s the Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit ($35 at LeMiniMacaron.com) and it comes with a bottle of gel polish, a mini nail file and cuticle stick, 10 remover pads, and an LED lamp shaped like a macaron (in a shade that matches your polish, of course!).

You can dry the 1-step polish (which is a base coat, nail lacquer, and top coat in one) in just 30 seconds using the LED lamp, so it’s a really convenient kit for multi-tasking ladies. Plus, you can plug the lamp’s USB cord into your laptop and use it anywhere, so that you can even touch up your mani while on a flight, in the office, or anywhere the day takes you!

Add Ambiance With Some Lafco Duchess Peony Candles

Scented candles go a long way in creating the right ambiance, and the Lafco New York Duchess Peony Candles  ($42 for 6.5 oz. candle and $65 for 5.5 oz. candle at Lafco.com) are incredibly inviting and comforting thanks to a blend of feminine and pink rose and peony blossom essential oils married with cassis berries, camelia oil, and powdery musk notes. Each candle is made of a soy wax blend and features a 100% cotton wick for a clean burn. The candles are hand-poured into hand-blown glass vessels, so that each one looks like a work of art you’ll want to keep and reuse as a decorative object.