Valentine's 2017

valentine’s The Malta Independent on Sunday 5 FEBRUARY 2017

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SCENTS FOR VALENTINE’S

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SIX OF THE BEST Perfume is the gift that keeps on giving..to the giver and recipient alike. Here is a selection of some of the hottest new fragrances on the market, for both him and her, for this Valentine’s Day

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Nina Invictus Jean Paul Valentino: Prada: Carolina 1 2 3 4 6 Ricci: and Gaultier: Valentino 5L’ Homme Herrera: Les Belles de Olympea Le Male et Uomo et La Femme Good Girl Nina Minis

Intense

Nina and Luna, together Les Belles de Nina, by Nina Ricci are now available in 20ml collectible bottles at selected Nina Ricci outlets! Nina and Luna represent a tribe of women in the making, a myriad of girls full of promise, they have the aura and the energy of youth, evade compulsory figures, watching the horizon, stretching towards the unknown. Nina and Luna. Stronger together.

Joining forces through tacit recognition, an unwavering bond that needs no words. Except perhaps Les Belles de Nina

The Heroic God and Goddess of fragrance return in a mythical storm of renewed intensity.

Paco Rabanne’s new fragrances, Invictus and Olympea Intense deliver divine power, carnal sensuality and legendary triumph with every spray.

Exhilarating freshness versus wild sensuality, Invictus Intense plays on the shock between blazing amber woods and the marine salty skin accord, in a woody-fresh wake.

Olympéa dares the duality of a transparent floral freshness and the sensuality of a saltyvanilla accord, wrapped up in cashmere wood.

Classique Essence de Parfum Le Mâle Essence de Parfum, shows a new interpretation of masculinity with for the first time, a redesigned silhouette: more shoulders and a narrower waist! A new olfactory sensation too: a burst of spicy citrus collides with sensual leather notes shaken up with precious woods.

Classique Essence de Parfum: a new interpretation of femininity with, for the first time, a redesigned silhouette. A new olfactory sensation, the explosive contrast of spicy whipped cream, airy and addictive, with the richness of jasmine and a woody base.

Intense Valentino Uomo Intense is for a man with a charismatic allure and an assertive dominant masculinity with a distinctive aura. An eau de perfume concentration with a long lasting trail to enhance a man's everyday charisma or for a special occasion. A suave leathery fragrance, a deep, unforgettable olfactory signature: black leather and suave vanilla accords.

The instinctive, human, highly crafted and boundlessly imaginative approach that Prada ascribes to the making of fragrance is everywhere present in the ‘olfactory maps’ for both La Femme Prada and L’Homme Prada. La Femme Prada strays from fragrance’s more familiar route, starting its sultry journey with Frangipani, a hyper-sensual floral, interwoven with YlangYlang, its spice made smooth with Beeswax, Vanilla and Tuberose. A distilled Vetiver finishes the fragrance, grounding and rounding its feel. L’Homme Prada presents the classic codes of the male Fougère are through Neroli, Geranium and Patchouli. Yet the interchangeable male/female Prada signatures are present, too, in the shape of Iris and Amber, the principal elements.

It’s not enough to turn heads— jaws must drop, glances transform into stares. When GOOD GIRL clicks her heels, she has the city at her feet. Her presence has a way of lingering over space and time. It flirts with the unconscious, becoming a memory impossible to shake. A weapon of seduction for the woman who wears it. Reveal your good side through the luminous facets of Tuberose and Jasmine Sambac. Indulge your bad side through the addictive notes of roasted Tonka beans and Cocoa.

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FEBRUARY 2017

A fine romance

The age of chivalry is dead, they say. Have modern ways destroyed how we celebrate relationships? ell, we’ve discovered that romance is actually alive and throbbing, it’s just that there are so many ways of showing it and experiencing it and nowadays people have a different take on what they consider romantic.

What is good to know is that grand gestures and exotic gifts are not necessarily the only way to show you care; and here it’s tempting to point out that if your partner only appreciates such tokens perhaps he or she has a very one-sided idea of true love.

Claire puts it this way.

Expensive gifts and flowers are always nice to receive (and give) but it is not that romantic. In my

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opinion, dedicating time to one another is the most romantic thing. Also the little everyday things are very romantic like preparing my lunch bag and sneaking in a piece of chocolate for me as a surprise to find later at work, even though I would have told him several times that I do not want chocolate because it is full of sugar. But he knows that my day is complete with chocolate. It always makes me smile.

Instead of being a mush of sentiment, Valentine’s Day, like Christmas, should be a celebration we use to remind us to be more tuned in to the ones we love all the time. There are ways to filter romance through the fog of work, family life and

the 101 incidents that crowd our lives all the time. It takes a little generosity and imagination but it can easily become a habit and that can only be good for everyone’s relationship.

A busy working mother is touched to the bottom of her heart when she comes downstairs from putting the children to bed to discover her husband has washed up, packed the next day’s school bags and set a supper table, with candles, for them to eat quietly together.

Cost? a little time and thoughtfulness, value? priceless.

Hiring or downloading favourite films and serials for his wife to watch while he’s glued to the sports channel is the sort of gesture Tom’s wife adores. And

Love is in the air

if he keeps her plied with tea and cake during half times she could even grow to love football!

In the 21st century, lack of time seems to be the biggest threat to romance; that and sharing a few precious hours together with dozens of semi-strangers on the end of a smart phone. Social media may look like an easy way to keep lovebirds tweeting but what couples want at certain times is their partner’s undivided attention.

The most romantic thing Sue ever did was arrange a week’s holiday away from it all. What she neglected to mention was the complete lack of a mobile signal or broadband in their destination. This could have been a disaster but she had

Or proof that romance means as much as it ever did is shown in Christine’s story.

A boyfriend in need... is a great boyfriend indeed

y boyfriend and I have been together for almost two years and apart from being two people in a romantic relationship we consider ourselves each other’s best friend and partner in crime. Last year I suffered a bad leg injury which took me nine months to recover from. They were nine terrible months of hospital appointments, severe pain, surgery, physiotherapy and walking limitations. The situation was unpleasant and I used to feel so sad and depressed sometimes, especially having had to depend on others to do simple, everyday things such as go to work or get a drink from the fridge. It was during this period that I realised how blessed I am to have my boyfriend by my side. He did everything in his power to make sure I am being positive and to make me happy.

He took time off work to accompany me to hospital appointments, he came up with outings where I could sit down and be comfortable, such as fishing. He used to give me the occasional talks about how to be morally strong and encourage me to work harder on my physiotherapy even if it was terribly painful. Of course, he used to get me a gift here and there too. Being romantic doesn’t always mean a nice dinner or a lovely gift but simple gestures that make you feel so important and special to someone. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words and I’ll be forever grateful for having him in my life as he proved he is there for me even when life gets tough.

And Christine’s story continues with:

rightly anticipated that when reduced to landlines and snail mail it could not be ‘business as usual’ and her husband quickly remembered the maxim about all work and no play. By the time they returned to a world that hadn’t ended as a result of their lack of communication, they had decided on regular tech-free breaks and are all the happier for it!

Romance is not a soppy waste of time and money. And thinking that a partner doesn’t go in for that sort of thing any more is a big mistake. It will never be dead as long as couples value what has made their relationship from the beginning, appreciate each other and never stop showing it.

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to follow him out on deck to see the view and take a few photos. Little did I know his real intentions. On that deck, as soon as we passed the spectacular Tower Bridge, all beautifully lit up at night, he went down on one knee with a red rose in his hand which turned out to be the ring box holding my engagement ring.

He asked me if I would be his forever and asked for my hand in marriage to which I immediately replied YES. Of course, I was completely taken by surprise but it was just so wonderful and so romantic and I still can’t believe it actually happened! London has played an important role in our relationship since the very beginning and now it holds an even more special place in our hearts.

A Marriage Proposal on the Thames While on holiday in London, in January, my fiancé planned a surprise boat cruise dinner on The Thames which was magical in itself. The food and the atmosphere were lovely and the views were breath taking, it was definitely a great experience. At one point, between the first and second course, he asked me

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valentine’s

The food of love Whether you’re having a romantic dinner out or a cosy meal at home,, food is especially associated with love and Valentine’s Day is no exception.

ow to spend the most romantic day or night of the year?

Perhaps you are planning dinner and a movie, supper and a box set, maybe just loads of popcorn and snacks washed down with something exciting, or even hot chocolate, as you settle for a TV drama. But if you’re considering a DVD it might be fun to pick something where food and romance have a special role to play.

Eating scenes are particularly popular with actors since the majority of them earn comparatively small salaries and spend long periods out of work. It’s fair to guess that the chance of free food, however many takes are needed to get the shot, will encourage an in-depth performance and the nuances and sentiment in the scene will be increased through the ‘business’ that goes with devouring food as a seduction technique.

The clichéd, classic gesture of endearment with one character brushing a crumb or splash of cappuccino foam from the lip of another as they become closer, springs to mind. But whole scenes in some of the most successful films have hinged on food and its part in creating suggestive or sentimental situations.

Let’s look at some films where food leads to love. Meatballs and spaghetti, not the first choice for a dish to conjure up unbridled passion, but what a great effect it had in Lady and the Tramp. Lady, a pedigree cocker spaniel, cannot resist the charms of mongrel dog Tramp when he takes her dinner at an Italian restaurant. As they unwittingly find themselves chewing on the same length of the spaghetti from their shared portion, their lips become close enough for a kiss. And Lady’s heart is won. Sweet does not begin to describe it.

And while slobbering over a bowl of porridge would usually drive a beautiful girl well away, somehow Beauty finds it endearing and love conquers all for Beauty and the Beast. Cartoons these movies may be but their tasty message is delightfully clear and witty.

In Kate and Leopold a rooftop dinner for Kate reaches greater heights in an ambience created by a violinist, a mouthwatering meal and an English duke with exquisite manners. Opposites also attract in Pretty Woman as Richard Gere’s millionaire character very sweetly tries to coach working girl Julia Roberts in the art of fine dining by ordering champagne and strawberries.

The 2012 film The Vow features a box of chocolates. It reignites the chemistry between Leo and his wife Paige, when he takes her to the café they went to on their first date, hoping to help her regain some of the memories she lost as the result of an accident. During a game of chocolate Russian roulette, where they eat random chocolates to discover which they love or hate their laughter and eye contact proves that true love never dies.

But the scene in Tom Jones, when Albert Finny and Susannah York take finger food to a new level as they devour drum sticks and very juicy pears in a pub dining room that rapidly leads to an upstair room, is still considered the best of the genre by anyone who saw it.

Alternatively, you could order a takeaway, light some candles, turn up the heat and the music and write your own script in your own location with your own happy ending!

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Leo and his wife Paige restore happy memories over a box of chocolates.

Lady and the Tramp are drawn to one another by a string of spaghetti.

Even with Beast’s terrible table manners Beauty still fell in love!

A romantic dinner on a rooftop weaves its magic in Kate and Leopold.

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Amped-Up Beef Stroganoff is ideal dish for Valentine’s Day rimed to romance your certain someone on Valentine’s Day? Nothing says “I love you” more persuasively than a home-cooked meal. This one-pot noodle dish, a variation on Beef Stroganoff, is the ideal messenger.

Although the roots of the classic recipe are certifiably aristocratic – a French chef working for Count Pavel Stroganoff, a Russian, created it in the early 1800s – Beef Stroganoff was being treated pretty roughly in America by the 1960s. At that time, when “convenience” trumped every other value, home cooks loved being able to whip up a fancy main course using canned gravy, canned mushrooms, canned minced onions and canned roast beef.

We’re gonna treat it with a little more respect in this recipe for Amped-Up Beef Stroganoff. To start, the basics remain unchanged — thin slices of beef fillet topped with a sauce of fresh mushrooms and sour cream, all of it ladled over noodles. But I’ve beefed up the umami — and intensified the taste — with dried mushrooms, tomato paste and Dijon mustard. Also, we cook the noodles in the sauce, which makes them that much more delicious.

Ideally, your steak of choice will be beef fillet — it is Valentine’s Day, after all — but if you don’t want to splurge, you can swap in less expensive cuts. And if you can’t find dried porcini, you’ll be fine with dried shiitakes or a mix of dried mushrooms. In truth, any dried mushroom packs a onetwo punch, contributing not only itself, but also the savory liquid generated when it’s rehydrated. That mushroom liqueur makes a lip-smacking base for any sauce.

What to serve alongside this love offering? A nice refreshing salad involving citrus will provide the perfect contrast. And don’t forget the stagecraft! Set a proper table with cloth napkins and mats, a candle or two, and a bottle of robust red wine.

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AMPED-UP BEEF STROGANOFF Start to finish: 1 hour Servings: 2

1 1/2 ounces dried porcini, rinsed 1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef or chicken broth 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 8 ounces filet mignon cut into 1-inch cubes Kosher salt and black pepper 1/4 cup finely chopped shallot or onion 4 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms (white, cremini, exotic or a mix) 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 teaspoons fresh thyme 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon flour 1/3 cup dry red wine 4 ounces egg noodles 1/2 cup sour cream 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice Chopped fresh parsley for garnish In a small saucepan combine the porcini mushrooms and the beef broth and bring the mixture just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mushrooms steep for 15 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine strainer, reserving it, and chop the mushrooms.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium- high heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper and add it to the pan. Sear the meat quickly on all sides and transfer it to a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the shallot to the skillet and cook stirring until softened; add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms are lightly browned. Add the garlic, thyme, tomato paste and flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add the red wine, reserved broth, 1 1/2 cups water, the chopped porcini and the noodles to the skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are just al dente, about 10 minutes, adding additional water if necessary to keep the noodles partly submerged. Stir in the sour cream, Dijon and lemon juice; adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add the beef and beef juices and simmer just until the meat is heated, about 1 minute. Serve right away, sprinkled with the parsley.

Nutritional information per serving: 871 calories; 338 calories from fat; 38 g fat (14 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 203 mg cholesterol; 419 mg sodium; 65 g carbohydrate; 7 g fiber; 9 g sugar; 53 g protein.

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Love in a heartbeat It may be a universal symbol of love, but what really happens to our hearts when we’re in love?

Hearts and flowers or burning passion, romance is keeps your heart healthy.

ou certainly need no excuse to hang out with best friends or cuddle up with the one you love, but medical studies show that doing that very thing is extremely good for your health.

Time spent together in romantic surroundings, long silences, the moral and emotional support couples give each other, result in a drop in blood pressure which, in turn gives the heart a rest.

Then, when the sight of someone you love, or even just fancy, sends a sudden rush of hormones making your heart beat faster that’s a great way for it to get some training and therefore pump blood more efficiently.

Hugs, kisses, whispering words of love and no doubt an unexpected instagram or snapchat – of a romantic rather than graphic kind — will stir a warm glow and good feeling. Even holding hands has a calming influence which offers support, security and a sense of sharing an experience which can be useful in sit-

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uations when our hearts may actually be skipping a beat.

And if you’re planning on watching a movie on St Valentine’s Night consider your choice carefully; it will be a heartfelt decision because whether it’s humour or drama you go for it will have an effect on that very organ. Although it’s from an outside source, the mental stress from a scary or sad film can cause blood vessels to narrow, restricting the flow to the heart. On the other hand laughing out loud at a comedy or basking in the contentment felt when watching a ‘feel-good’ film allows the blood to flow freely. Proof that a sad weepy may not be so romantic after all.

Believe it or not, love can also hit out at a well known enemy of heart health, cholesterol, in the form of letters, poems or even pages written in a journal. Research trials show that spending as little as 20 minutes writing about loved ones and your affection for them, whoever they may be, can significantly lower cho-

lesterol.

Brilliant isn’t it? You can have a lovely creamy, rich foodie treat on Valentine’s Day and then you and the partner who shared it with you can compensate by writing a romantic sonnet, or a love song, or just tweet some affectionate messages about the one you love and undo all the damage. If only it were that easy.

The power of love, through having people we love in our lives, also increases our happiness, contentment and overall enjoyment of life. And this gives us the positive outlook that protects us from the stress and anxiety that can lead to heart disease. In some instances it’s believed that love can even help people live longer.

So, while love can be heartbreaking and sometimes lead to disaster, the physical results of a loving relationship really do outweigh all that. For every symptom and sentiment love can bring comfort and offer support. Besides all

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The power of love, through having people we love in our lives, also increases our happiness, contentment and overall enjoyment of life

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the statistics about married men being happier and couples having less illnesses than singles and women with cats are just as happy as those with men and whatever the latest psycho-babble churns out, there can be no doubt that the heart has earned its place as a receptacle of emotion when being in love, however we feel it, has such a profound influence on how it works and therefore on our lives and loves.

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Jewellery, a gift for Valentine’s Day S

Anne D’innocenzio, suggests learning some tricks should help anyone have an easier time finding the perfect gift.

hopping for jewellery for a loved one ahead of Valentine’s Day can be stressful. But understanding a partner’s tastes, shopping at reputable jewellery stores and learning what the wording means in terms of how gemstones are graded should help anyone have an easier time finding the perfect gift. Above all, start researching with time to spare, figure out how much you want to spend, and shop to take advantage of post-holiday sales or limitedtime Valentine’s Day deals.

When buying a gift of jewellery it pays to:

Take precautions against fraud First, be cautious about a store always offering discounts of more than 50%. Consumers may find the discount price is actually the average retail price elsewhere.

Buy from a trusted retailer. Ask friends for recommendations or search for reputable jewellery stores.

As for diamonds, consumers should insist a stone be accompanied by an independent grading report from a respected lab. Also, check out the return policy and find out whether you’d get your money back or would have to exchange an item for credit.

Know your loved one’s taste Look at what your partner is wearing and what’s in the jewellery box. If your special someone likes small earrings, don’t get big hoops. And if that person is active, don’t buy rings with high settings.. If you plan to buy diamonds, see if there’s a way — subtly! — to find out if your partner would rather sacrifice size over quality or vice versa.

Consider synthetic diamonds If you want something sparkly but want to avoid gems from conflict zones, synthetic or man-made diamonds are about 20 to 40% less expensive. Produced in a laboratory, they are chemically the same as mined diamonds, as opposed to simulated diamonds, which are usually cubic zirconia or moissanite. While a gemologist wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between mined and synthetic diamonds, a jeweller needs to tell buyers the origin.

Do your research and learn the jargon Check out sites and online retail sites like Blue Nile for help in understanding key terms like what clarity means when you are talking about diamonds, or want to know more about how gemstones are graded. Bluenile.com offers tools to compare prices from 150,000 independently graded diamonds.

Be creative If you aren’t wanting to spend too much but still want good quality consider second hand, fair trade or antique jewellery.

And there are plenty of local designers who will create something really special and personal, within your budget. (AP)

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A kiss is just a kiss... “ unless it’s the very first one says Leanne Italie kiss is just a kiss, but as time goes by the first one can be everlasting. “I can tell you the exact date,” declared stylist and fashion designer Nicole Grays Owens, of Atlanta. “It was August 16, 1985, three days after my sweet 16th. He was my first true love and I his.”

We all have a first-kiss story, from the playground, park or basement, most likely. But do we all know what happened to the people with whom we shared that delicate snip of time? Do we care?

Writer Rachel Vail, of Manhattan, may not have been in love-with-a-capital L with the first boy she kissed, but they were a thing, elementary school style.

She was a fifth-grade Kim to his sixthgrade Hugo in their suburban New York school’s production of Bye Bye Birdie.

There was supposed to be a kiss between the two in the play. This being elementary school, there was not. Then came curtain call opening night.

“We met centre stage. He had a bouquet of flowers and he leaned forward and kissed me in front of a packed auditorium, in front of our parents and teachers and everybody else,” Vail recalled. “It was a sweet, chaste kiss, but I wiped it right off my mouth. My dad filmed the whole thing.”

Vail, 50, has worked a few memorable kisses into some of the more than 30 books she has written for young people.

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In real life, there was a big twist to her first.

Though it left her a “little shaken,” she took her spot at the end of the stage as planned during bows. And that put her next to the boy who played her father.

And it was he, years later, who became her husband. They’ve been married 24 years come spring.

“More than sex, that idea of kissing, connecting with somebody, it can be very innocent and it can be so very powerful,” Vail said. “It’s that first thought of yourself as a romantic and eventually a sexual being. First kisses can knock you down and make you feel so different about yourself and about the world.”

Owens, 47, feels the same. She and her first beau, back in Los Angeles where she grew up, courted over scoops of mint chip at the ice cream shop where he worked.

“It was awkward, tentative at first, then it morphed into everything I’d seen in a movie or on television,” she said. “It was passionate, romantic and seemed to go on forever. Maybe passionate is too heady a word for two virginal teenagers, but it felt like passion to me.”

The two drifted after high school, but she doesn’t have to wonder what became of him. Through social media she has learned that he’s the married father of four, a police officer in a small California town. She keeps her distance out of respect.

“He was the greatest first everything I

could have had and I still possess every picture, card, love letter and the dress I wore to his senior prom, which still fits, by the way.”

For David Rivera, a 62-year-old doctor in suburban Chicago, the first is now bittersweet. “May 27, 1968, behind the hedges in front of the house where she was baby-sitting! Life was never the same after that. Her name was Cheryl and we used to leave notes for each other tucked into the post for a stop sign near her house,” he said.

They exchanged Christmas cards occasionally over the years. She had a longterm temp job about a mile from where he lives.

“I saw her in 2004 for the first time in 32 years. We met for lunch. That would be the last time,” Rivera said. “She died in December 2012. I didn’t know until I had dinner with three other friends from high school a couple of years later.”

Dana Marlowe, 40, also reconnected with her first kisser, 25 years after the act.

She’s a federal agency IT consultant in suburban Washington, D.C., and new software to access a payment portal included the security question: “What is the name of your first kiss?” Marlowe treated her assistant to the story behind the answer since she’s the one who had to input the name.

The scene: A summer camp in Pennsylvania one hot July night in 1989. Marlowe was 12. Adam was 13.

It was passionate, romantic and seemed to go on forever. Maybe passionate is too heady a word for two virginal teenagers, but it felt like passion to me

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Marlowe was so tickled by the crush reminder that she tracked him down on Facebook, where they had a couple of old camp friends in common, and privately messaged him his new security role in her life.

“He wrote back within seconds and we wound up chatting,” she said. “He said, ‘If you think that’s funny, I’ve got a story for you, Dana.’”

Adam is Adam Goldberg, a Hollywood writer and producer. At the time they reconnected, he was pitching a TV series based on his 1980s childhood, The Goldbergs, which was picked up by ABC and includes a noteworthy young kiss and the pursuit of same in a story line involving a character he left as Dana.

Goldberg uses real-life home movies and other memorabilia to end each episode and it was Marlowe’s turn that time.

“So, that’s what happens when you look up your first kiss, courtesy of needing to get paid by the government,” Marlowe said.