Love in the Air : Body Lotions Perk Imagination, but Chocolate Is Always Tasteful

Call it a guy thing. On the eve of cupid’s dice throw, two truths emerged as men awkwardly perused the flower, candy and lingerie shops dotting the San Fernando Valley.

Guys generally wait till the last minute to pick up a Valentine’s gift. And it’s not unusual for men to buy something they could enjoy with their mates.

“I am going to surprise her with this,” said Bill, of Encino, as he purchased some intimate items from Suzi’s Delights, a lingerie shop in Tarzana. “This is a new concept.” Last year, it was slinky lingerie. Tonight, Bill confided with a sly grin, the agenda will include body lotions and a can of flavored whip cream.

Bill was one of hundreds of men making the rounds Tuesday, a familiar sight to the purveyors of long-stemmed roses, teddies, diamonds and peanut brittle. A day earlier, while hundreds of women were making their purchases, Melanie Shafer offered this professional observation.

“Most of them will be here tomorrow night and after work on Wednesday,” predicted Shafer, a clerk at a Lingerie For Less store in Sherman Oaks. “Most of the time, when a guy purchases lingerie, he will buy something he feels she’d look good in.”

That certainly was the approach of Tony of Granada Hills, who spent $38.97 at Frederick’s of Hollywood in the Northridge Fashion Center. “I bought something that I would like to see her wear and if she doesn’t like it, she can bring it back and exchange it,” he said.

He’s right. Store clerks said often a guy will pluck something lacy and two sizes too small from the lingerie rack. A few days later, Shafer said, many of the women are back to exchange the gift--often for a sturdy and sensible bra and panty ensemble.

Yet as times change, so too do the men and the gifts they give. Store clerks said some guys now ask their mates what they want to prevent the purchasing of any more tasteless items. “Love consultant” Kimberly Hartwig explained the shift.

“It’s amazing how much thought men put into their gifts now,” said Hartwig, who works at The Love Boutique in Tarzana. “Men are finding that they have to put thought and work into their relationship, especially if they expect some type of reward will be there. Men have come a long way.”

Well, yes and no. A day earlier, women were the only ones out in force at The Love Boutique during the lunch hour, many of them seeking the counsel of “chief love consultant” Judy Levy. Books and massage oils appeared to be big sellers, though some considered board games with names we don’t want to reprint and objects we don’t want to describe.

The women resembled the men in one respect. When it comes to love, or at least talking about it, anonymity is a virtue.

“I have to be nameless because there’s too many people who will read the paper and call my husband,” said a woman. She wore a baseball cap and dark glasses into the store, “looking for something different for Valentine’s Day.”

She’s been happily married for seven years (no itch), has two children, and described herself as “an old fogy,” although she didn’t look like one. Her husband, evolved creature that he is, “doesn’t care about lingerie.”

Instead, she said, “we talked about body oil, so I thought I’d surprise him. My husband’s very romantic and I wanted to let him know I still find him very sexy. We’re in it for the long haul.”

Some of the women were shopping for significant others, but plenty of others were out there shopping for themselves. There may be a trend here: One doesn’t have to be the loneliest number. Apparently the new feminist mantra of the ‘90s is that you have to learn to love yourself before you can run with the wolves.

Levy said, with approval, that she knows one woman--not currently in a relationship--who plans to “send herself a bouquet of flowers and write herself a card.” Levy added: “You have to ask yourself: ‘Are you somebody you’d love? Are you somebody you’d go out on a date with?’ ”

There’s another tie that binds on this day dedicated to love--chocolate. One women customer at The Love Boutique was led to a discrete corner of the shop and introduced to the concept of “soft chocolate.” A love consultant offered this advice: “You can draw hearts all over his body.”

Over at See’s Candies in North Hills, chocolate comes in more conventional packages. And guys, being guys, were there to buy it.

“You can’t go wrong with that,” said 24-year-old Trevor Nichols, clutching his box of chocolates while in line. Then there was Curtis Batdorf of Arleta. Flowers have become too expensive, he said in explanation. He also planned to take his wife out to dinner after forgetting to make dinner reservations last year.

Also in line was Samuel Mandell, who said he didn’t know what else to get his wife. At age 75, he openly questioned buying lingerie. He said the thought of “walking into one of those places” freaked him out, yet he imagined “that it would be kind of fun.”

In the end, he opted for candy, though that too was a bit risky. “Neither one of us are supposed to be eating this.”

Love, indeed, can be a wild thing.