Beauty and fragrance lead Brazil’s Valentine’s Day gift choices

Beauty and fragrance moved to the front of Brazil’s Dia dos Namorados spending, with 51% of respondents naming perfumery as their preferred gift, ahead of chocolates at 44%, gastronomy at 35%, fashion at 31% and jewelry and accessories at 28%. The pattern points to accessible luxury with emotional weight: a bottle of perfume or a skin-care set feels more personal than a box of sweets, less committed than jewelry and easier to pair with a night out.

The same survey found that 67% of celebrants planned to combine a date with a gift, underscoring how the holiday is shifting toward memory-making purchases rather than stand-alone presents. Helloo compared the survey with 2025 sales data from its shopping-center base and found growth across all of the main categories it tracked, led by chocolates at 21% and beauty and perfumery at 18%. Vicente Varela, helloo’s commercial and marketing director, said the date is increasingly tied to experience rather than just purchasing, while shopping centers still shape both intention and conversion.

The larger market only sharpened the appeal of those categories. GS1 Brasil said Dia dos Namorados 2026, celebrated on June 12, was expected to draw about 93 million Brazilian shoppers and generate roughly R$22.14 billion in retail and services, with the average consumer spending about R$238. The same outlook showed Brazilian e-commerce taking in R$9.23 billion on the holiday in 2025, up 15.1% from the year before. GS1 Brasil also traced the date back to 1948, when publicist João Doria created it to stimulate June sales.

A separate Globo Ads Insights study showed how heavily the holiday now leans on emotion and media. It found that 95% intended to buy gifts and 70% planned to celebrate, while 72% saw Dia dos Namorados as a moment to strengthen the relationship. Campaigns mattered too: 55% said they paid attention to holiday promotions and 47% were influenced by offers. In that climate, fragrance, cosmetics and beauty gifts fit the brief precisely, offering a premium feel without the price, permanence or pressure of fine jewelry.