The week after Valentine’s has its own set of named days, observed largely by people who found the first week exhausting. It is a real thing in Indian colleges and on the internet, and it gets almost no useful coverage.
Here is what the days are, and how to mark them without the whole thing curdling.
The seven days
| Date | Day | What it is actually for |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Feb | Slap Day | A joke. Nobody slaps anybody |
| 16 Feb | Kick Day | The same joke, again |
| 17 Feb | Perfume Day | The one that is a normal gifting day |
| 18 Feb | Flirting Day | Mostly a group-chat event |
| 19 Feb | Confession Day | The one with real content in it |
| 20 Feb | Missing Day | Best skipped, honestly |
| 21 Feb | Breakup Day | A joke with a bad edge to it |
Two of these are worth taking seriously and the rest are internet furniture. Perfume Day is a straightforward small gifting occasion. Confession Day is the interesting one — it is the same prompt as Propose Day with the pressure of the first week removed, which for a lot of people makes it easier.
The version worth actually doing
Strip the names off and what is left is a week for friendships, and that is genuinely underserved. Valentine’s week has eight days of infrastructure and the friendships that carry most people through February have none.
Do something for a friend rather than against couples. That distinction is the whole difference between this working and it being sour.
- The friend who had a bad year, taken out properly
- The group that has not been in one room since college
- The one who moved cities and has not had anything arrive from home
- Yourself, without irony, because that is allowed
What to give
The friendship version of a Valentine’s gift has the same engine: something that could not have gone to anyone else.
| Format | Suits | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Print pack | 30 loose photographs from a specific period | ₹270 |
| Photo magazine | The years, in order, with words | ₹499 to ₹1,099 |
| Card deck | 30 to 60 short specifics | From ₹999 |
About four photographs fill a page, so a friendship is usually 16 to 24 pages. Flat ₹70 delivery anywhere in India.
A group version works particularly well in this week — several friends contributing to one object for one of them. How to run that without it collapsing is the practical part, and February is a good month for it because everyone is already thinking about the calendar.
Where it goes wrong
When it is aimed at someone. A gift or a post whose real audience is an ex is not anti-Valentine’s, it is Valentine’s with a grudge attached, and everyone can tell.
When Breakup Day gets taken literally. It is a joke name. Using it as a prompt is a genuinely bad idea and it does happen.
When it is performed. The version of this week that exists for the group chat is not the version that does anything for anyone.
When it is bitterness with a theme. Being single in February is fine; a week structured around resenting people who are not is a worse February than the one you were avoiding.
Missing Day, and the honest note
20 February is called Missing Day and it is the one to be careful with.
For anyone who has actually lost someone — a breakup, a bereavement, a friendship that ended — a themed day about missing people is not a light prompt. If that is where you are, skip it, and if that is where a friend is, that is the week to check on them rather than to send anything.
When to ignore the whole thing
When you did not find the first week difficult. Then this one is solving a problem you do not have.
When you would be doing it ironically. Irony is a lot of scaffolding for a small gesture.
When a friend is genuinely struggling. What to send someone having a hard time is a different and better answer than a themed day.
When you are marking it to prove something. Same failure as the first week, pointed the other way.
Timing
5 to 14 days from order to doorstep, 5 to 12 to Delhi NCR, flat ₹70 anywhere. Dispatch is weekly on Mondays, so a Friday order catches that week’s dispatch and a weekend order waits seven days. Add two to four days for design and your proof approval.
The second half of February is well clear of the courier crunch, which makes this a genuinely easier week to have something arrive in than the one before it. Order in the first week of February.
Frequently asked
What is anti-Valentine’s week? The seven days after 14 February — Slap, Kick, Perfume, Flirting, Confession, Missing and Breakup Day. Mostly joke names, observed largely by people who found the first week exhausting.
Which days are worth marking? Perfume Day, which is a normal small gifting day, and Confession Day, which is Propose Day without the first week’s pressure.
What should I give a friend that week? Something that could only have gone to them — a record of a specific period rather than a generic object. It is the same engine as any good Valentine’s gift.
How do I keep it from turning bitter? Do something for a friend rather than against couples. That distinction is the whole difference.
Part of our guide to Valentine’s week, day by day. See also: Valentine’s gifts for married couples.
Shop: Gifts for a best friend · Valentine’s Day gifts · Polaroid prints from ₹270