How to Buy Fragrance as Gifts
The Insider's Guide to Getting the Perfect Perfume or Cologne
Buying a fragrance for someone else is not as simple as picking out a something from the beauty counters and paying for it. Here's what you need to know.
A fragrance is a very personal thing. What smells good on you will not smell the same on someone else. If you want to buy a fragrance or cologne as a gift, you must put on the deerstalker cap for some serious detective work.
Don't rush it
Never surprise someone with a fragrance that you're not sure they'll like. Chances are it won't be appreciated (despite the huge, fake smile and squeals of "glee"). Give yourself at least one week to explore thoroughly whether they have have a soft spot for perfumes/colognes or not and what sort of scents appeal to them. Then you need to shop around and sample the different scents available before deciding. Clear your nose with a sniff of coffee beans in between testing spritzes.
Tap into her likes
Scents represent our favourite things in life; they are an extension of our personalities. Once you know what their favourite smells are, bring that knowledge to the fragrance counter, where a skilled salesperson will be able to lead you in the right direction. A love of clean linens, tea, lemon, roses, musk, lavender, vanilla, cookies or even rainwater will be good hints as to what kind of perfume your friend will love.
Buy into the bottle
More than a good scent, fragrances are now appreciated for their unique flacons. Your friend doesn't need to be a serious perfume collector to love a great-looking bottle, just a connoisseur of design, architecture or creativity. They may not like the scent but if the bottle looks good on their dresser, your gift might not end up as a pass-on.
Identify their style
Another way to find your female friend the ideal fragrance is to match her personality with a perfume. There are a myraid quizzes online - try Quizilla or Chatelaine to start - that you encourage her find out her results, before you hit the counters.
Classic rule
There are certain universal scents you can't go wrong with -- the classics. Something from top noses, like Annick Goutal, Serge Lutens or Jo Malone could work. Otherwise, scents with citrus top notes, light floral middle notes and light musk or sandalwood base notes work well with everyone. Not lavender, though. Not everyone likes its "old lady" scent and associations.
Skip custom-blending
A good customised fragrance takes a few hours, and sometimes even months. The perfumery would frowns upon the practice because it takes somewhere between one and five years to create a good fragrance. So unless you're planning on at least a day-trip, with your friend in tow, to the custom perfumers, skip this one.
