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3 Great Fragrance Gifting Tips For The Holidays
Worried that you won’t be able to find something special for that person who seems to have everything? A fragrance might be just the gift option that you’re looking for.
Fragrances are a great gift option to surprise your friends or loved ones because of their thoughtfulness and rarity, but unfortunately, choosing the right fragrance for the right person can be a real hit or miss affair.
Though, that shouldn’t really be all too surprising, since smell is one of the most subjective and mysterious of all our 5 senses, it’s only natural that choosing the right fragrance for another person can sometimes mean that you need to know quite a bit about them to find something they really enjoy.
This also means that if you aren’t familiar with shopping for fragrances or with the person you’re shopping for, then it can be a real hassle to get the right gift or shop with any kind of confidence.
So to help aid you on your fragrance gift giving journey this year, we’ve assembled 3 of our personal top insider fragrance gifting tips that we think will help you pick out the perfect holiday scent this season, no matter if you are a fragrance newbie or a professional scent-connoisseur.
Find Out Their Signature Scent
This is our number one tip and, in our opinion, it’s definitely the most important of the three. Few gifts are as elegant as a well thought out fragrance, but it requires fairly good knowledge of the person you’re gifting to. This is where knowing their signature scent comes in handy.
Knowing it will allow you to get a good feel of their fragrance likes and dislikes without having to do too much research or ask them too many questions, which may ruin the surprise of your gift.
Most of the time, the type of person who would like to receive a fragrance as a gift already wears a fragrance that they enjoy. They also might even have a scent that they consider their “signature”. They might personally identify very deeply with this particular fragrance, or they may wear it quite often.
Knowing a person’s signature scent can often help you understand a person’s personality, mood, or even their fashion sense, so knowing it can be a great help for choosing a fragrance gift with the confidence that you picked something that they will truly enjoy.
So how do you figure it out?
Well, the easiest way to find out their signature scent is to simply ask them directly.
While this may spoil the surprise of your gift somewhat, it's also the surest and simplest way to determine what a person’s signature scent is, and by extension, what kind of fragrance would probably be best for them as a gift.
If you do decide that you want to ask them directly, but also want to be a bit less direct about it, you could also ask them what kinds of smells they like or dislike, or if they have any “pet peeves” when it comes to a specific scent (ie woodsy, spicy, fruity, etc.).
If they don’t know their signature scent or if they have more than one that they really enjoy, then take an online fragrance quiz or use a fragrance advent calendar to help narrow down your list of choices.
Another way to sniff out their signature scent is to look at their existing fragrance collection. If they happen to have their collection on display, then you can simply take a glance to see which kinds they have or even sample their fragrances to get an idea of what they like.
You might even want to sample parts of their collection (with their permission of course!).
If you're shopping for your spouse or loved one, then take a note of which scents they often wear out, or if they have any fragrances they like to talk to you about. Try to remember which specific fragrances remind you of their personality or style, or which ones remind you of the time that you two spent together.
You can also consider the personality or lifestyle of the person you’re gifting for. For example, adventurous people might prefer spicy or exotic scents, and people who love the outdoors would probably appreciate a good floral or earthy scent. Get creative and try to think of what scents really represent their personality!
Once you know their signature scent, you can either try to find that same fragrance, or you can do a bit of research to see which kinds of fragrances are similar to it.
Look To Their Favorite Foods
Another less direct way of learning about a person’s preferred scents is to take a look at the kinds of food they like.
This tip is probably less important than knowing a person’s signature scent, but it’s still useful to know, and can really help you pick out the perfect fragrance.
Although it may seem strange at first, when you stop to think about it, a lot of our favorite foods are closely connected with our favorite smells, so it makes quite a bit of sense to use one to learn about the other.
This is also a bit surprising when you think about it, but a fairly good number of popular fragrances often feature food-like scents, and more specifically dessert-like flavors.
These are called “gourmand scents” and scents like vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and honey, are all very popular examples of this kind of fragrance, and are all good options to remember when choosing your gift.
There is quite a bit of scientific research that suggests that there is a strong link between our sense of smell, food, and our feeling of well-being. Similar to knowing a person’s signature scent, knowing a person’s favorite foods can tell you a lot about their personality, likes and dislikes, and sometimes even their day to day behavior!
Look at the base notes for the perfumes you are considering as a gift. Do these notes match your recipient's favorite foods?
Explore Uncommon Fragrances
After you know your recipient's signature scent and their favorite foods, the next best piece of advice is to try to think outside the box.
Fragrance is a very mysterious and personal thing, so going a little wild and getting something outside a person’s comfort zone can open them up to new horizons and expand their collection.
This tip is especially useful if you are trying to buy a fragrance for someone who already has a good knowledge of what kinds of fragrances they like, or if they have a large collection.
Look for fragrances with uncommon notes, like saffron or leather, or scents with uncommon combinations of more common notes, like combining chocolate with chili pepper.
One thing to remember while considering this tip is that these kinds of fragrances might be a bit more expensive, due to their complexity or rarity. But they are also almost sure to surprise your recipient, even if they are already something of a fragrance snob.
Another way to surprise your recipient is to subvert their expectations, this can be done by gifting a scent not associated with the time of year you give it to them (like buying a summer fragrance for winter).
Using an uncommon scent in this situation can be like a surprise double whammy, as the uncommon scent itself is almost sure to surprise them in addition to subverting their expectations, creating a very memorable gift.
So there you have it, 3 of our personal favorite tips for giving the perfect fragrance gift this season.
Keep these ideas in mind and you’ll be well on your way to picking out an unforgettable and thoughtful fragrance gift that your loved one is sure to remember for a long time.