‘It’s the thought that counts,’ they say, but the truth is, a lot of people don’t put thoughts into their gifts anymore. I love the idea of gifting; always have. I have spent precious time in my life working on DIY gifts, handmade greeting cards, and finding gifts. Gifts that are not just useful but also make people feel joyous when received.
Being a perfume lover, I have both received and gifted perfumes as gifts. So let me share this definitive guide with you for choosing a perfume gift – depending on the occasion, relationship with the person, culture & philosophy.
But first, let’s clarify something that gets wondered a lot.
Is Perfume A Good Gift?
Perfume is considered a good gift because it is not driven by necessity and hence can be appreciated by anyone who wears perfume even though they already have too many in their collection. The beautiful design of the bottles, intricate or minimalist, makes it even more worthwhile.
If you’re not familiar with the world of fragrances, gifting someone passionate about scents requires understanding a few key aspects of perfumes.
- Perfumes Can Intimate
Many people like to flaunt their perfume collection, but for some others, it can be a more intimate thing. Mostly because they choose their own perfumes by going to stores testing it out, and bringing it home. So, you need to be very careful about whether gifting a perfume is the right choice for them.
- Perfume Can Be Expensive
Perfumes are a luxury product. Yes, the market today has a range of prices for you to choose from but they also come with their limitations. Some major limitations include sillage, projection and longevity of the perfume. If you want to make it a memorable gift, you should be ready to spend some money. Or you can do some proper research to find an affordable fragrance that is high quality.
- Perfume Comes in a Variety of Scent Profiles
If you are not familiar with the world of fragrances, you need to understand scent profiles. Perfumes can be aquatic, fresh aquatic, animalic, floral, amber floral, oceanic, and so on. These are called scent profiles, as in, how the perfume smells in general, without involving what notes or accords it has.
While you don’t have to go through what scent profile is, it helps to understand what kind of fragrance your recipient leans into more.
History of Perfume Gifting
Perfume gifting has been there since ancient times across many cultures. While the Hindu culture sees it as a bad luck, some other countries have embraced it wholeheartedly.
It is said that Egyptians used to gift perfumes to show affection. In the early Egyptian civilizations, only pharaohs had the privilege to use essential oils. These were not available instantly but were guided by priests. But some earned these precious oils as gifts, especially men who achieved something great as a social deed.
The Comprehensive Guide to Choosing Perfumes as Gifts
What perfume you gift your friend, your parents, your siblings, or your partner depends upon how well you know this person. While what they like makes it easier, what they DON’T like holds equal importance. I have no idea about what your recipient likes and dislikes are, but I can share this guide on how I navigate this perfume gifting journey.
This guide is written comprehensively. This means it is for anyone who needs help understanding basic stuff about perfumes because they don’t wear much themselves. And also for anyone who knows a lot about perfumes. So, if you are an advanced perfume lover, be a little patient with the extra basic details.
Here are things to consider which will make up most of this guide.
- Consider Their Culture
You can skip reading this point if you and your recipient are from the same culture.
It was my friend in college who had just received perfume as a gift from her boyfriend. My other friend joked with us about how it might end their relationship because of the perfume gift. It was probably the first time I heard of this what we call ‘superstition’.
I don’t have much deep knowledge about the ‘why’ of this belief. But it is also said that if you must gift them a perfume, you can do so by making it a ‘purchase’. The trick(to trick bad luck?) is to have the recipient pay you money, say, 1 rupee in return because now this gift is not a gift but a purchase. I think that’s a nice trick because what does luck know about the market price of the perfumes?
But honestly, a lot of Indians gift their partners perfumes all the time without taking any money in return, and some hardly ever heard of this. But in any case, make sure to learn about what kind of belief your recipient follows.
- Consider Their Beliefs or Philosophy In Life
Are they vegan? Will they be upset to be associated with perfume or products that are not vegan and cruelty-free?
This is one of the most important considerations as more and more people are becoming aware of sustainability and a healthy way of living.
Usually, perfumes are not vegan and cruelty-free for various reasons. But the good thing is that there are vegan and cruelty-free perfume brands, affordable and suitable for gifting.
- Your Relationship With This Person
As we have already mentioned perfumes can be considered something intimate, it should be considered before purchasing a gift for someone.
You might know that a person likes perfumes without their telling you in a conversation or their knowledge. And if you go ahead with gifting them perfumes, they could be a little confused as to how you know they like perfumes. It can be your colleague or a friend, who is not close to you. And this might make them uncomfortable.
Thus you might want to gift perfumes to people who you are close with, or who you know for sure would be happy to get such a gift from you. This includes family members, immediate or extended, close friends, partners, etc.
- Consider Their Lifestyle Around Perfumes
Do they wear perfumes occasionally, or do they wear them every day? Do they experiment with perfumes, or like exploring? To know if a perfume will do well in their collection, you can consider the following questions before buying.
- What do they wear most often?
- Are they up for trying new fragrances?
- Are they enthusiastic about perfumes as a whole or it’s just a status thing?
- What Scent Profile They Dislike
It’s a good thing if you know what kind of scent the prospective recipient likes to wear. But that might also mean they have a lot of those perfumes. So, if you wanted to gift them something that they would never have bought or thought of buying themselves, you’d need to know what they dislike in a perfume.
Some people cannot stand musky, or cloying perfumes. Don’t just go by gender; I know women who don’t like single floral perfumes, and I know men, who hate leathery or musky scents. Knowing what scent they dislike might not make your gift the winner but it won’t be associated with a headache at least.
So, when you are choosing your perfumes, go to Fragrantica.com, look for the accords and notes of this perfume, and learn what notes could be a turn-off for them.
- The Perfume Brands They Wear
Some people wouldn’t be caught dead smelling like a drugstore perfume. Because all they have in their collection are these branded designer perfumes and these are only what they have known their whole lives.
At the same time, some others would never understand the artistic value of the perfume you gifted them. Say you have enough money to give them a limited edition niche perfume, and you are a perfume lover, you’d feel a little salty if they had just been spraying this perfume every day to everywhere without actually understanding how much a perfume lover would give for this.
Perfume brands can mostly be categorised into 5 types – drugstore cheapies, Designers, Celebrity fragrances, Niche, and Indie. There can be more but you can do with these 4 as of now.
- Drugstore Cheapies: Can be found easily in drugstores, typically cheap around 20-50$(in the US)
- Designer Fragrances: Sold by fashion brands like Armani, Gucci, Dior, etc.
- Celebrity Fragrances: Launched by celebrities. Examples include Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Billie Eilish, etc.
- Niche Perfumes: Niche perfumes are often on the expensive side, oftentimes not easily accessible, are more artistic in nature, and scent not always mass-pleasing. Examples include Amouage, Clive Christian, etc.
- Indie perfumes: Not extremely popular, might not always have fancy commercial packaging, small brands.
If you have seen their collection, try to recall it, or better yet, ask them what kind of brands they have in their collection. Research these names. If their collection only has designer fragrances, then going for a designer perfume gift is your best bet. If you learn they have a cheapie somewhere in the collection, you can definitely go for a cheapie. The same goes for niche or other categories’ brand collections.
- Consider The Occasion
While this is not as important as the other ones, considering the occasion however can make the gift-receiving experience a whole more entertaining. Because if it’s Christmas, receiving a spicy, warm, and cosy perfume shows that you have put a lot of thought into gifting.
If you are at your wit’s end about what kind of perfume to choose, here are some perfume gifting ideas according to the occasion.
- Birthdays: Perfumes they have on their wishlist or everyday perfume.
- Weddings or Anniversary: Something exclusive, not easily accessible or something that not everyone wears. Or something that is not an everyday perfume.
- Christmas: Something that can be worn every winter, something that uplifts the mood.
- Valentine’s Day: Perfumes with a touch of romance, unless your partner has an unfulfilled wishlist around this time.
- Non-occasion: If you wanted to gift someone and waiting for their birthdays or any Holiday to arrive, I’d say gift them already. A non-occasion gift is best for two reasons:
- The surprise factor is great.
- Since it’s not a birthday, holiday or any other occasion, they weren’t expecting anything and hence cannot be disappointed.
Tip: Did you know that scent is believed to have healing properties? That’s why aromatherapy exists. If you want to go see someone in the hospital, you can opt for a solid perfume as a get-well gift, along with flowers.- Consider Gifting Discovery Sets
I love discovery sets. Every time I go to a perfume site, I look for the availability of discovery sets, especially the new and small perfume brands. Discovery sets are best when you cannot decide on a particular perfume. If your recipient is a perfume lover, they would be happy to receive a discovery set to explore and discover new perfumes.
Some brands also sell gift boxes, which are mostly the same thing as discovery sets. But they come in more fancy boxes.
If you have a few perfumes in mind, and there are no discovery sets because they are from different brands, you can start creating a decant set yourself. This would make the gift wholesome.
Takeaway
A truly thoughtful gift, to me, isn’t solely about receiving something I’ve desired. It’s about being pleasantly surprised by someone’s thoughtful insight into what would bring me joy – a delightful discovery that they’ve understood my tastes and preferences.
While receiving a new bottle of a beloved perfume makes me happy, it lacks the element of surprise. Sometimes, the most touching gifts are those that stem from the giver’s own passions or interests. If it is prompting them to think, ‘I love this, perhaps she might appreciate something similar.’, it makes it better. It’s those unexpected, personal touches that truly make a gift special and memorable.
