THE DOS & DON’TS OF GIFTING PERFUME

Perfume has long been considered one of the ‘easier’ gifts to give at Christmas. But as anyone who has ever stood at a fragrance counter with several testers in hand will tell you, choosing a scent for someone else isn’t so easy. Perfume, after all, is deeply personal. Fragrances embody moods and ideas, textures, tones and even memories. Like people, they have different personalities — some are simple, some are complicated, some feature multiple notes and others are pared back but still surprise.

So, how do you find the right scent for your nearest and dearest? We asked Aidan Corcoran, Head of Beauty Personal Shopping at Brown Thomas to walk us through the do’s and don’ts of gifting perfume this Christmas.

DO: YOUR RESEARCH

“The first piece of advice I’d have is to find out what they already have or what they have had and loved. From here, you can either choose to restock their favourite or visit me in-store where I can recommend similar fragrances they’ll love,” explains Aidan. “Similarly, pay attention to brands they love so you can get an idea of their fragrance mindset. Perhaps they’re devoted to Jo Malone London or recently discovered Le Labo.”

DON’T: BE INFLUENCED BY HOME FRAGRANCES

“A lot of the time, people often assume they should choose a fragrance based on how the recipient’s house smells. But if you notice, a lot of the premium fragrance houses don’t have the same scents in perfume as they do for home fragrances,” reveals Aidan. “Frederic Malle has famously said that his best-selling fragrance ‘Portrait of A Lady’ doesn’t come in a candle or linen spray because your house shouldn’t smell like you and vice versa. Your house should evoke a different emotion and feeling.”

DO: TRY IT ON

“If you’re gifting a perfume to yourself this Christmas (as you should!), I would recommend spritzing the tester on your different pulse points. Think your wrist, your neck, behind the ears - areas where the skin is that little bit thinner so the blood can warm up the fragrance to reveal it’s true scent on you,” advises Aidan. “Allow the perfume to sit for half an hour so the fragrance can develop and you’ll get a better sense of how it will wear.”

DON’T: RUB YOUR WRISTS

“While spraying perfume on your wrists is the correct move, it’s not good practice to rub your wrists together as we once thought,” warns Aidan. “This motion actually breaks the molecules and can dull top notes. Worse again, it intensely mixes the perfume with your skin’s natural oils, which can change the way it smells. Instead, let the scent soak into your skin.”

DO: FOLLOW THE TRENDS

“I would always recommend leaning towards scents that are currently very on trend. For example, rose is having a huge resurgence. In the past, rose perfumes were considered ‘outdated’ and ‘mature’ but a lot of the new perfumes out now have reimagined the scent and developed a more ‘modern’ rose that’s proving to be extremely popular with customers,” reveals Aidan. “Spicy notes are also high in demand at the minute across both men’s and women’s fragrances. Just look at any of Tom Ford’s latest releases!”

DON’T: DISMISS BEST-SELLERS

“Best-sellers are best-sellers for a reason and are not to be slept on! If you want to think outside the box and gift a more unique fragrance, you need to have a really strong idea as to what that person really likes. But when you’re gifting for someone whose tastes you don’t know all too well, I always recommend choosing from our best-sellers as they are uniquely favourited by our customers,” explains Aidan. “Some people also just really enjoy an easy-wearing fragrance, something that isn’t going to be too complicated on the skin and so best-sellers are great for this as that’s exactly what they tend to be.”

DO: THINK ABOUT WHERE IT WILL BE WORN

“When choosing a perfume (whether it’s for yourself or a loved one), always take time to consider where the perfume will be worn. Is it something that will be worn more in the daytime? Or is it something you wish to spritz at night? Or both!” asks Aidan. “You can create a more harmonious fragrance match by imagining where it will be worn. For example, if the person you’re buying a scent for is always attending weddings or glamorous events, you might consider an elegant fragrance like Gypsy Water by Byredo. Or if they love to golf, a fresh scent like Versace’s Eros would be a perfect match.”

DON’T: JUDGE A PERFUME BY ITS PACKAGING

“Luxury packaging is like little pieces of jewellery for your dressing table or handbag. It doesn’t have to be something overly opulent or extravagant but it can just look and feel nice. So I do appreciate a perfume bottle that’s made well, holds in the hand nicely and is beautiful to look at. That said, it is what’s on the inside that counts,” advises Aidan. “I would always favour the perfume itself. If you look at premium fragrance houses, a lot of the time the packaging is minimalistic and this is intentionally done so the fragrance can speak for itself.”

DO: SHOP AIDAN’S RECOMMENDATIONS

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Now you know the secrets to gifting perfume, why not discover a fragrance gift set they’ll adore in The Very Best of Beauty Gift Sets.