Spoiling someone special with a perfume gift

HELLO again, folks. I hope you had a swell week. I don’t know about you, but I long for the time when my partner is around, but as soon as he goes away for a period of time, I miss him terribly and I can’t wait for him to return. Strange, hey?

Anyway, this week I received a message from someone asking how do they choose perfume as a gift for someone special? Mmmmmmmmm this is complicated, but let me see if I can give you tips.

First, let me say instead of me saying perfume, let us refer to it as fragrance which make the topic a lot more broad. Personally, I am a very fussy person when it comes to what I am wearing, whether it is my clothing or my scent. I do not even like to smell my own body odour most of the day, it drives me crazy (all those religious people — hold your God gave you a natural smell advice please). Because I love everything I put on my body to have a nice smell, most people who knew me would buy me perfumes or scented body lotions – great! But I never used 90 percent of them – why? Because the scent was not something would wear or even appreciate.

So the above question is a good question because it will save you a lot of wasteful purchases and heartaches in the future. My initial advice to you would be if you are not prepared to take your time to ensure you get the right thing, then rather find a different gift seriously. Perfume must not just be bought. It is a personal gift, for someone you know and not just for anyone you just met. Scent feeds your emotions and says a lot about the person you are buying it for and says a lot about the person giving it. So let’s give you some professional tips shall we……

First you need to study the person. People are very open about their tastes when it comes to fragrances, I promise you. All you have to do is listen. So what I am saying here is study the person. Make it a habit when you are around fragrances to point out a few and engage them in conversation. Most people will somehow somewhere throw out their preferences to you. For instance, as you look at different frangrances, someone might say something like “oh, I don’t use roll-ons because I will develop a rash”. Right there you know that you should not buy them roll-ons.

Someone could say: “Oh, I bought this wonderful perfume the other day it is called ?????, I would recommend it to anyone.” The person would have told you what kind of perfume they like.

Do no presume! I have always worn lace perfume, lace body lotion and lace everything for decades. So everyone who knew me never bothered asking what I wanted for my birthdays, they all knew every year that it was the same.

But once I turned 30, suddenly my taste changed when I went to India. I found a fragrance that had an awesome smell. After using it, I wondered why I only ever used lace before. In fact, I cannot stand the smell of lace anymore.

Unfortunately, I told no-one, so on my 31st birthday, all my friends as usual bought me everything under the “lace label”. From Lace perfumes, to Lace roll-on, to Lace face soap and Lace body lotion. I have never been so disappointed yet so appreciative all at the same time. It shocked people months later when they found out that I had not used any of the stuff they bought me because when I was overseas I bought myself a good lot of other fragrant body lotions and perfumes and now preferred those. So trust me people can change even when they say they won’t.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Having said what I said in the previous paragraph about never presuming. In the same breath, do not try and reinvent the wheel. Just because you are tired of your friend smelling the same year after year does not mean you have to take it into your own hands and give him or her something of your own choice. If they love Chanel No 5, then buy that. I promise you if you buy them “Shield” you might find it still on their dressing table years later – un-used.

Limited Editions are perfect. If the person likes to be wowed, your best option is to save up and buy a limited edition. It gives the person the chance to own something unique making it all the more special.

If you are buying for a man do your research people. Men more than ladies tend to be brand-loyal. If they find an aftershave they like, they stick to that brand. So if you really want them to wear something different, find out if there is a new fragrance under that same brand and get them to try it. The fragrance is different but it is the same brand name.

Gift sets do not always work for men. If you know he is going to use the soap on a rope – go for it. But if you know he is not that kind of guy – just find something simpler.

His and Hers might work. You will be amazed at how many people love the perfume their opposite sex partner wears. If that’s the case, they might actually enjoy the same fragrance made for their gender.

For A stranger. I am still to find a woman who does not appreciate a scented candle. Even women who say they have no interest in them; once they have one, they cherish them, especially if there is a heart-warming card attached to it.

Remember that scent is a power aphrodisiac, it is also a power sedative. So do not take these things lightly when you purchase them. Also remember that some fragrances will react negatively to different natural body odours. For instance my sister smells great when she wears musky type scents. But if I wear anything musky I will smell like I came out of a toilet – seriously. My body odour refuses to gel with anything with Musk or spices. Something cant wear floral scents and the like. So be careful, take your time.

Well that’s it from me this week folks. Have a great week and God bless.

TIP OF THE WEEK:
If all else fails find something with Vanilla scent, no one can resist Vanilla.