This is our pick of the best scents and fragrant gifts for Christmas this year …
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There’s an art to buying perfume for someone else. It’s very personal, for one thing. While many people used to have a signature scent that they’d never shift away from, making things easy, now a lot of us have a “wardrobe” of scents to suit different occasions or moods. If you’re finding it hard to choose, we’d always say go for an Irish scent: some of our homegrown perfumes are so excellent that it’s easy to keep things local. Cloon Keen is always my first stop for something exquisite, and the only challenge is choosing just one, from sunny La Bealtaine to our own winter pick, warm and chestnutty Castaña, an international award-winner.
You don’t need to spend a fortune: smart scent buyers know that there are top perfumers behind French pharmacy brand Roger & Gallet (go for the latest, Cologne Twist), and Clarins Eau Dynamisante (from €30) is a bright and brilliant gender-free fragrance that smells great on everyone. And bear in mind that the perfumer behind designer brands such as Byredo and Victoria Beckham perfumes, Jérôme Epinette, has created scents for high-street names such as & Other Stories: Sicilian Sunrise and Sardonyx Fire for (€35 each, 50ml).
Discovery sets offer a great way to find something new, without huge commitment, or give someone a choice. Plus the mini bottles are ideal for travelling with – I’m currently using some by Estée Lauder from their recently reimagined Legacy collection. For example, expensive designer brand Byredo does a good one for €47; try also the Tom Ford sample set (€34.95). And if you’re travelling before Christmas, Dublin and Cork Duty Free offer genuinely good deals on scent (and beauty items), even top-priced labels such as Tom Ford.
Hair perfumes can be a smart way to wear a scent for less – for example, the eternally beautiful and very expensive Portrait of a Lady by Frederic Malle is available as a hair mist for €120 (half the price of the perfume). Try the Chanel Coco Mademoiselle one, too (€68).
To help you choose something new and special, here are some recommendations that might help, including some standout Irish scents that we feel sure will go down a storm.
Splashing out? In a dream world, I’d go for Chanel’s Les Exclusifs Comete and one of Matiere Premiere’s Les Extraits – super-intense twists on the exquisite original eaux de parfums. Just try wearing their Vanilla Powder without someone commenting on it … it smells like the perfect warm crème croissant from a Parisian bakery. This French brand is popping up in every cool store around the world right now (from London’s Dover Street Market to Galeries Lafayette in Paris). It’s the one to watch.
THE ALL TIME CLASSIC
Chanel No5 L’Eau de Toilette, €144 (50ml), at counters nationwide, www.chanel.com
THE SOPHISTICATE
Victoria Beckham 21:50 Rêverie eau de parfum, from €200 (50ml), at Brown Thomas; www.brownthomas.com.
THE IRISH STAR
Cloon Keen Castaña eau de parfum, €150, at Cloon Keen Galway and Powerscourt Townhouse, Dublin 2; www.cloonkeen.com
RICH AND DARK
Memo Paris Moroccan Leather eau de parfum, €199 (75ml), at www.dublinandcorkdutyfree.ie
WARM AND SUNNY
The Burren Perfumery Neroli eau de parfum, €130 (50ml), at www.burrenperfumery.com
THE ONE FOR ALL
Clarins Eau Dynamisante treatment fragrance, from €30 (50ml), at www.clarins.ie
THE NAME TO KNOW
Matiere Premiere Santal Austral Extrait de Parfum, €350, ww.matiere-premiere.com
THE TASTY TREAT
Jo Malone London Orange Bitters Cologne, €56.50 (30ml), at www.dublinandcorkdutyfree.com
