Last year I enjoyed writing a Gift Ideas post so much that this year I decided to do it again and early enough for you to have time before holidays to shop. By now (I mean time in your life, not of the year) you’ve probably identified people in your surroundings who might appreciate perfume-related gifts and, unless you’re extremely lucky, your list of such recipients isn’t much longer than mine. But if you like any of the things I found, maybe you could get them – just in case you later think of somebody who you want to give that as a gift? And, worse comes worst, you’ll have to toughen up and use it yourself. I chose $35 as an arbitrary upper limit for the gift ideas I shared below.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post in any form; and it doesn’t contain affiliate links.
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Atelier Cologne keeps coming up with great ideas for popularizing their perfumes: in addition to the last year’s great way of presenting a gift card in a company of 12 samples (it’s still available with the minimum GC amount $70), this year they offer a $35 Discovery Set that includes 32 colognes (their full range) with 32 postcards + $35 gift voucher towards any $70 future purchase. But if you already know most of their perfumes, and do not plan any full bottle purchases from the brand, you might want to check out their new hand creams in Orange Sanguine, Pomélo Paradis, Bergamote Soleil and Rose Anonyme scents. $25 is probably too expensive for a daily hand cream but it’s a nice gift to somebody else or small indulgence for yourself if you like one of the four perfumes.
I spent about five minutes at the spa shop debating if it was an acceptable gift for somebody outside of the close family circle. I’m not sure yet – so I left without buying any – but I still might go back, even if to get one of these cute and pleasantly smelling shower sponges by Caren for myself. As it says on the brand’s website, “sponges have been infused with our luxurious body cleanser enriched with aloe vera, olive oil, lemon grass, sea kelp extracts, and abundance of creamy that insures the ultimate in pampering.” Each one has different fragrance. I liked the Snowflake Limited Edition Blue Linen the most.
These last for 15+ washes, so at $12.50 a piece they are more expensive “per wash” than many luxury soaps, but it’s something different, and with the seasonal packaging those might be nice stocking stuffers.
Modern artificial Christmas trees can be surprisingly natural-looking. Last year our friends didn’t realize we had one of those until I mentioned it to them. What those man-made wonders cannot replicate yet is a wonderful scent of the drying pine needles and resins from the cut branches. But fear not – Scented Christmas Ornaments to the rescue! (There are many brands available in the price range from $7 to $25 for a pack of 6 to 18 ornaments)
If your Christmas tree is as natural as they come but you still want to add festivity to the ambience, many brands offer special candles for these holidays – but hurry: the small ones go fast. Take a look at Holiday Ornament Scented Candle or Birchwood Pine Scented Candle from NEST ($16 each), Le Roi Sapin (The festive fir tree), Épices et Délices (Delicious Spices) and Un Encens Etoilé (Sparkling incense) from Diptyque ($35 each) or “Maison Holiday” Travel Tin Candles (Set of 4) from Voluspa ($32; mini-candle also available separately for $9 each).
I’ve been eyeing this next item for a while: I love the idea but I do not have any practical application for Scented Inks by J Herbin ($21.95). The set contains the following colors (scents): red (rose), orange (orange), green (apple), purple (violet) and blue (lavender). If I were to use something like that, I might also consider Blue Supple Wax with Lavender Scent from the same brand ($24.40).
And for those situations when you cannot wear your favorite perfume (“scent-sensitive” relatives, no-fragrance work environment or pesky insects) but still want to make a statement, take a look at these t-shirts: they come in four colors (olive, black, brown and cranberry) and two cuts (men and women) for $19.99. The text says:
1 frag-head
noun | frag•head | \’frag-hed\
: a fragrance obsessed person
(see: the one wearing this shirt)
If you do not plan on posting your own Gift Guide somewhere, please share any interesting “giftable” perfume-related items you came across recently.
Images: only the first one is my own; the rest are from the products’ sites, sometimes re-arranged a little (I thought it was a fair use since I linked to the products).
Undina's Looking Glass 
Nice ideas Undina.
I’m planning to post my small Christmas shopping in early December. We already had one idea in common ;)
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I can even guess, probably, which one :)
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I bet you can
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That’s a creative list, Undina! Those close to me in life “tolerate” my perfume love, but I’m gaining ground on my husband I think. Those scented inks (lavender!) are the most romantic things ever and made me remember my 4th grade fountain pen I used to learn cursive many moons ago.
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When I was in school, I would have probably killed for those inks! Not having them, I had to resort to using my mom’s perfume :)
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What an interesting and inventive selection of scented gifts. Atelier Cologne are particularly creative as you say, and those perfumed inks are most unusual to say the least!
I spotted that T-shirt in black being worn by a lady who runs a perfume shop somewhere in the US and thought she really rocked it.
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I’m not a t-shirts wearer usually but for an interesting one I might consider making an exception:)
It’s interesting: I haven’t thought about those inks as of something unusual though I cannot explain why it seemed quite normal since I can’t remember reading about anything like that in, say, old books. But probably it was just a logical continuation of the idea of scenting one’s letters.
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What a great smelly list!
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Thank you, Doreen.
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This is a nice collection of gift ideas! I am especially intrigued by the Scented Ink. I followed the link and of course had to read some of the customer comments on fountain pens…there are some serious aficionados out there and they have their own lexicon.
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Yes, looking at some of the “customers’ pictures” I felt an urge to get a nice fountain pen and those inks… As a child I loved playing with both fountain and quill pens.
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I agree, these are such original scented gift ideas and covetable, even at a reasonable price point. The t-shirts and inks are a great find and I think the “pre-loaded” sponges are fun even though, as you say, I’d think twice about who to give them to. I hope you get one for yourself.
Thanks for putting together such a well-thought out list.
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I’m glad you liked it, Tara. I tried to find something more or less affordable, fun and still related to our common hobby.
If those sponges are still there in the spa shop when I go there next time, I’m going home with one of them :)
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I like it that you chose a price range that might be arbitrary but is actually a reasonable amount.
And as I plan on an artificial tree this year, camouflage sounds good. ;)
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There’s no trick in buying a nice gift for any occasion if money is no object. It’s much harder to find something nice and useful with the limited budget.
I can’t wait to put up the tree this year! I plan to do it this weekend.
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Really enjoyed reading your list, Undina. Especially liked the t shirt and the Atelier Cologne discovery set. I have founds discovery sets to be great gifts for relatives who have enough patience to try different fragrances. So I am considering buying the Atelier Cologne if it is available here for one relative who likes to test new scents. Love the idea of the hand cream too although you have to be careful then if fits the scent of the day 🐱
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Thank you, Esperessence.
Clashing with the perfume I would wear is my main objection to both perfumed hand and body creams. But, on the other hand (no pun), it might be useful for those days when you did not decide yet what to wear or plan to wear something later but want something pleasant with you right away.
For people who like testing and are open to new experiences discovery sets are the best way to go.
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Love that tshirt!
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It might be good to wear on a plane trip or in other circumstances where actual perfume isn’t welcome (probably not to the symphony though ;) ).
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