Valentine’s day remains one of the hottest dates for the fragrance world – it’s the perfect time to be exchanging scented gifts with those we love – but with so many to choose from, where to begin?
Fragrances create life-long scent memories – the emotional response we feel way kicking in way before logic has time to register what we’re smelling – and so asking for your beloved to gift you a new scent when you’re in a relationship can be something of a rocky road. Ideally it needs to be something new to both of you. Have you (like us) ever rejected a potential date based on the love-interest favouring an ex’s scent. Or worse, a parent’s? *shudder*
The burning question is, though, do you ask for a specific scent (which can seem somewhat brazen if you’re not feeling that brave), hint your way to a hopeful present of ‘the right one’, or just cross your fingers and leave it to the Gods of fragrance fate?
Worry ye not, dear reader. We’ve got your back. Forward the potential gift-giver the link to this page (okay it’s not subtle, but since when did subtlety get you anywhere?) and ask the question: ‘which of these descriptions do you think sounds most like me…?’ You can put a winking emoji if you’re that way inclined – the somewhat less romantic modern equivalent of flirting with a flick of your lace fan. We’ll leave that up to you.
Oh and, spoilers: we happen to think all of these are pretty fabulous, so no matter which you’re given, it’s bound to please both of you…
A contemporary art-lover with an eye for style, you’re secretly (at heart) a romantic soul. Let yourself give in to the narcotic pleasures of indolic white flowers at play in this perfume – the heady narcissus and jasmine are beautifully blended and we just know you’ll want to keep breathing deeper and deeper until your nose can’t get enough. As for your lover…? They’re bound to be addicted, too. And when you’re not gazing gooily at each other and admiring the, um, base (the dry down’s an intriguing mixture of sumac and pipe tobacco), you can gaze in marvel at the gallery-esque bottle.
Map of the Heart Pink Heart £150 for 90ml eau de parfum
Buy it at harrods.com
Carefree and a bit of a bohemian, you’re generally positive, can charm the birds from the trees and probably love a bit of bunting. Given half the chance you’d be twirling barefoot through a garden at sunset in a gauzy gown, no matter the weather. Pretty as a picture, and smelling far more high-end than the price tag might suggest, this perfume from the Sweet Treats collection features a delicious lemon-drop top note, pepped up with ripe raspberry and blackcurrant atop a finger-lickingly good base of patchouli and golden amber.
Ted Baker Mia £18 for 30ml eau de toilette
Buy it at tedbaker.com/uk
Unapologetically a girly-girl, you may be dreamy with your head in the clouds, but your feet are firmly planted on the ground. Young at heart no matter your age, we feel you’ll adore this tribute to one of our favourite flowers of all time: the shamelessly blowsy and short-lived peony, allowed to linger the whole day through, here perfectly blended with Sicilian lemon, pink berries, pink guava, and a softly powdered violet. Raspberry flower snuggles with creamy vanilla beans, pink cotton candy entwines itself around cedarwood, and laconic vetiver sits back and makes us swoon.
Floral Street Wonderland Peony £55 for 50ml eau de parfum
Buy it at floralstreet.com
Sophisticated and refined but never ever prissy, you’re slightly obsessed with the natural world but wouldn’t ever call yourself a hippie (bit old-hat, darling.) Marking an incredible 20 years of Liz Earle goodies, the house collaborated with Grasse-based perfumer Domitille Bertier for a Damask rose-rich celebration in a bottle. Infused with a sparkle of pink pepper, bergamot and mandarin, it’s the intriguing carrot seed heart with jasmine and an amyris/sandalwood dry down that pulls you in for more and more… 87% derived from natural ingredients, too.Liz Earle Botanical Essence No.20 £54 for 50ml eau de parfum
Buy it at lizearle.com
Strong-willed and totally sensual, everything is an adventure for you – the world is your playground and you intend to live life to the full, perhaps with a love of classic movies, torch-songs and vintage chic. The ‘Edith’ in question here is right up your street – none other than the Parisian chanteuse herself: Édith Piaf. The fragrance itself pays homage to her sultry sophistication and the daring liveliness of the era, featuring rose, geranium (grown in their own British fields and a remarkably fabulous one, we must say!) you’ll thrill at the unexpected touch of lightly camphorous yarrow and dark patchouli for the smoothest kind of hip-wiggle in scent form…
Parterre A Tribute to Edith £120 for 50ml eau de pafum
Buy it at parterrekeynestonmill.com
Bookish but never boring, you’re tantalised by literary worlds you can escape to, drawn to the poetic side of life and the dramatically beguiling. Two perfumers created fragrances based on the the novel Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mathieu Nardin’s Scherzo an ode to the contrast between dark and light. Blood orange, davana and golden olibanum collide in a kaleidoscopic splash of wild, bright colour, while dark rose mingles in the shadows with patchouli and oudh. Bertrand Duchaufour offers ink swirled through leather, saffron and geranium on a flickering, amber-ish base. But it’s held aloft by the fizz of a pink pepper C02 extraction alongside aldehydes and the most incredible green hyacinth opening, shimmering to cyclamen, incense and a drily metallic base.
Miller Harris Tender/Scherzo £120 each for 50ml eau de parfum
Buy them at millerharris.com
Written by Suzy Nightingale
