box Archives - The Perfume Society

Gorgeous perfume boxes to gift this Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day comes early this year – Sunday, 11 March in the UK, so don’t miss the chance to treat your mama to some of the most stunning luxury Discovery Sets around, presented in gorgeously gift-worthy boxes.

Fragrance needs to be worn for several hours to truly get the feel of its character, and what could be more glorious than giving your mum – or any woman in your life who deserves a treat – weeks worth of blissful scent contemplation?

Don’t worry, we’ve got Mother’s Day wrapped.

Here at The Perfume Society, we believe the best way to properly try perfumes is to indulge your senses from the comfort of your home, that’s why we like collecting some of the most fabulous Discovery Boxes around, from niche and designer houses we already adore and know she’s going to be excited to explore…

For an extra treat, when your mum’s gift arrives why not take a cake, pop round for a cup of tea and try out some of the scents together? We love hearing the stories of people having Discovery Box sniffing sessions with their mums, for a special moment of sharing scented memories that last forever.

All you need do is choose which of these would best reflect your mum’s character, order and await the outpouring of thanks!

Does your mum dream of travelling the world to exotic locations? Perhaps she’s also the caring, sharing and socially-conscious type? Well this luxury fragrance house works with a sustainability program specifically set up to help the Moroccan women who pick the orange blossoms used in several of perfumer Carlos Benaïm‘s stunning creations. With seven exquisite scents to explore, she can escape with a spritz whenever the mood takes her…

Sana Jardin Discovery Set £30 for 7 x 2ml eau de parfum

If your mother loves staying in luxury hotels and the finer things in life, we’re betting she’s already a fan of Molton Brown’s opulent body products (they were one of the first ever fragrance houses to understand we like a little luxury every day) but may not yet have indulged herself with their perfumes. Embodying their ‘London via the World’ approach, they source the rarest ingredients and give them a little contemporary twist – eight of their best-selling fragrances are featured here – and when she decides her favourites, you’ll know exactly which matching body products and home fragrance gifts you can lavish her with on other occasions!

Molton Brown Art of Fragrance £12.50 for 8 x 1.5ml eau de toilette

If you’d really like to spoil a mum who’s been going through a difficult time, this really has the WOW factor, with seven eau de parfum housed in a keepsake hatbox style set. Besides looking pretty, the fragrances are thoughtfully composed with wellness in mind. Each bottle contains semi-precious stones which enhance the richness of the formula and embody the perfume’s emotion (they’re also beautiful to display and satisfyingly stress-relieving to rattle, we found!) The addition of natural active ingredients helps to encourage the feeling of wellbeing, and the generous travel-sizes are perfect to pop in a handbag for on-the-go de-frazzling. Go on: she’s worth it.

Valeur Absolue Deluxe Coffret £112 for 7 x 14ml eau de parfum

For ladies who like to make an impression, might we suggest the luxe collection of twelve (yes, twelve!) personality-full perfumes by the London-based niche house of Ormonde Jayne? An utterly swoon-worthy set, it comprises some of founder Linda Pilkington’s most lusted-after fragrances, each one a memorable journey to exotic lands and with a signature sense of style that’s once sniffed, never forgotten. Long-lasting and heady florals are offest by richly decadent woods, spices and uniquely distilled ingredients that cannot fail to tempt. We truly believe there’s something for everyone within this collection, beautifully boxed and ready to dive on in…

Ormonde Jayne Discovery Set £49 for 12 x 2ml eau de parfum

For mothers who exude classic style and yearn for traditionally made scents that still smell very ‘now’, choose from three differently themed trilogies – each box containing three precious bottles of perfume tied with silk ribbons. The sumptuous Columbia Rose Trilogy showcases three beautiful expressions of the rose – an ingredient at which the London perfumer Angela Flanders excelled, the Noire Trilogy explores the deep, dark and mysterious side of perfumery and the White Florals Trilogy embraces the ultra feminine, seductively sunshine-infused flowers beloved by so many. Whichever you select, she’ll be thanking you for lighting up her life for months to come.

Angela Flanders Trilogy Gift Boxes £65 for 3 x 12ml eau de parfum

Still stuck for ideas?

We continually seek out the most exciting and sumptuous perfumes and scented treats for our own Perfume Society Discovery Boxes, with carefully curated selections to tempt every taste. Have a look and find the one that’s perfect for your mum…

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Behind the Scent unboxes our Latest Launches…

Behind the Scent is a blog and YouTube channel run by Kirstie, a ‘perfume enthusiast, candle hoarder and makeup magpie’ from Leicestershire. As soon as we read the intro, in which she states: ‘I have an unhealthy addiction to biscuits, leopard print and black ankle boots. Oh, and if you’re going to the bar, mine’s a Gin & Tonic,’ we just knew we’d love her. So when Kirstie kindly filmed herself exploring the many fragrant delightes of our Latest Launches Discovery Box, we were thrilled to be included on her list of perfume launches for spring.
There’s something about watching people ‘unbox’ that leads us to an immediate adding to our ‘must buy’ lust lists, so we get even more exhilarated when lovely bloggers share their excietment over our Discovery Boxes with their audience. The sense of unpretentious sharing and encouraging others to make up their own minds is what we’re all about at The Perfume Society, so settle down with a cup of tea and watch along with us, now…

We think Kirstie does a great job of describing the notes of the fragrances – taken from the helpful postcards you’ll find in our boxes that explain a little of the history of that house, what you should expect to be smelling and some intriguing questions to challenge your emotional reaction to the scents themselves.
What we particularly enjoyed is that Kirstie had some immediate loves, but those she wasn’t so sure of she made a list to come back to later and smell properly on the skin. That’s the joy of trying fragrances in the comfort of your own home, don’t you think? You get to live with the scent and see how it develops on your skin rather than feeling forced in to making a snap decision!
Of the Latest Launches Kirstie tried, her ultimate favourites included Parfum de Marly’s Delina – a ‘tribute to luminous and sensual femininity’ and perfumer Quentin Bisch’s fragrant tribute to the historic concept of King Louis XVth’s ‘Perfumed Court. The delicately blended rhubarb, lychee and rose notes were a standout for her, with the sumptuous freshness perfectly balanced against a sprinkle of powdered elegance.
The second favourite of Kirstie’s fragrances in the box was Annick Goutal’s Tenue de Soirée – a wonderfully contemporary chypre for any age that’s inspired ‘…by the special feeling of a promise that precedes a night in Paris.’ With oodles of iris and an earthy, addictive base of patchouli, it’s gloriously and unashmedly meant to sashay through the night like a cashmere stole caressing your skin.

With nine new perfumes to coo over to your heart’s delight, including a super-generous 10ml of E.Coudray’s not-yet-available Rose Tubéreuse, a stunning day and night duo from Miller Harris and two extra scented gifts for you to enjoy, which will YOUR favourite fragrances be, do you think? Only one way to find out, so get those senses tingling and unwrap your own Discovery Box right away…
Written by Suzy Nightingale

The Perfume Society Gift Guide: your one-stop shop for a scented extravaganza…

From a gift that lasts the whole year through to a fragrant read and scented treats for the pickiest of people… we have solved your shopping woes with a one-stop shop for all your scent-loving friends, family and colleagues.
Shopping for others isn’t always so easy. But our Perfume Society themed guide to which-box-for-who can help you make all the right choices. With the mere click of a button, it’s your Christmas list, sorted…

A VIP Subscription £25

The Perfume Society is the go-to authority on fragrance choosing, wearing, ‘after-care’, history, news, ‘noses’ and much, much more. So why not gift someone a VIP subscription so they can join our ranks?

As a VIP (a Very Important Perfumista), they receive a welcome Perfume Society Discovery Box of samples, accompanied by our exclusive ‘smelling notes’, designed to introduce the key fragrance families – plus Perfume Society sampling blotters and a bespoke notebook for their fragrant thoughts.
They’ll have priority access to exclusive Perfume Society events through the year, and will receive eight digital editions of our award-winning online magazine The Scented Letter. And with their VIP Subscriber card they’ll be entitled to special privileges and exclsuive discounts at stores including Penhaligon’s and Miller Harris, among many other treats. It’s the win-win choice and don’t forget – this gift will last for twelve whole months, so you’ll be in their good books for an entire year…!

Discovery Boxes from £12.50 for VIPs (£17.50 non-VIPs)

Our Discovery Boxes can be a great gift for someone who is passionate about perfume or a complete novice. Each box is carefully curated and scent-fully themed – we use our fantastic perfume world contacts to bring you an array of well known, niche and latest launches.

Why give just one scent, when you can introduce them to a whole wardrobe of fragrance?! We include expertly written smelling notes, so the wearer can impress with their new-found knowledge when people say ‘you smell amaaazing! What perfume are you wearing…?’

The Perfume Bible £16.25 for VIPs (£25 non-VIPs)

Written by The Perfume Society‘s Founders, Jo Fairley and Lorna McKay, The Perfume Bible is must for every fragrance-lover. An encyclopaedia of all things fragrant – from how to build a perfume ‘wardrobe’ to a line-up of the 100 perfumes to try before you die – it brings together their combined years of experience and wealth of knowledge. You’ll discover the journey of ingredients from field to flacon, a run-down of the best perfume shops in the world, the history of scent and much more in 192 pages of invaluable expertise.

Luxury Perfume House Boxes from £10 for VIPs (from £12.50 non-VIPs)

Alongside The Perfume Society’s own selections, you’ll now find scented boxes from fabled and ‘rising star’ perfumery names including Shay & Blue, Santa Eulalia, Molton Brown, Ormonde Jayne and more with exciting new discoveries added all the time. There’s a box for every budget, with prices from £12.50 – £78 – and The Perfume Society Subscribers can take advantage of special prices: from as little as £10…

Gift Vouchers from £15 – £50

The fuss-free solution for those uncertain about what to buy that perfume-loving special someone…
The Perfume Society Gift Card is available in £15, £25 and £50 options and can be redeemed across any item in the shop section of our website – our magazine or copies of The Perfume Bible, VIP Subscription, Discovery Boxes and more!
We hope this has given you a good start to your seasonal shopping – but do look out for our forthcoming posts explaining in-depth how you can make a fragrance lover’s year with whatever gift you choose…
Written by Suzy Nightingale

Love to Smell review our Scent of a Man Discovery Box – so full they had to sniff it twice!

We already loved Love to Smell – the YouTube channel set up by fragrance experts and friends Pia Long and Nick Gilbert to make perfume reviews both fun and informative. But when they had to split their latest review – all about our Scent of a Man Discovery Box – into two parts because there’s so bloomin’ much in the box, we fell in love all over again…
You can watch the video yourselves, below, but we thought it worth a recap of some of the amazing things in store if you haven’t already explored. Firstly, let’s just accept that size sometimes matters and the Scent of a Man Discovery Box is a whopper, featuring 13 fragrances in all, plus luxurious grooming additions (worth £40.25 alone!). We think you might have to agree, it’s just the best gift for a male scent-lover, ever…

So what’s in the box? *Deep breath* It’s quite a list…
• Penhaligon’s No 33 eau de Cologne, 1.5ml eau de Cologne
• Lalique Encre Noir à L’Extrême, 1.8ml eau de parfum
• Paul Smith Essential, 1.2ml eau de toilette
• Carven L’Eau Intense, 1.2ml eau de toilette
• Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme, 0.8ml eau de toilette
• Eight & Bob Original, 1.5ml eau de parfum
• Illuminum Piper Leather, 2ml eau de parfum
• Miller Harris Vetiver Insolent, 2ml eau de parfum
• Prada Luna Rossa Eau Sport, 1.5ml eau de toilette
• Yardley 1770, 1ml eau de toilette
• Beaufort London Coeur de Noir, 2ml eau de parfum
• Gruhme for Him, 5ml eau de toilette
• Montblanc Legend Spirit, 1.2ml eau de toilette
• Elemis Ice Cool Foaming Shave Gel, 100ml
• Penhaligon’s No 33 Beard Scrub, 5ml
• Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream for Men, 15ml
Phew. You can see why they couldn’t fit it all into one episode!

Pia makes a really good point at the start of the video, saying if you’re a woman who happens to prefer fresh or less obviously ‘feminine’ fragrances, then you should also get the box for yourself. We happily wear several of the ‘male’ orientated scents in the box, but called it ‘Scent of a Man’ because this was the first ever perfume box curated for the chaps. In a world where everything can now be seen as ‘shared’ or ‘unisex’ we kind of wanted to point out this was created with them in mind (but nothing to stop us gals from helping ourselves, too!)
So if your appetite has been whetted you can watch part one of the video review below, and then pop here to buy the box – only £15 for VIP Subscribers or £19 otherwise.
Or, if you have the box already, why not join Nick and Pia in a sniffalong as you watch the video?

Written by Suzy Nightingale