Luxury fragrance gifts to indulge with this Christmas – at pocket-friendly prices!

Luxury fragrance gifts needn’t break the bankDiscovery Sets are the way forward! Stunningly presented, ordered at the click of a button, easy to wrap at home or have sent straight to the lucky recipient: these boxes are the perfect presents for perfume-lovers

The joy of a luxury Discovery Set is the chance to indulge in the fragrances of ultra-luxe niche and designer houses, often giving your lucky gift recipient (or yourself, let’s face it) the opportunity to try the entire collection of a particular perfume house. Or, perhaps, allowing the luxury of sampling the scented wares from cult brands not everyone knows about yet.

Very few of us could go out and purchase full-size bottles of every brand we want to try – with these luxury gift sets, you can afford to wear every single one!

If you have someone who’s difficult to buy for, or you’re not quite sure exactly what kind of scents they like – gifting a whole range ensures they’ll fall immediately for at least one of the fragrances (and, in our experience, will come to love them all or enjoy sharing with a partner or friends).

To send to loved ones you can’t be with this year, or to treat yourself after a year of woe? Not going to lie, we shamelessly do the ‘one for you, one for me’ rule of Christmas shopping, and most especially this year. Think of the hours of bliss you’ll have! Trying all the fragrances for the first time, reading about the notes, the perfumers and history of the house (all the information you can find right here on this website, with our in-depth brand pages).

Luxury fragrance gifts are a fail-safe way of showing how much you care. Whichever of these you chose, they cannot fail to be utterly delighted…

Harvey Nichols & The Perfume Society Discovery Box £45
Your personal perfume shopping experince – without having to leave your sofa!

Harvey Nichols boasts one of the best fragrance halls in the world, and in the last few years have tirelessly worked to bring in many more niche and exciting artisanal houses. We were thrilled to be asked again to curate a box of some of our favourites with them! Twelve luxury fragrances from six houses in this one, showcasing the hotly anticipated UK launch of Atelier Materi and Maison Crivelli, alongside classically adored fragrances from Creed, you can explore THREE fragrances from EACH of these beautiful perfume houses. We’ve added generous MINIATURES with just-launched Juliette Has A Gun Lipstick Fever (5ml) AND Maison Francis Kurkdjian L’Homme À La Rose (5ml)! And lest we forget, the pièce de resistance is Ramon Monegal Flamenco (10ml) swathed in a golden fabric pouch for an extra hit of luxe.

 

The Indulgence Discovery Box £36 (or £32 if you become a VIP!)
Squeal-worthy miniature bottles & indulgence, bottled – for someone who deserves a treat.

Don’t you think you deserve to indulge in this gorgeous box of delights? It’s simply brimming with fragrant fabulousness, from the ENTIRE CARINE ROITFELD COLLECTION (former editor-in-chief of Paris Vogue, dontcha know, based on seven cities and seven imaginary lovers), to a trio of newness from Lalique, inspired by precious metals, we’re going crazy for. We’ve also included generous MINIATURES – inhale DEEP! – from our latest perfume house crush, Vines House Parfums Love Story (7.5ml), together with the so-modern beauty editor’s fave, Floral Street Chypre Sublime (10ml), the dinkiest darling bottle of the delightful Tocca Giulietta (5ml) and for some seasonal va-va-voom, the perfumista’s favourite: Versace Crystal Noir (5ml). PLUS new home fragrance from perfumer Ruth Mastenbroek, whose new candles we’re showcasing – you’ll receive either Ancient Frankincense OR Rebel County, and trust us, you won’t even WANT to leave the house…

 

Amouage Secret Garden Discovery Set £35
Say ‘I love you’ to a floral-lover, with a truly beautiful gift from one of the world’s top luxury fragrance houses…

AMOUAGE have been drawing on the ancient, alchemistic traditions of perfume-making, creating perfumes that are loved all over the world for over 35 years. This is a luxury perfume house with its finger on the pulse-point of what modern men and women want, so we are delighted to introduce the truly magical SECRET GARDEN DISCOVERY SET featuring FOUR NICHE FRAGRANCES inspired by the floral haze of secret gardens. Spray away the darkness with a joyful leap in to Spring (oh, yes please!) with every spray from Blossom Love, Lilac Love, Love Mimosa and Love Tuberose – each fragrance crafted using the finest oils and essences sourced from around the world. Dare we say: it’s better than a real bouquet and therefore makes a truly WONDERFUL GIFT either for yourself, or someone special. If they like glorious gardens, gasp at flowers and adore floral fragrances – they’ll love you forever.

 

La Maison J.U.S Discovery Set £30
Stylish, cool and so-unique: THE gift for artistic, eco-conscious fashion-lovers in your life!

Taking their name from their motto: ‘Joyau, Unique and Sensoriel’  (a ‘unique sensory jewel’), this ultra-cool niche French house delight in doing things differently. Using vintage bottles in bold, neon colours, allowing their perfumers free-reign and with everything eco-conscious – the fragrances are just are vibrant, but oh so beautifully wearable. Appealing to artistic types who like to tread their own path, the scents are seductively unique (genuinely, we love ALL ELEVEN!) From the salted amber of Ambraser, coffee and oudh of Coffeeze, Cuirissime‘s leather, violet and iris; zesty ginger and absinthe in Gingerlise and darkly daring leathery floral of Noiressence. There’s the whole rose (petals, thorns, humid air) of Rosamonda, sensual rose oudh and vanilla in SexyCrush or powdery soft rose in Sopoudrage to explore. SpringPop is green shoots, fresh cut grass and sea air, while Superfusion‘s silvery musk shimmers intriguingly, and UltraHot crackles with sensual saffron and incense. Oh wow, it’s a fragrant journey alright – and we’re re-using our pots for makeup brushes and pens!

 

Atelier des Ors Discovery Set £25
All that glimmers IS gold with this oppulent olfactory gift, exploring ‘haute parfumerie with poetry…’

This one’s a Perfume Society EXCLUSIVE (so you can guarantee they wont have this!) Atelier des Ors Discovery Set is truly a majestic perfume house: think decadent scents for perfume-loving grown-ups, created from the best quality ingredients the world can offer. (And the full-size bottles are like snow globes for grown-ups, a-sparkle with flecks of real gold.) Atelier des Ors will fan the flames of your fragrant desires, as Jean-Phillipe Clermont, founder of Atelier des Ors, explains: ‘In every civilisation, gold symbolises the pursuit of perfection and the quest of absolute.’ Get spraying for yourself and explore FIVE NICHE fragrances in this divine set, which you won’t find anywhere else. Aube Rubis is crisp, woody, inspired by the dawn, while Lune Féline captures the brilliance of the night sky and the moon in the most creamy, dreamy vanilla. Musc Immortel sparkles with grapefruit, iris and clary sage and Nuda Veritas swathes the skin in an airy, fresh and pure floral creation. Rose Omeyyade, meanwhile, is a breath-takingly sensual rose and oudh perfume that will make you sigh. We’ve swooned, many times, over all of these…

 

Ostens Discovery Set £30
The créme de la créme of ingredients + the world’s top perfumers = a luxury niche house of refined elegance.

Friends and business partners Christopher Yu and Laurent Delafon have been in the fragrance industry for over 20 years, founding United Perfumes (a prestigious fragrance distribution and development company) which afforded them unrivalled access to the finest ingredients and perfumers in the world, including extraordinary new extractions from LRM Naturals of ‘vetiver, rose, patchouli and more. We realised that if we loved those smells, then there were surely other people who’d feel the same way.’ Everyone in the fragrance world raves about these scents, and your recipient definitely will fall for…. Cashmeran Velvet cocooning with smoky woodiness, Cedarwood Heart grounding, while unexpectedly creamy and Jasmine Absolute – addictively heady, just-bloomed jasmine on a sultry day. Two patchoulis explore the note’s diversity: Patchouli Heart No.I a softer, warmer, and a more modern interpretation of the classic, while Patchouli Heart No.II  is fresher, aromatic and timelessly elegant. And, oh! Rose Oil Isparta – A rose is a rose…or so we thought until we smelt the unique scent of the Rosa Damascena from Turkey. Love at first sniff…

Why not buy the same box for you and a best friend you’re missing terribly? That way, you can schedule a Zoom meeting, get the wine in and some snacks on the go, and have a live smell-along together!

By Suzy Nightingale

 

 

Ostens – meet the fragrance house ‘ripping up the rule book’

Ostens is a fragrance house celebrating the finest ingredients they could get their hands on, and ‘ripping up the rule book’ of perfumery along the way…

Friends and business partners Christopher Yu and Laurent Delafon have been in the fragrance industry for over 20 years – they’ve worked alongside such notable names as Francis Kurkdjian, Olivier Polge, Lyn Harris, Sophie Labbé and Dominique Ropion – and fortuitously enough, first met in the Liberty perfumery department.

Laurent had a role in perfume distribution for Diptyque. Chris, though a self-confessed ‘fragrance nut’, was then ‘in computers.’ They got chatting, and not long after that meeting, took the plunge to go into business together, founding United Perfumes, where Christopher took on the role as Managing Director, and Laurent became the CEO.

As part of their jobs, they regularly travelled to Grasse, and one day heard tell of name well known by industry insiders, but practically unheard of in the wider public: LMR Naturals: Laboratoire Monique Rémy.

‘We loved the sort of secrecy about them, this idea that nobody outside the perfume world knew about LMR Naturals,’ Christopher confesses.

Viiting their HQ and smelling the incredible LMR ingredients, at that moment the duo decided they must get these under the noses of perfume lovers – to celebrate the materials themselves. And so (some years later, it must be said – a fragrance house isn’t buiilt overnight!) Ostens was born – raw ingredients made magical.

Those fragrances are found in two forms: for each hero ingredient, there is a fragrance ‘Preparation Oil’ and an eaux de parfumImpression.’ Ostens use the term ‘Impressions’, because each fragrance takes an LMR ‘hero ingredient’ as the creative jumping off point – cedarwood, patchouli heart, rose Isparta, jasmine absolute and Cashmeran Velvet. And while sometimes that ingredient is the central focus, in others ‘it is more akin to a spice, used sparingly yet dramatically,’ explains Chris.

 

 

You can read their full story in our page dedicated to Ostens; but we are now so thrilled to be able to bring these fabulous fragrances directly to your noses, via their exquisite Ostens Discovery Set.

Inside the beautifully bound (and very book-like) slip case, you’ll find a whole library of olfactory wonders to explore…

Cashmeran Velvet – Cashmeran Velvet is a synthetic molecule which mimics the scent of warm, comforting woods with a slightly charred and smoky quality.

Cedarwood Heart – Cedarwood Heart leaves a dry, almost pencil-shavings scent on the skin that’s then softened by an unexpected, slightly creamy and almost vanilla like quality.

Jasmine AbsoluteOstens selected jasminum grandiflora grown in Egypt, for its fresh, natural, almost stem-like scent.

Patchouli Heart No.I – Patchouli Heart from Indonesia softer, warmer, and a more modern interpretation of the classic patchouli.

Patchouli Heart No.II  – Patchouli Heart from Indonesia is a softer, warmer, and more modern interpretation of the classic patchouli – another spin on the highly versatile ingredient.

Rose Oil Isparta – A rose is a rose…or so we thought until we smelt the unique scent of the Rosa Damascena from Turkey.

 

Ostens Discovery Set £30 for 6 x 2ml eau de parfum

Kept for yourself or sent to a scent-loving friend, ‘We realised that if we loved those smells, then there were surely other people who’d feel the same way’ Ostens told us.

Well, we fell head over heels for them, and feel sure you will, too…

By Suzy Nightingale

Luxury Perfume House Collections: immerse yourself in glorious scented stories (with FREE postage & packing!)

Obviously we love nothing more than exploring hard-to-find perfume houses and word-of-mouth niche boutiques, but absolutely nothing fully immerses you in the style of a fragrance brand like plunging in to a tempting Discovery Set and exploring their myriad delights.
We believe that perfume is an art form, and as such these scents deserve to be savoured before you can truly decide which you adore and cannot live without a full-size of. And if this exploration can be carried out from the comfort of your sofa? All the better, surely…
So as well as our own Discovery Boxes, we are honoured to now carry a selection of Brand Boxes – discovery sets from brands we already adore, and think you will too.
So instead of trawling countless websites (and worrying about the total shipping costs if you’re tempted by several from different places!), browse the fantastic selection we have gathered for you. All helpfully located in one place, they come with FREE POSTAGE AND PACKAGING no matter how many you choose – the perfect presents for your perfume-loving friends are only a click away. (And may we suggest you throw in a treat for yourself, too?)
PS: If you’re a VIP Subscriber, don’t forget to be logged in to recieve your special price!
ormondeboxshopawJust-launched in our shop, this is a beautifully presented set of oppulent scents by a decadently brilliant, British niche house. Including their best-sellers and an array of fabulous fragrances for both sexes to fall in love with, we can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t succumb their charms…
Ormonde Jayne Discovery Set VIP Price £43/Non-Subscribers £48 for 12 x 12ml
shayblushopwidgetawHand-crafted in England, created from the essences of real flowers, fruit and spices, we invite you to explore this British brand’s most-loved scents: pocket-sized and beautifully presented in their signature blue and white stripes.
Shay & Blue Precious Miniatures VIP Price £55/Non-Subcribers £65 for 5 x 10ml
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Discover the vivid interpretation of some of perfumery’s most precious ingredients, with scents specially created by leading perfumers in this colourful selection of bestsellers. Embodying Molton Brown’s mantra of ‘London via the World’, exotic ingredients include ylang ylang from the rainforest of Madagascar, Tahitian tamanu oil and precious oudh…
Molton Brown’s The Fine Art of Fragrance VIP Price £10/Non-Subscribers £12.50 for 8 x 1.5ml
roadsshopwidgetaw
This incredibly cool conceptual brand – bringing together film, literature and fragrance – is expressed here via beautifully-presented trial sizes. Enclosed you’ll find a ‘fragrance menu’, inviting you to browse at leisure 10 unique scents – and looking for all the world as indulgent as a box of chocolates, but with zero guilt!
Roads Luxury Kit VIP Price £70.20/Non-Subscribers £78
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Breezing straight in from the beautiful Catalonian city of Barcelona we have the signature scents of Santa Eulalia, a favourite must-visit concept boutique (and one of the oldest stores in Spain). Named after the patron Saint of Barcelona, these four perfumes depict moods that effortlessly evoke the essence of the city and the spirit of the Mediterranean itself…
Santa Eulalia Discovery Kit VIP Price £70.20/Non-Subscribers £78 for 4 x 10ml
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The super stylish house of Agonist present the perfect selection to fully explore their house, with each scent thoughtfully created from rare ingredients and masterfully composed to refelect their artistic yet emotional inspirations. Having appeared in several of our own Perfume Society Discovery Boxes, this is your opportunity to dive fully in to this fragrant wonderland…

Agonist Discovery Kit VIP Price £55.80/Non-Subscribers £62 for 10 x 2ml eau de perfume
Whichever sets you’re seduced by, we know you’ll find a new favourite…

Miniature perfumes – because sometimes, the best things do come in small (scented) packages…

Glossily packaged and adorable pocket sized perfumes, with Viva La Juicy Parfum, Viva La Juicy Noir Eau de Parfum, I AM JUICY COUTURE Eau de Parfum and I Love Juicy Couture Eau de Parfum. Just perfect for bright young things exploring their perfume personality…
juicy_couture_house_of_juicy_couture_deluxe_minis_gift_set_1477999348House of Juicy Couture Deluxe Miniatures £31 for
Buy it at Debenhams
Who could resist the petite charms of some of Penhaligon’s perennial best-sellers? Artemisia, Vaara, Empressa, Iris Prima and Halfeti are the women’s selection, but there’s an equally tempting masculine set of tiny treats for the chaps.
minihersetPenhaligon’s Christmas Collection £41 for 5 x 5ml
Buy it at Penhaligon’s
Effervescent, stylish and effortlessly chic, the Armani Miniatures Set contains the cutest curation of greatest hits: Si, Acqua Di Gioia, Diamonds Rose & Armani Code pour femme cannot fail to enchant the more sophisticated gals about town. We foresee twirling silk dresses in moonlight.
armani-miniatures-gift-set-for-her-5027246054333-armani-miniatures-1Armani Miniatures Set £24.99 for 4 x
Buy it at The Perfume Shop
Miniature fragrances to match his moods, they say: active, rebellious, inspired and refined? John Varvatos have it covered, with generous 15ml bijou bottles of John Varvatos, John Varvatos Vintage, John Varvatos Artisan and John Varvatos Artisan Acqua.
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John Varvatos Delectable Minis £41 for 4 x 15ml
Buy it at Debenhams
The dinkiest versions of Versace you’ll ever see, modern fashion icons can strut their stuff or indulge their inner goddess with this women’s coffret of contemporary olfactive delights, including Crystal Noir, Bright Crystal, Eros Pour Femme, and Eros Pour Femme.
img_1015-copyVersace Women’s Coffret £27.50 for 4 x 5ml
Exclusively at Boots
A luxurious duo of their multi-award winning Bath & Shower Oils, Revive Morning and Deep Relax are best sellers with good reason: they deliver what they promise! This duo helps to energise and deeply relax mind and body, making an ideal gift for anyone you care about.
img_1016-copyAromatherapy Associates Perfect Partners £19 for 2 x 15ml
Buy it Aromatherapy Associates
Written by Suzy Nightingale