Christmas Gift Shopping part 2: perfume discovery giftsets

In the mad rush to Christmas shopping (or Hannukah or whatever it is you fete) the choices seem endless and the possibility for an error in judgement infinite. I'm trying to make this easier on you by cherry picking some products that will allow for a presentable festive season gift that shows the giftee they matter and will make it easier on you to shorten your browsing history and legwork. You can find them tagged under Christmas Gift Shopping on these pages. Today, it's perfume discovery sets!

I pinched this photo from The Non Blonde.

I have found that while perfume is a highly desirable (and indeed popular) choice of a gift, when offering it you're always met with that awkward moment of inward wonder: will it go down as something enjoyed or will it just gather dust on the bathroom shelf? This is why I highly recommend discovery sets. These are usually small coffrets that for the price tag of a big perfume bottle they give the option to test and wear a few different fragrances. Inevitably not everything will appeal in the same way, but the odds of pleasing are exponentially increased. It is essential that the set includes rather substantial bottles/atomisers size-wise; 7ml and up is the way to go, as anything less might appear as skimpy or mean-spirited.

Niche perfume companies have a few of those sets to choose from and indeed my selection comes via this market share because I just find that, with the prices what they are, niche perfume shopping is a riskier bet for most people from an initial money outlay point of view. The ones I recommend below are my personal selection (non affiliated) and I think they'd make a very fetching gift. Take a moment to explain to the person receiving it how you think that partaking in a luxury is a journey of personal discovery...

First one comes from L'Artisan Parfumeur. The Discovery Set they have prepared for Christmas 2013 has a selection of their best-sellers which might appeal to both women and men and caters to different tastes: from the musky clean and tart classic Mûre et Musc, the ethereally floral La Chasse aux Papillons, the woody, milky goodness of Premier Figuier and the more narcotic floral Nuit de Tubéreuse (the latter is the only Eau de Parfum in a collection of Eau de Toilette spray tubes of 7ml each). It's a 35GBP/40 euros/60$ value, available through the brand's site and at L'Artisan boutiques.

Second one comes from Neela Vermeire Creations (shown on the top of post). The glass travel sprays are cute, with the Ashoka wheel logo on the label, and look big enough to last you a while; they're 10ml each. Plus they come beautifully packaged in an organtina pouch. The fragrances themselves are g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s. (Need I repeat myself? Check out the Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee, Mohur and Bombay Bling reviews on the links). Available through the official e-boutique. (please note however that the Discovery Set contains a sample of the newest Ashoka eau de parfum, but the Discover your India sample packs do not). The Neela Vermeire Creations discovery set retails at 85-90 euros.

The third one is from Parfums MDCI: Very credible perfumes from a brand worth checking out, but this discovery kit save you the Roman bust "caps" of the regular bottles which encumber the purse as well as the eye. The one on parfumsmdci.free.fr is approximately $120USD for a set of five fragrances in 10ml screw-top glass bottles.

Happy shopping!

The winner of the draw...

...for the Mohur bottle and the Neela Vermeire Creation samples is Sara. Congratulations! Please email me with your shipping data using Contact with "Mohur winner" in the title, so I can put things into motion.

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one!

Christmas Gift Shopping part 1: Scented Candles

In the countdown to the most festive season of the year Perfume Shrine will pop shopping enabling posts to help you wade through the vast selection and steer you into the most interesting and worthwhile choices.

For part 1 I was enchanted to see that Diptyque perfumers have collaborated with the creative design duo Tse Tse to render a limited edition of 3 scented candles, each presented in either 70 gr (burn time of around 20 hours) retailing for 28 euros or 190g (burn time of 50-60 hours) retailing at 52 euros each. Personally, I'd be thrilled if a guest brought me as a housewarming gift a jar with Encens des Indes!
But here are the three scents in detail.

Écorce de Pin
The woody and Christmasy scent of snow covered pines mixes with hinoki wood, a Japanese variety of cypress used for furniture. The scent of the candle hints at camphoraceous and smoky notes, including galbanum, cedar and patchouli.

Encens des Indes
Purple like a bishop, this spicy and floral tinged candle mingles franckincense (powerful with citrus tones and pepper nuances softened by woody and balsamic notes) and myrrh, poised between incense and rosemary, a musky, smoky and slightly pungent scent. The gifts of the Magi. A lemony rose alongside spicy floral notes reminiscent of carnations complete the harmony.

Orange Chaya
This brightly hued candle envelopes the room in spices. Sweet without being thick, it evokes the warm roundness of an orange, then the freshness of cardamom, rising, an exotic tea mixture with notes of quince, ginger and cinnamon. We are projected into the flavors of winter.

Miu Miu Fragrances to Launch in Collaboration with Coty

The Italian fashion brand Prada has been active at the fragrance stakes for years now (Prada original, Prada Tendre, Prada Infusion d'Iris, Infusion d'Homme and all the other Prada Infusion editions, Luna Rossa, Prada L'Eau Ambree, Prada Candy and Candy flankers etc.) Now the diffusion line by Prada, Miu Miu, founded in 1993, is intent on launching their own eponymous fragrance line after the success of the mother company.
To accomplish that they have embarked in an exclusive collaboration with beauty giant Coty Inc., famous for their extensive fragrance portfolio and their technical and resources input in collaborating with various designers and celebrities bringing out their own fragrances. The Miu Miu collaboration will be conducted under the aegis of Coty Prestige, nevertheless, who overlook the upper echelon of their business.

Lindsay Lohan for Miu Miu via

"The agreement with Coty, an internationally recognised reference in the luxury fragrance market, marks a major step forward in Miu Miu's development plan," said Patrizio Bertelli, CEO, Prada Group, according to Cosmetics Business. "I am therefore sure that, leveraging on Coty's know-how and Miu Miu's strong identity, this partnership will be a worldwide success of mutual satisfaction to both companies."

According to Bloomberg " The 20-year-old fashion and accessories label, named after Prada Chairman Miuccia Prada, had sales of 512.8 million euros ($706 million) in the year ended Jan. 31, or 16 percent of total company revenue. The deal with Coty would allow Prada to expand its second-largest unit in the $60 billion luxury beauty industry."
Michele Scannavini, CEO, Coty, added: "Miu Miu is one of the most refined and respected luxury houses in the world and one of the fastest growing global brands in the whole fashion industry. It is an exciting opportunity for Coty to build a worldwide fragrance business for Miu Miu and also to further build our own market share in the prestige fragrance market".

The Miu Miu fragrance line is expected to be introduced in 2015, the Milan-based company said yesterday in a statement.

Neela Vermeire Talks and Offers Free Perfume Bottle Giveaway

What would Neela Vermeire of NVC do and say if she were a guest at my dinner party and we brought out the wine, the amuse-bouche and the board games for adults? I invited her over to have a Scent Game and she gracefully and playfully indulged me. So take thee over to Fragrantica to read our little game, where she describes her perfumes in dessert terms and not only (saffron kheer with bhang for Trayee for instance or rose & carrot halwa for Mohur) and post a comment here on Perfume Shrine to enter a fabulous giveaway she's offering to our European readers. The draw is open to European Union addresses and the generous (fabulous!) prize includes a classic flacon of NVC Mohur perfume with samples of Trayee and Bombay Bling as well as a glass sample vial of Ashoka. Submissions will be counted till Friday midnight and winner will be announced on Monday.

Now that we have gotten this out of the way, let me elaborate why I feel Neela Vermeire Creations is such a big deal. From the musky depths of the historically inspired Trayee to the delicate and graceful arc of Mohur right up to the fruity exuberance of Bombay Bling and the unusual Ashoka, Neela Vermeire Creations is among the best niche lines to grace the horizon in some time. Although I personally discovered it with at least one year delay, I consider it one of the brightest "a ha" moments in my course of scent writing. And those don't come often, let me tell you.

I was personally interested in finding out how and why the 4th installment, Ashoka eau de parfum, came to be, especially since it's such a multi-nuanced and unusual fragrance that seems both a little apart and at the same time very much in tune with the spirit that traverses through the Neela Vermeire Creations line. Neela obliged me: "The first trio were based on wide historic eras in India. We wanted to continue this journey and develop our India inspired collection with our fourth fragrance, Ashoka Eau de Parfum. Ashoka is a tribute to the internal/philosophical changes that occurred during the life of Emperor Ashoka (when he realized upon his conversion to Buddhism that wars were not the solution and compassion was the way forward). It is an important message for the world we live in and Emperor Ashoka has been of interest to us. After all our logo was inspired by Ashoka's chakra."
Indeed the fragrance presents a panorama of redemption and spirituality. You can read my review of it on this link.

The bottom line I suppose is that the success of the line lies not only on the deft handling of the concept by the perfumer (Bertrand Duchaufour) but first and foremost on the art direction of Neela herself; a dedicated person, an aficionado as well as a connoisseur, and an excellent communicator all around. It's been a true honor knowing her.