holiday gifts: 17 posts

It’s time for my gifts lists inspired by French magazines and Belgian stores. Christmas decorations are going up around Avenue Louise, Brussels’s version of Avenue des Champs-Élysées, and the boutiques are receiving their seasonal gift sets. I’m rarely tempted by the matching scented creams and shower gels, but the presentations are so irresistible that it’s hard to walk past the perfume shop window without taking a quick peak inside.

My list reflects things that I like to give and would love to receive. If you would like to introduce someone to fragrance and know a bit about their tastes, discovery kits are excellent options, and there are several choices below. Another criterion for including the sets is the high-quality matching products. All too often the body lotions and creams are of mediocre quality in comparison to the perfume and needless to say, such sets don’t make the cut.

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“A lot of people give Chanel No. 5  for the same reason they might buy an Apple computer—because they think they can’t go wrong,” says Frédéric Malle. “But perfume is more personal than that. It’s not about choosing a ‘good’ fragrance. It’s about choosing the one that’s a good match with the person who will be wearing it.”

Vogue.com features a fun article called Perfume by Personality: Frédéric Malle’s Guide to Fragrance Gifting.  I particularly enjoyed Malle’s choice of fragrances. For the Minimalist, he recommends Frédéric Malle L’Eau d’Hiver Eau de Parfum; The Urban Bohemian–Estée Lauder Youth Dew; The Outdoor Adventurist–Les Exclusifs de Chanel Bel Respiro; The Art Collector–Dior Miss Dior (original) and Bulgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert Extrême; The Vintage Enthusiast–Rochas Femme and Caron Pour un Homme. To read the rest, please follow this link.

Also, the French edition of Vogue.com includes a beautiful spread on solid perfumes, Jolies Concrètes. It’s in French, but the pictures say everything.

December 6th is celebrated as Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas Day in Belgium and the Netherlands, and this holiday kicks off the winter festivities. In the olden days, children used to receive gifts on this day, rather than Christmas Eve, and according to legend, if children had been naughty, one of the Sinterklaas’s helpers would stuff them in a sack and take them to Spain. Apparently, Sinterklaas spends most of his time in Spain, with only a brief visit to the northern lands. As I  look at the grey skies outside, the idea of a Spanish sojourn doesn’t sound all that bad. On the other hand, the glittering decorations in the streets of Brussels are so beautiful that I’m willing to put up with some rain and snow.

In the spirit of the holidays, I will play Santa Claus today and bring you some gift ideas.  (I’m sorry to say that even if you have been very naughty this year, I can’t whisk you away to Spain.) I already shared with you the perfume sets that caught my eye. Today, inspired by the impressive array of holiday gifts at the stores in Brussels, I want to talk about  other treats that feel special and luxurious, either because of their scents or colors.  I’ve enjoyed using these products myself, so I recommend them without reservation.

Belgian Eggwhite Soap

Belgian Eggwhite Soap is produced with pure eggwhite, chamomile, and lecithin. While it’s intended for use on your face, I prefer to use it on my body, since it leaves my skin silky and moisturized. Eggwhite soap has a delicate chamomile scent, and it lathers into a whipped cream like softness. 6 x 53 g soaps ($19), a single 53 g soap ($5). Available at Beautyhabit. Continue reading →

One evening as I was preparing my cologne bath after a long day I accidentally poured a decant of The Different Company Sel de Vétiver instead of 4711 into the water. The explosion of scent–green woods, licorice and grapefruit–was so exhilarating and relaxing that I immediately felt refreshed. Since then, vetiver scented baths have become my favorite way to wind down.

Vetiver is a tropical grass that has intensely aromatic roots. In India, where vetiver roots are woven into screens, it is known as “oil of tranquillity” for its relaxing, calming properties. A bath is one of the best anti-stress rituals, but when it’s accompanied by a  scent, the effect is even stronger. Using Sel de Vétiver for a bath is not cost efficient, so I’ve experimented with vetiver essential oil and discovered that it produces a much more potent result. Vetiver has such incredible complexity that it can be diluted in an unscented carrier oil or alcohol and used as perfume. It’s the smell of a late fall garden and a winter beach rolled into one–driftwood, crushed hazelnut shells and damp leaves.

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My weekend mornings start with a cup of tea and a couple of French magazines. I call it my language practice, but there are other reasons I prefer French Marie-Claire and Elle to their US equivalents–more articles on diverse topics, in-depth interviews, and better fashion coverage. They feature much more on perfume, besides the usual sponsored ads and token mentions of the advertisers’ products. Thanks to French Marie-Claire, I’ve rediscovered Shiseido Zen and fell in love with a delightful orange blossom cologne Bien-être L’Eau Parfumée des Familles.

With the holiday season approaching, the glossy pages are splashed with tempting perfume gift ideas, and today I wanted to share with you a few of them. I love the idea of a scented present that includes several fragrances to try, but in some cases I also wanted to highlight a few interesting products that are presented exclusively for the holidays. While I’ve collected some of the ideas from my dog-eared issues of French Marie-Claire, Vogue and Elle, I featured the sets that can be easily found in the US as well as Europe.

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