A Personality Guide to Festive Fragrance Gifting - Men's Folio
Grooming, Fragrance

A Personality Guide to Festive Fragrance Gifting

  • By Bryan Goh

How does one begin with the moderately difficult art of festive fragrance gifting with all its possible complications and confusion? The answer is to think about a giftee’s personality which in turn, informs the exact fragrance you should be purchasing.

Another trick is to have some semblance of the things they like (a quick scroll on their Instagram page usually reveals a few clues) and create a mental checklist of your own.

While you can spend some time doing some serious sleuthing (yet another Men’s Folio trick: think about what they wear on the daily), here, a festive fragrance guide for four kinds of personalities. Or a failsafe scent gifting guide as we’d like to call it: no need to include a receipt for the dreaded return of the gift itself.

For the charismatic and masculine — BOSS Bottled Parfum
He is modern from his hair cut down to the shoes he slips into and most importantly, he walks his own path by taking full control of the decisions he makes daily. If you have a giftee who is his own boss (literally or figuratively), what a lucky man: BOSS Bottled Parfum is the highest concentration of the series that opens with a zesty orange accord with a sweet and resinous accord before a noble heart of a leather accord and earthy fig tree takes over.

The dry down, however, is when BOSS Bottled Parfum is at its modern bold and impactful: a warm woody base of cedarwood essence and a vegetal leather accord that promises strong sillage.

BOSS Bottled Parfum is available for purchase here and is priced at S$130 for a 50ml bottle and S$165 for a 100ml bottle. 

For the adventurous and daring — Calvin Klein Defy
Taking chances with festive fragrance gifting becomes simpler with Calvin Klein Defy: the man who will appreciate receiving is a courageous one who loves taking chances and breaking the boundaries that limit him (he also has a travel-heavy social media feed) and the fragrance itself is a daring contrast like him. Its four notes — aromatic apple, floral lavender, warm amber, and masculine musk — might seem like they would clash but its invigorating freshness and powerful woods are an adventure in fragrance wearing.

One more reason why one’s giftee might appreciate it: the set comes with a hair & body wash that lengthens the longevity of the fragrance. After all, which adventurer has the time to make a perfume-spraying pit stop when he has places to explore?

The Calvin Klein Defy Holiday Set is available for purchase here and is priced at S$120 for a 50ml Eau de Parfum and 100ml shower gel.

 

For the elegant and sophisticated — Chloé Eau de Parfum
The everyday elegance — perfectly laid hair, clothes that never seem to wrinkle, and a shiny manicure that stays on and on — of one’s giftee matches the feminine refinement of Chloé Eau de Parfum itself. Opening up with an aquatic, sweet lychee note and rosy peony, its freshness blooms with a green rose note that dries down to a heady magnolia and a musky woody undertone. Office appropriate and tasteful from the first spritz to dry down, it radiates main character energy.

While one might think to gift this to someone to who is a young adult or someone more mature, Chloé Eau de Parfum’s youthfulness is a perfect pairing with a pretty young thing too.

The Chloé Eau de Parfum Holiday Set is available for purchase here and is priced at S$230 for a 75ml perfume bottle, a 5ml deluxe miniature perfume, and a 100ml body lotion.

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For the fun-loving and especially feminine  —  Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Toilette
For the ladies who grew up with Marc Jacobs (once a Marc Jacobs girl, forever a Marc Jacobs girl), the iconic fragrance now comes in a festive fragrance set that includes a luminous body lotion and a pen spray to keep the sweet times going. If one is gifting it to a girl who is exploring luxury fragrances, Daisy’s sweet strawberry, musky violet, and fragrant white floral notes are sure to enchant them.

One beauty of Daisy too is that in the heat, it takes on a sugary profile but in cold weather, its brightness is brought out optimistically.

The Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Toilette Holiday Set is available for purchase here and is priced at S$195 for a 100ml perfume bottle, a 10ml pen spray of the perfume, and a 75ml body lotion. 

Once you’re done with this story, click here to catch up with our November 2022 issue!