Hello perfume people we’re back with another episode of Mood Scent 4. This session is focusing on Gifting as the Christmas festive season is practically upon us.  My scented partners are Portia at A Bottled Rose, L’Esperessence and I Scent You A Day. We are your perfume selectors for perfumes for various moods and occasions.

So what sort of gifting relationship do you have with Christmas or your festive event of preference? Does your family buy lavish gifts for each other or do you just focus on the children? Do you buy gifts for all of your friends or just a select few? Or do you think it’s a consumer focused holiday and ignore it? Well I was very much into buying presents when the kids were small and like most new parents went a little overboard. Now that my youngest has just entered the teenage years things have calmed down on the crazy gift giving front. These days their interests revolve around a few key areas and gifts typically have a technology bent. I also need to be a lot more careful with spending these days due to lockdowns and reduced household income, so we’re having a pseudo austerity Christmas. Saying that, it won’t be too prohibitive as we will be able to see our French family for the first time since summer as lockdown restrictions will ease. The French government has recommended six people to a table but I assume most families will be ignoring this piece of advice.

This year in particular I can really say that I wish I was in New Zealand where there are no restrictions and life is back to normal. Although if I was to go there, it would mean quarantining in a hotel for two weeks and paying for the privilege! So that’s off the list for a while then.

I do give scented gifts to immediate family and a few friends but I have to say that it really is quite low key. This scented gift list is my fantasy and I have either samples or the full product of the following, but I do think these would make gorgeous gifts for your good self as let’s face it, the year has not been a stellar one.

So let’s kick things off.

1. L’Air Du Désert Marocain Mini : Tauer Parfums : Andy Tauer : 2005

This is one of Andy Tauer‘s most beloved fragrances inspired by the Moroccan desert. L’Air Du Désert Marocain has a sweet ambered vibe but also a dry and dusty feel. The mini blue bottle is particularly cute and I have gifted these before and they’ve gone down a treat. You can find them on Andy’s website, and consider yourself lucky if you live in one of the limited number of countries that he ships to. The list includes Switzerland, France, Austria and the US.

2. Vanilicous EDP : April Aromatics : Tanja Bochnig : 2020

April Aromatics has a new fragrance out, well two to be exact but here I will focus on Vanilicious. Put simply, this is a gorgeously addictive vanilla fragrance and one that brings a sense of calm and indulgence. Yet, it also brings on the urge to go out and escape. I would love to be somewhere where live music is playing with the smell of smoky vanilla, woods, smooth tonka and a lick of Peru balsam wafting through the air and turning up the heat. Plus the vanilla in here smells absolutely divinely natural. If you’ve read Mood Sent 4 you will have encountered more than the odd mention of an April Aromatics fragrance and this is because it is one of my favourite scent brands. Tanja makes beautiful scents that always elevate a mood, and really brings something extra to the fold. Perhaps this fragrance would be something that you may like to gift yourself. Let’s face it I feel like we need a few treats this Christmas, I for one am very tempted.

3. Feu de Bois Candle : Diptyque

I have written about this candle before but it really is a goodie and perfect for Christmas too. Diptyque makes a selection of sizes and even a good 70g Christmas stocking size too. While the Diptyque candles may not be the most diffusive out there, they do have some great scents and they’re considered a classic now. Feu de Bois or wood fire, is a firm favourite when things turn Brothers Grimm in winter. This is a great candle if you don’t have a fire at home, as it’s a pseudo replacement. It has a woody and smoky scent and is highly addictive. It can really help to set the scene and gets the big thumbs up from me.

4. Strangelove Potion Pendants

Strangelove have a very interesting and tempting collection of oud based scents and they have an adorable necklace that is paired with a mini size of one of their perfumes. This means that you are always with your favourite Strangelove scent throughout the day. It’s a genius idea that also looks great and smells good too. There are two styles of chain as well. I have the thin style but have my eye on the chunkier version too. My pick is the iris, chocolatey oud called meltmyheart but they have other tempting scents too including silencethesea.

5. Chocolate!

Let’s be honest, most of us overeat in the festive season and indulge in lashings of chocolate. So if we do let’s always have some nice chocolate at hand. In France the chocolate gifting is a little more sophisticated than my Cadbury’s experiences growing up. Here there are boutiques dedicated to the art of chocolate on every corner, so we are never short of a nice treat. Most often though I pop a bar of Lindt chocolate in the trolley – usually the the Fleur de Sel version and personally I would be very happy if a bar of this was to make its way under the tree, or a nice box of chocolates. It’s always good to have a stock handy. It also mixes well with champagne and coffee or tea so is very versatile!

Thank you so much for stopping by and please make sure to read my fellow Mood Scent 4 group writers : Esperanza on L’Esperessence and Portia at A Bottled Rose and Samantha on I Scent You A Day. Have a great Christmas and let’s hope 2021 is going to be a better year. It’s been stressful, lonely, boring and a bit of a rollercoaster. There have also been good moments but I think we all need a lift up too!