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Portia

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Heya APJ,

This time of the year is a nightmare if you want to buy something lovely for friends. First and foremost being that our friends mostly already have everything they need. So for us to get them something special and important means either we have to spend a LOT of money, or we need to be a little savvy. As most of my closest don’t really understand my perfume mania it would be churlish of me to buy them something in that mode unless I’ve really thought it out. Here are some perfume and fragrant adjacent gifts that should get their eyes popping and not break the bank for you.

This is a list of things I’ll be gifting this year. Most of them are bought already, just awaiting packaging.

Portia’s Gift List 2019

Candles

While being fragrant, candles occupy the happy middle ground where they are decorative, functional and useable. You don’t need to store them because they sit out and get their burn on a couple of times a week to help freshen the air in our homes.

Cire Trudon

VERY spendy but really good if you need to impress or the person you’re buying for is impress oriented. I love their packaging and the fragrances always smell uber luxe. This year my choice of their Christmas scents is Hupo. Ambergris, Incense and creamy woods combine majestically. Libertine has these with FREE Australian Postage.

Gascoigne & King

The newest fragrance from Gascoigne & King is unbelievably beautiful. Mainly jasmine, and vanilla with the warm, feral addition of honey. G&K are a Sydney brand, created with love by hand in the home of my girlfriend Bronwyn Gascoigne. I buy a cartload of these every year because everyone who gets one comments how lavishly glamorous they make the house smell. Very reasonably priced and Gascoigne & King send to the world with a AUD$20 Flat Shipping Rate.

They also do the To Die For Rose Gold Candle Care Wicker and Snuffer, in case your friends already have candles galore. ^^

Glasshouse

Confession time. I bought the new Glasshouse Carousel for MYSELF! Yes, I paid full retail and it is freaking gorgeous. When it’s lit in the dark of the evening the light creates fabulous patterns on the walls. It’s like a fairyland. I will run myself a midnight bubble bath, light the candle and turn the lights out. INSTANT fantasy land. Amusingly, when I told Ainslie Walker that I’d bought it she squealed, it is one of her releases for the brand! Double win.

Bathtime

That leads us beautifully to my favourite, Bubble Baths. Most of my mates aren’t deep into perfumes but all of them have to bathe. A simple, useful and well priced gift is always a shower gel. Excellent if you know their preference in perfumes because you can buy their attendant products but also cool if you don’t, open their minds to something new and wonderful.

Lyric Man Shower Gel by Amouage

Lyric Man has been Amouage’s best selling mens fragrance for years. It’s cool, masculine rose is beautiful and flies under the radar enough that it can be the perfect choice for the wealthy working man (or the one with a partner/friend/family with really good taste). The packaging alone makes this a gift of distinction with the added benefit of a 300ml pump pack. Guaranteed to last months, even with daily use.

Mon Guerlain Shower Gel by Guerlain

Mon Guerlain, the hit from Guerlain that has spawned a thousand flankers in its few short years. I like the simplicity of this packaging. Right now there are also wonderful Gift Packs that come with a shower gel and fragrance. I really like the less flamboyant scent they’ve used in this and it will work beautifully across the range, so no matter which Mon Guerlain is your intendeds fave this will be a perfect bath starter.

Cherry Blossom Shower Gel by L’Occitane

I was gifted this bottle for my birthday by some girlfriends. The bottle alone is a winner with its cherry blossom branch relief. The pretty cherry/cherry blossom fragrance is so much better than it needed to be. I’m surprised each time I use it how good the fragrance is. Also, though it looks pricey, it is really good value.

Basil Lemon by Korres

Want to kick start your day with a zingy refreshing fragrance, or are thinking of wearing some cologne or citrus scents for your day? This is a really good value choice and the big bottles always look impressive. 400ml will probably last till the next time you have to buy a gift for them. I like the no nonsense packaging too, perfect for the boys but not so butch that the girls will feel awkward.

Rose Jam Shower Gel by LUSH

Special Christmas time release and my favourite shower gel by LUSH, by far. Rose Jam is a scent I want to always have around. It is the perfect base coat to any rose-centric fragrance but isn’t so strong that it really interferes with anything you choose to wear fragrance wise over its remnants. Super good value and comes from 100m up to the huge 500ml. This is a great love of mine. Excellent gifting response too.

Other Great Stuff

Liberty & Co Colour Block Mug

Jin bought me one of these last year. It has been my most coveted coffee mug ever since. It’s perfect in every way. The feel, the colours, the size and the handle. PERFECT! So perfect in fact that I have bought it this year for others, so they can enjoy the luxuriousness of a Tiffany & Co cuppa.

Tea Towels

I know, right! So many of my friends really do have EVERYTHING! It’s impossible to get them anything they really want, let alone need. So wherever I go, be it Art Gallery, Holiday Destination, Event or Place of Note I grab a couple of Tea Towels. We all use them, most people have a couple of skanky old rags or even a set bought a few years ago at the local supermarket but rarely does anyone think much about them. So getting a pretty, interesting or luxurious one is nice. They are also good to use as safety wrapping inside put together gift boxes.

 

OK, so there are some thoughts. You’ve got nearly three weeks of shopping left for Christmas or whatever your ritual is at this time of year.

No matter what you do or don’t buy, who or what you do or don’t have, I wish you a safe season. Hoping it’s free of drama, pain and depression for you, and if any of those hits I hope your coping mechanisms get you through. Plan ahead, make sure you are not putting yourself or others in danger. Hugs from me, and the APJ crew.

Portia xxx