Monday, June 30, 2008

Wedding Anniversaries: Celebrating Anniversaries 1 - 5 With Perfumes

Wedding Anniversaries
Most of us enjoy a whiff of a delicious perfume, either on ourselves or on somebody else. Instead of buying just any perfume for an anniversary, why not get one that directly has something to do with the theme of the celebrated anniversary? There are infinite amounts of options out there, so you do have to know about your partner's preferences. If a woman like musky notes, don't bring home a fruity perfume! To play it safe, I would recommend that you buy the smallest size possible, so it's not that much of a loss if he or she doesn't like it (and people sometimes have adverse reactions to certain scents). Plus that way, he or she will have used it up by the next anniversary and you can go out and buy more!

Anniversary 1 is Paper: We start out pretty lame, since I could not find any perfume that contained the word "paper" in it. But, there are cards with perfumed inserts, which might be most appropriate for women.

Anniversary 2 is Cotton and we have a few more options here. Cotton is associated with the scent of freshly washed linen, so most of the perfumes have a lighter note. For a woman get Cotton Splash Perfume by Marc Jacobs, White Linen Breeze by Estee Lauder or Crisp Cotton Perfume Oil sold in The Body Shop. For men there are not that many options; you could go with Cotton Candy Perfume by Demeter for men and women, or Lucky You by Liz Claiborne, since one of its ingredients is Cotton flower.

Anniversary 3 is Leather. A scent mostly associated with men (because of the whole cowboy thing, I guess), you have a lot of option for the guys: Containing the word leather in it's name are a series of English Leather by Dana, English Leather Wind Drift, English Leather Timberline and English Leather Musk.

The following fragrances for men carry a note of leather: John Varvatos, Polo by Ralph Lauren, Carlos Santana, Chaps by Ralph Lauren, Dunhill Fresh by Alfred Dunhill, Gentleman by Givenchy, Gucci Pour Homme by Gucci, Nicole Miller for Men, Safari by Ralph Lauren and many, many more. You can always ask for more fragrances with a leather note at the perfume store, should none of these appeal to you.

For women it's the same thing: there are only few perfumes that have the word itself in the name. The only ones I found are Leather for Women by Demeter and Aigner in Leather by Etienne Aigner. But when it comes to perfumes with a note of leather, you have more options: Cabochard by Parfums Gres, Fendi, Habanita by Molinard, Image by Nino Cerruti, No. 19 by Chanel, Caleche by Hermes and more.

For anniversary 4, Fruit or Flowers you will have so many options that I can't possibly name all of them. Most of the perfumes have both flower and fruit notes, so if you want to go with one of the two only, you'll have to speak with a knowledgeable salesperson in the perfume store.

Only a few options for her are Fruit de Bois by Jean Charles Brosseau, Jessica McClintock for women, Fruity Rythm by Adidas, Pacific Paradise and Island Kiss by Escada, Faconnable Femme by Faconnable, Guess for Women, Head Over Heals by Revlon, Incanto and Incanto Charm by Salvatore Ferragamo, Flower for Women by Kenzo, Spring Flower and Fantasia de Fleurs by Creed, Fleur de Diva by Ungaro, Fleur de Fleurs by Nina Ricci ... let me just catch my breath! The list goes on and on, so you will have many options here. Make sure with your darling which fruit or flower she likes, else she just might get a headache!

Since men's fragrances tend to be less fruity and sweet, you would think that you would have fewer options, compared to women's fragrances, but don't forget that almost all perfumes have a flower or a fruit thrown in somewhere. Some ideas for him are: Baldessarini by Hugo Boss, Black Code by Giorgio Armani, Neroli Sauvage by Creed, Curve by Liz Claiborne, Sport by Royal Copenhagen and Very Sexy for Men by Victoria's Secret.

Now to the last theme of the first five anniversaries. Year 5 is Wood, so if you include fragrance notes like sandalwood, you are going to have a lot of options again. For women, get Glamourous by Ralph Lauren, Eau de Dior Relaxing by Christian Dior, Shi by Alfred Sung, Versace Woman by Versace, Sensi by Giorgio Armani, Black Cashmere by DKNY or Blush for Women by Marc Jacobs. Honestly, there are so many I could fill up a whole page, but these will give you an idea.

And finally, for men you have Black XS by Paco Rabanne, BLV Notte by Bulgari, Brit for Men by Burberry, Cacharel for Men by Cacharel, Dune by Christian Dior, Gravity by Coty and Gucci Pour Homme, just to name a few.

Michael RussellYour Independent guide to Anniversary Gifts


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