Perfume A Great Mother's Day Gift
Stay Pretty
By Sheryl Porter
Mother’s Day is fast approaching… Sunday, May 10th. While flowers, cards and food are among the most popular gifts, fragrance is also a popular choice. Fragrance is a glorious gift that can change a mood with simply one whiff. With hundreds of fragrances on the market, choosing a signature scent for dear ole mom can be intimidating. After a while, they all look and smell the same. By the way, that’s not a coincidence. It is believed that the nose gets ‘sensory overload’. So much so, that when trying different fragrances, your nose can’t distinguish after trying just three.
The most popular fragrance category on the market today is the Floral category. As the name implies, floral fragrances use ingredients like rose, lilac, freesia and lilies, just to name a handful. A traditional mom, like Desperate Housewives’ Bree, will adore a floral fragrance like Gucci Flora, Flowerbomb or Euphoria Summer Temptation. Pictured: Gucci Flora>>>
Were you the neighborhood kid who had the ‘cool mom’? At the moment, the 
coolest mom on the planet has got to be First Lady Michelle Obama. If your mom is more Michelle and less Bree, then definitely walk past the Florals and try a fun, Citrus fragrance to match her sassy attitude. These clean, fresh scents often contain juicy notes of raspberry, orange, apple or grapefruit. Some of the most popular Citrus scents now are True Religion, Tous in Heaven or CK Summer. Pictured: Tous in Heaven >>>
If your mom likes to cook (think: Paula Dean) or is a lover of natural scents like honey, crème brulee and vanilla, explore the world of Gourmand fragrances. Gourmand is a newer classification for fragrances that use edible notes. You can really have fun and stir up the imagination by choosing scents with delectable notes like Cotton Candy, Cupcakes and Chocolate. Don’t worry though, these fragrances are totally fat-free! Kick it up a notch with Thierry Mugler’s Angel, Miss Dior Cherie L’eau or Diamonds Intense. Pictured: Miss Dior Cherie L’eau >>>
Even though you never, ever want to think of your mom in this way, every woman has moments in her life when she wants to feel ummmm … let’s just say saucy! If your mom is more of a “Mrs Robinson”, warm, spicy fragrances can really make her feel special. These scents have earthy ingredients like Sandalwood, Patchouli, Amber and Musks. Spice up her life with Gucci by Gucci, Coco Chanel or J’adore. Pictured: Coco Chanel >>>
One final suggestion: When faced with the decision of a designer fragrance vs. a celebrity fragrance, always go with the designer pick. Choosing a designer scent like Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci or Dior sends a message of luxury, quality and class… everything you want in a mom. On the opposite end of the fragrance spectrum, choosing the latest celebrity juice from celebrities like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton or Mariah Carey conveys a hoochie mama persona that no one wants, unless you are Peggy Bundy.
Special thanks to my “cool mom” Wanda Hansen, for her help with this article!
