Still shopping? Here are some more gift ideas, and if you missed them, check out Holiday gifts part 1 and part 2. And of course, more to come...
From Joya & Vane, solid perfume lockets in Royal Jasmine (jasmine, tuberose, tonka bean, toasted marshmallow and sandalwood; watch chain, above center, $68), Starleaf (orange blossom, honeysuckle, jasmine, lily of the valley, honey and sweet musk; heart brooch, above left, $38) or Moro Blood Orange (blood orange, tangerine, yuzu, tiare flower, vanilla, blonde woods and musk; oval + perfume pin, above right, $38). All at Anthropologie.
From Etat Libre d'Orange, a coffret with sixteen 10 ml bottles of fragrance, including Antihéros, Encens & Bubblegum, Don't Get Me Wrong Baby, Divin'Enfant, Jasmin & Cigarette, Rien, Putain des Palaces, Sécrétions Magnifiques, Vraie Blonde, Vierges & Toreros, Eloge du Traître, Delicious Closet Queen, Je Suis un Homme, Charogne, Nombril Immense and Rossy de Palma. $150 at Luckyscent in the US or £98 at Nkdman in the UK. You can also find a discovery kit, with 1.5 ml samples of 21 Etat Libre d'Orange fragrances, at the brand's website (39€).
From Czech & Speake, a Frankincense & Myrrh gift set with candle and "aromatic burning sticks". £63.
From Ormonde Jayne, "Gold Dust" dusting powder: "Gold Dust, made with 24 carat gold. This stunning gold dusting powder is housed in a black lacquered handmade gold box crafted by British carpenters. The lavish puff is hand sewn in French satin with a beautiful champagne coloured marabou feather trim." £400 for 15 ml.
To keep your house smelling nice while you do your (online) holiday shopping, a limited edition Orange Clove fragrance from Mrs. Meyer's. Dish Soap, hand soap and counter spray, $3.99 each. A matching soy candle (not shown) is $6.99.
The Mrs. Meyer orange and clove items would be a lovely hostess gift for the holidays! And though I’m not often tempted by solid parfumes, those Joya and Vane solids sound wonderful. And the ELdO 21 piece sampler sounds like a lot of fun as well! Great guide, Robin.
I’m going to see if I can find those Mrs. Meyer things at Target this week…let’s hope.
Using the Mrs. Meyers cleaning products to help the hostess clean up would be an even better gift. (I’ll be looking out for a set to help myself clean up. )
This is bad. I want everything on this page!
Sorry!
That Mrs. Meyer stuff sounds gooooood. I adore clove! I like the perfume lockets too.
Its fun when what sounds best is the cheap thrill
The Mrs. Meyers company also makes a pine candle (Iowa Pine). I have one…it smells great and is made of soy. It is supposed to burn for 25 hours and costs about $6 at Target. Not sure if this is available as part of a “gift set.” I bought it all by itself.
Robin, the hottest gift idea is candles made from a kind of wax that melts at a low temperature and once melted can be used as a massage oil. I wish I had thought of this idea! This will be BIG. I have bought a starter set and will let you know how they work.
Hadn’t even heard of those candles — I don’t follow that sort of thing at all. Who makes them?
Robin – there are some “mom and pop” makers that sell these candles on the web. I have ordered a sample set and am going to try them. I was at a Body and Bath shop over the week-end and told the manager there that if they were looking for the next hot idea, that would be it. It’s frustrating to be able to spot trends but not be in a position to do anything about them! I will let you know how the candles work.
I feel better now! I just found these “candles” last weekend, and thought I had somehow not noticed them before. I found them at a shop called “Serendipity” in downtown Franklin, TN. These are put out by Earthly Body and came in about half a dozen fragrances. I got Dreamsicle and Sunshower. They do feel and smell really nice, although I’ve used them as lotion, not as a massage oil, and only on my hands.
The sales lady did tout them as the “next big thing”, so who knows how much we’ll start seeing like them. I promised when I went in the shop (mainly cosmetics), that I wouldn’t buy any makeup that I already had plenty of, and I do have “a bit”. Lotion candles aren’t makeup, and I made no such promise concerning fragrance
For what it’s worth, ingredients are: soybean oil, coconut oil, hempseed oil, apricot oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, vitamin E, and “fragrance”.
And I think that coffret from Etat Libre d’Orange is calling my name.
Thanks both of you!
I saw those a few years ago and bought one – maybe they have gotten better, but the thing I never cared for was that the liquid was scented by the flame residue as much as the scent itself, so it was always a bit sooty-smelling.
I don’t know how much the quality has improved (only having used them for a week), but I haven’t noticed any flame or sooty/sulfur smell. I do only let it burn long enough to give me enough melty waxy stuff to slather on my hands, so maybe that influences the smell. The saleslady I spoke to suggested lighting it just before I got in the shower or tub, and that would burn it long enough to enjoy the rubdown. I did slather it on my legs tonight. I get really dry in winter so I hope this helps out with the “alligator skin” condition.
Well, I just checked the Mrs. Meyers web site and the Iowa Pine Candle is available only as a “one off” – no gift set. There are other gift sets available. The Iowa Pine candle is $6.99 and comes in a handy reusable jelly jar which you could probably use as a juice glass.
Thanks!
Last year Ms. Meyer’s put out a special holiday set scented with gingerbread that was just fantastic. Was hoping to see that again this year, but I guess we’ve got orange clove instead.
And man, I wish I were a bigger fan of Etat Libre, that’s actually an excellent price on the 10 ml coffret.
It is also an excellent split opportunity, although that would take some real organization to find takers for each one.
I like all of these gift ideas – what a cool bunch o’ stuff. I have a lot of the Mrs. Meyer’s Iowa pine products left over from last year, so I don’t need the new holiday gift pack darn it – but I will definitely get the orange clove candle.
The OJ gold powder is a bit silly, but kinda fun if you are looking for a way to really throw your money away on frou-frou.
I sprang for that Etat set – looking forward to the exploration!
Definitely will look for the Meyer stuff – sounds yummy.
That Etat set is really cool – but did they HAVE to include Secretions?! Oy.
Oooh! Totally wanting some Mrs Meyer’s Orange Clove dish soap!
That coffret is a must for any niche perfume lover. I spent much more time and money finding my favorite ELdOs!
Hey,
I’m looking for a new perfume to give to my mom for Christmas. Her favorites are BLV (the one in the blue bottle…), Lucky 6, Emporio Armani, Light Blue, Floral by Paul Smith, Juicy Couture, and Channel No. 5. If you could give me some suggestions on similar fragrances I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!
That’s a pretty diverse group…I’d have no idea. (I’d probably have no idea anyway — you’d do as well to find a really nice salesperson at Nordstrom and ask them)