Father’s Day is just around the corner (Sunday 16 June to be exact) and its about time that we all start thinking about the perfect gift to show our appreciation and gratitude to the men that have helped shape and guide us in to the human beings we are today.

The gift of fragrance can be incredibly emotive – we forge new memories and associations with each scent that we wear, so what could be more thoughtful than a new fragrance for one of the most important guys in your life?

That said it can be tricky to know exactly what scent to gift, there is so much out there and everyone has their own personal tastes to contend with. Fear ye not – this gift guide will help you select the perfect fragrant gift for your dad, whether he’s sporty, artistic, badass, sensitive, cool or classic.

For the Sporty Dad – Cologne by Thierry Mugler

If your dad is only happy when he’s outdoors kicking a football around, climbing a mountain or sailing a boat then he’s likely to want a fragrance that doesn’t interfere with his physical output – something that compliments his activities whilst keeping him smelling fresh and clean.

Mugler Cologne is the scent for the sporty – unlike just about anything Thierry Mugler has released, Cologne is clean, green and unassuming. Mixing sweet citrus (bergamot & neroli) with green vetiver and a whole heap of shower steam, Mugler Cologne wont be so noticeable that Mr Sporty will lose focus but it will last all day.

If you’re feeling very generous throw in a bottle of the shower gel too – this blogger swears by it!

For the Artistic Dad – Memoir Man by Amouage

Is your dad the creative type? Is he more comfortable holding a paintbrush or pen than he is a football or tennis racket? He sounds like the type of guy who would appreciate a piece of olfactory art, a perfume that would stimulate his intellectual muscles and captivate his artistic sensibilities.

Memoir Man by Amouage is one such fragrance – a melancholy blend of cool mint, bitter absinthe, sweet lavender and dark oakmoss that explores the contrasts of dark & light and good & evil. As with any Amouage, Memoir Man is presented beautifully and is guaranteed to be a gift that your father would never forget.

For the Badass Dad – Rien by Etat Libre d’Orange

Some dads manage to undertake their fatherly responsibilities whilst being utterly badass in a motorcycle, leather jacket wearing, James Dean kind of way. These dads cannot be pinned down by the fragrance they wear and need something that communicates that freedom to do what one wants that makes these guys so darn kickass.

Those punky perfumistas over at Etat Libre d’Orange capture the spirit of the badass dad in Rien, a fragrance that takes the dry, harsh odour of a cracked leather jacket and mixes it with the animalic funk of civet. The result is a scent that can only be considered as effortlessly bad in all the right ways.

For the Sensitive Dad – Dior Homme

Our dads play many roles in our lives, they are their to raise, support and fight for us and are required to be in touch with their own emotions in order to guide us with ours. Underneath the strong exterior of stubble and muscles there is a level of sensitivity at work, whether it is visible or not.

Dior Homme is the perfect fragrance for those dads who are more comfortable with showing their sensitive side. It is a soft blend of powdery iris accented by lavender and cocoa that gives the impression of a man who is quiet, unassuming and perfectly balanced.

For the Cool Dad – Le Beau Mâle by Jean Paul Gaultier

I like to think that when I eventually become a dad my kids will consider me as a cool dad. This may be a slight stretch seeming as I am presently not very cool but hey, there’s always time to work on that and if I have to settle for being a geeky dad then I am more than happy to.

Cool dads are those that are down with the latest in fashion, technology and culture. They know who is in, who is out and manage to look good effortlessly. These guys need a fragrance from a well-established brand that has the kudos to keep up their cool image.

Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest masculine – Le Beau Mâle – is the perfect scent for the job and it’s a pretty interesting fragrance to boot, highlighting the original Le Mâle’s fougère accord of lavender, mint and vanilla with icy absinthe to create something that is less barbershop and more daring.

For the Classic Dad – Rive Gauche Pour Homme by Yves Saint Laurent

Some dads just want to smell good without anything particularly fancy or over the top. They have an idea in their mind of how a man should smell and perhaps have stuck with a classic fragrance for the majority of their adult life.

If you feel it’s time for dad to try something new then you won’t go wrong with Yves Saint Laurent’s fantastic Rive Gauche Pour Homme, a fragrance that serves as a modern interpretation of the most classic fragrance genre – the fougère.

Rive Gauche Pour Homme is a beautiful, barbershop-esque mix of traditional materials such as bergamot, geranium and lavender with a modern twist of patchouli. The result is a fragrance that is so smooth and comfortable it will simply act as a second skin – a distinguished air for the classic guy.