Are you single and not quite ready to mingle?  Fed up with smug loved-up friends and their Valentine’s Day shenanigans?  If so, I may just have the antidote for you.  Usually at this time of year I will put together a list of suitably fragrant gifts to be lovingly presented on 14th February however, this year is going to be a little bit different.  Instead of celebrating those in love, I’d like to shine some light on the consciously uncoupled amongst us, with a series of gifts to enable them to truly treat themselves.

So what are you waiting for?  Look after number one this Valentine’s Day with a decadently fragrant gift.  Go on, spoil yourself.

All the Single Ladies

Going out

If you’re out on the prowl and fancy something glamorous, glitzy and attention-getting, then look no further than Jean Paul Gaultier’s Classique Intense.  Surprisingly, this one is a completely different scent to Gaultier’s flagship fragrance, and rather than displaying a cosmetic factory’s worth of rose-tinted make up powder, this one celebrates the heady sweetness of white flowers to create a show stopping fragrance that certainly knows how to strut its stuff.

Staying In

If you’re staying in to drown your sorrows with a tub of Ben ’n’ Jerry’s (standard), then you will need something a bit more comforting – a fragrance that won’t smell out of sorts with your onesie, slippers and Bridget Jones marathon.  One of the best fragrances to snuggle up with is Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum, a liquorice cuddle that is evocative of enchanted forests, spritely fairies and happily-ever-afters.  Lolita Lempicka is like sitting down with a good rom’ com’. Well, kind of.

Treat Yo’ Self

If you’re seriously down in the dumps about not having a significant other on Valentine’s Day then you are in great need of a little something called “treat yo’ self”.  That’s right, you need to splash out and partake in a little bit of retail therapy to raise your spirits.  Might I suggest Etat Libre d’Orange’s Bijou Romantique, a big ole dusty oriental that is chock full of vanilla and iris powder, evoking a more contemporary take on Guerlain’s Shalimar.  This is pure opulence at its very best.

Gents Yet to ‘Put a Ring on it’

Going Out

I promise that I’m not choosing Marc Jacobs’ Bang just so I can say the phrase “go out with a bang”, but why not go out with a bang in Marc Jacobs’ Bang?  Bang is a hideously underrated fragrance.  Avoiding all of the modern masculine cliches, Bang is an explosion of pepper (white, black and pink) over silvery musks.  It smells fresh, spicy and metallic, managing to be loud but not overbearing.  Wearing this, you’ll certainly make a statement!

Staying In

Caron’s Pour un Homme has a reputation for being Sexy (note the capital ’S’), and this is an accolade that I certainly don’t disagree with.  That said, I’ve always seen it as rather cosy, thanks to its distinctly warm interpretation of lavender and animalics.  Pour un Homme simply is a pleasure to wear – the kind of scent that one can sit down with and contemplate for hours, huffing away at it as it rises off the skin and enjoying how darn good it smells.  Perfect to take your mind off of being single, perhaps.

Treat Yo’ Self

When I think of a luxurious treat to lighten the mood, my mind often fixates on Omani fragrance house, Amouage.  Nobody does fragrance quite like the folks at Amouage, and their magnum opus of masculine fragrance is Interlude Man.  This is an incredibly artistic and creative fragrance that pairs an intensely smoky and bitter birch tar note with waves upon waves of delicious, creamy vanilla.  The result is a whole bonfire’s worth of deliciousness that really is unlike anything else out there.  Interlude Man is an olfactory renegade worthy of its luxurious price tag.