Mother’s Day is a good holiday.  Sure, the cynics can say that it’s yet another wheel of commerce churning out cards and gifts for us to spend our hard earned cash on, but in truth, Mother’s Day has a lot of meaning.  It’s important to take some time to thank the mother figures in our lives – those that have guided us, cared for us and loved us over the years.  It’s also a great opportunity to shower those ladies who have given so much, with a few lovely treats.  They deserve it, after all.

For my Mother’s Day gift guide this year, I’ve decided to focus on the three most obvious present choices – roses, chocolate and cuddly toys.  Of course, I’m a fragrance writer so when I speak of flowers, confectionary and plushies I’m not being literal, and instead am suggesting olfactory alternatives to the real thing (except for the soft toy – there really is cuddliness up ahead, I assure you).  Perfume is the greatest gift (yep, I’m biased) and these alternatives to real roses, chocolate and cuddly toys will definitely say those three important words to that very special lady in your life.

The Gift of Roses

When gifting, especially for one’s dear mother, roses are always a good place to start.  Roses are timeless and beautiful, and they are a classic way of saying thank you, and more importantly, I love you.  They come in many sizes, colours and shapes too, leading one to try and pick out the perfect flower for their loved one.  It’s a task that demands thought, time and a great deal of care, after all we couldn’t present mother dearest with the wrong type of rose now, could we?

One rose that I’m really digging at the moment is Acqua di Parma’s Rosa Nobile.  This is the fragrant equivalent of a bouquet of the prettiest and pinkest roses known to man.  It starts dewy and sweet like a big splash of rose water, with waves and waves of green leaves quickly leading into an amber dry down.  The whole thing feels as if it’s made out of pink glass, or something more precious, rose quartz perhaps, and it is so softly beautiful, any mum would be utterly pleased to wear it.

The Gift of Chocolate

Roses are great and all, it’s true, but they don’t got nothing on chocolate.  After all, chocolate is well, chocolate.  It has loads of great characteristics such as being edible, tasty and delicious, just to mention a few, and it also translates surprisingly well into perfume.  Gourmand perfumes (i.e. foody scents) can be touch and go, ranging from delectable heaven in a bottle to sickly sweet messes straight from the bowels of hell.  One that gets it right however, is Thierry Mugler’s Angel.

Yes, Angel is the obvious gourmand choice, but there’s a reason for that – it’s the greatest gourmand fragrance of all time.  In Angel, chocolate, vanilla, dewberry and caramel collide with a stonkingly big patchouli note to create a fragrance that straddles the barriers between masculine and feminine.  Angel is a legend, much like your mum.  It’s also very low in calories, especially compared to a box of chocolates.  Just remember that it’s not supposed to be eaten, just sprayed…

The Gift of Plushies

Finally, if you want to get your mother something more adorable, than beautiful or delicious, then you can’t go too far wrong with a cuddly toy.  Plushies, as they’re often called, last much longer than chocolate and flowers, and they never fail to inspire a smile, or more importantly, squeals of “IT’S SO FLUFFY!” So, if your mum is more likely to be moved by something cute and cuddly, than something floral or edible, then plushies are the way forward.  If your school of thought when it comes to mothers day gifting leans towards the world of cuteness, then I may just have the thing for you.

The only example of where fragrance meets plushness is Moschino’s TOY.  This cute little critter was imagined by rebellious fashion designer Jeremy Scott and perfumer Alexandra Kosinski, and it could not be more adorable if it tried.  The scent itself is a pleasantly fresh and outdoorsy woody floral that is bright and metallic with a touch of vanilla softness in the base.  As far as fragrances go, it’s no real great shakes, but that’s not really what TOY is about.  TOY is an exercise in perfume packaging, and how far the presentation of scent can be pushed.  It’s also really, really darn cute.  Did I mention that?