Perfume gifts: what to choose, and for whom?

Perfume is one of the loveliest gifts, and one of the hardest. Lovely, because it’s personal and stays with the person you love every day. Hard, because scent is a matter of taste, and what you love isn’t always what they’ll love.

So we’ve gathered ideas by recipient, all from the perfumes and boxes we actually have, each with its notes so you can choose knowing what’s inside.

Before you choose: three small questions

Do they like quiet scents or noticeable ones? A soft floral or a musk is a different world from a warm, spicy amber.
When will they wear it? Every day at work or university is different from evenings and special occasions.
Is there a scent they always wear? If you know what they love, look for something from the same family. Learn more about families in scent families.

Think about the season too: fresh, light scents usually feel easier in the summer heat, while warm, sweet scents come into their own in winter and in the evening.

Want to discover their taste without spoiling the surprise? Look at the bottle on their dressing table, or ask someone close to them.

And if the answers still aren’t clear, the next section is probably for you.

When you don’t know their taste

Here the smartest gift is to give them the chance to choose for themselves. Rather than one bottle that might not suit them, choose several scents in small bottles:

Ibraq’s Diamond Collection: a box of six 10 ml bottles: Black Carbon, White Regent, Nude Coral, Purple Heart, Grey Pearl and Emerald Soul Diamond. From dark rose with incense and oud, to creamy tea and iris, to sweet coconut and vanilla, to fresh citrus. For women and men. Several scents in the box, such as Black Carbon, White Regent, Nude Coral and Purple Heart, are also available from us as full bottles or decants, so if one wins them over they can have more of it.
Ibraq’s Musk Collection: six 10 ml bottles, each a different musk, from clean white musk to powdery, fruity and warm, spicy musks. A lovely way to find the musk that suits them.
Ibraq’s Summer Collection: six 10 ml bottles with wooden caps: light scents with citrus, rose, peach and a touch of spice.
Decants you pick yourselves: three or four different scents, 5 or 10 ml each, from all decants. That way the gift is made to measure.

For her

If she loves soft, feminine scents:

Assaf’s Arrogate Pink gift box: a ready-made gift. According to Assaf, the box holds the 200 ml Arrogate Pink bottle with 10 ml mini samples of other Assaf scents. Ask us on WhatsApp for the exact contents of the box we have.
Assaf’s Arrogate Pink: a soft, powdery floral: orange blossom and almond, jasmine and violet, settling on musk and sandalwood. Available as decants from 5 ml if you’d like to start small.
Al Majed Oud’s Prestige Pearl: a floral gourmand eau de parfum. It opens with bergamot, raspberry and pink pepper, has a heart of rose, orris and orange blossom, and settles on patchouli and amber.
Al Majed Oud’s Mashaer: a woody floral eau de parfum: gardenia, jasmine and rose, softening into vanilla, musk and amber.

In short: if she likes sweet and noticeable, Prestige Pearl is the closer match. If she likes something calm for every day, Arrogate Pink or Mashaer.

There’s more to explore among our women’s perfumes.

For him

If he loves warm, confident scents:

Al Majed Oud’s Elbrince: an ambery fougère, a men’s eau de parfum. The first spray is fresh with bergamot, cardamom and eucalyptus, then come cinnamon, spice and a hint of rose, settling on musk, amber and woods.
Assaf’s Rebel Enable: amber spicy. It opens with apple and mandarin, then warms up with cardamom and caramel.
Assaf’s Frankel Imagination: woody spicy, with citrus, black tea and lavender, drying down to patchouli and guaiac wood. For someone who likes fresh scents for daytime.
Ibraq’s Tobacco Collection: a kraft box of nine 20 ml bottles of extrait de parfum, each a tobacco from a different country: from chocolate and cinnamon, to cocoa, honey and vanilla, to caramel and coffee, to oud and leather. A gift for lovers of warm scents.

In short: if he likes warm and sweet, Rebel Enable. If he likes fresh for daytime and summer, Frankel Imagination. And for something clean and warm at once, Elbrince.

A gift for anyone

If you’d rather not choose between women’s and men’s, there are scents for everyone:

Lattafa’s Khamrah: amber spicy and sweet, with cinnamon and nutmeg, then dates and praline, settling on vanilla, tonka and woods.
Wadi Al Khaleej’s Silk Musk: floral woody musk, a soft musk with rose, violet and jasmine, settling on powder, musk and sandalwood.
Assaf’s Aura: fresh lavender, with grapefruit, bergamot and pineapple, settling on patchouli and cedarwood.
Ibraq’s Black Carbon Diamond: amber woody, dark rose with apple and patchouli, settling on sandalwood, musk, frankincense and oud.

You’ll find them all among our unisex perfumes.

A small gift that’s easy on the budget

A gift doesn’t have to be a big bottle to make someone happy. A 5 or 10 ml decant of a lovely scent, or a few decants together, makes a sweet gift for a friend, a colleague or anyone dear to you. It’s also a chance for them to try the scent before buying the full bottle if they love it. Not sure about the size? 10 ml is usually a nice gift size: enough to get to know the scent and wear it several times, and small enough for a bag.

We also have small Ibraq musk boxes, each with a 10 ml perfume and a small musk oil together, such as Musk Al Fajr (a clean white musk) and Musk Powder (a soft, powdery musk). Handy for a bag, and lovely as gifts.

Ideas for a decant trio

If you’re putting a gift together from decants, try choosing three scents with a common thread:

Three soft florals: Arrogate Pink, Pink Queen and Miss Sakura, all by Assaf.
Three warm scents: Khamrah, Rebel Enable and Black Carbon Diamond.
One from each family: a woody floral like Mashaer, a musk like Silk Musk and a fresh scent like Aura. That way they’ll discover which family they lean towards.

Wrapping and delivery

Every order is packed and wrapped by hand, with care and love, and comes with our “Thank you for choosing us” card. We ship to every governorate in Egypt; shipping details are on our shipping page.

One last tip: if you’re giving a full bottle to someone whose taste you’re not sure of, add a small decant of a different scent. That way, if the first doesn’t suit them, they have another option.

All our gifts and boxes are in one place in gifts, and if you’re still unsure, try Find your scent.

And if you’d like help choosing a gift for someone in particular, tell us about them on WhatsApp and we’ll happily suggest something from our shelves.