One of the best gifts a woman can ever receive is a bottle of her favorite scent or perfume. However, perfume is a very personal thing; it is usually chosen by a woman because she herself responds to the different fragrances that a single perfume contains, but it also has to do with her sense of style as well.

Thus, when buying perfume it is important to understand if the "theme" of the scent works with the wearer's personal style, personality, and their lifestyle. For example, it is not likely that a wildly athletic woman is going to choose a heavy and floral perfume that speaks of gardens and romance. And the same sort of theory would apply to the professional woman with a very crisp and modern style... she would rarely opt for something "fussy" or heavy as this would clash with her taste.

Fortunately, when shopping for perfumes it is possible to do so by the name of the "designer" or manufacturer, and many have solid reputations for specific types of themes or fragrances.

The Things to Know

Of course, you cannot just buy any perfume with a familiar brand name and know it works for you or for the person receiving the gift. Instead, you have to first understand the different sorts of natures that the designers use as their bases. For example: 

• Floral - It is known that Givenchy and Oscar de la Renta frequently provide perfumes with a very floral base.

• Fruit - Designers like Jennifer Lopez and Dior will often accent their famous perfumes with fruity aromas.

• Spice - Scents with a masculine edge, but still very feminine are often available from Yves St. Laurent and Dolce & Gabbana

• Woods - Natural and yet crisp, Calvin Klein is most famous for his woodsy fragrances.

Naturally, these names are not the only ones associated with those bases or themes, but if you like something by one of them, it is likely because the scent has the nature explained above.

There are also the qualities of the fragrances as well. For example, there are the mass-produced perfumes that are created by very common beauty product makers such as Revlon. There are the celebrity scents by actors and actresses such as Sarah Jessica Parker, and there are prestige names from the top of the line design houses such as Chanel.

The Format

In addition to these issues, there is also the matter of the "concentration" and the amount of the purchase. Let's first look at the formats, which include: Eau de Cologne - At only 3% solution, you will get a general accent that is similar to the actual perfume, but it is much lighter and much less expensive.

 
Eau de Toilette - At a 5% solution, this one is a bit stronger and more like the actual fragrance.

• Eau de Parfum - This product is an alcohol-based one that has a 15% solution that makes it very close to the actual perfume. 

• Perfume - This is a 50% concentration of scent and is the strongest, purest, and most expensive option available.

• Products - There are also many scented products available too, and these include lotions, soap, powders, and more. These are often extremely affordable ways of using preferred perfumes, but a fraction of the cost.

The liquid perfume products are also available in a range of sizes, usually in ml measurements. These range from the very small 20ml bottles that tend to contain pure perfume, and range up to 200ml bottles that are often the amount that eau de cologne or other less expensive versions are packaged in.

Pricing

We know that pricing for perfumes often begins with the label. In other words; a known brand or name is likely to come with a higher price tag. We also know that the format and the amount will dictate the costs as well. So, this tells us that when purchasing scent or perfume, it is possible to get a hint or even a strong accent of a particular product by using scented products. If the budget allows, there is always the option for cologne, and if the budget is even better, a perfume is the way to go. Buying in small quantities is sensible as the purest scents do last a long time and don't require copious applications to work well.

Shopping online is a great way to find as many options as possible, and to even do a bit of comparison shopping too.