Best Perfume for Mom on Mother’s Day

March´s Top Five Best Perfume for Mom

This post makes me feel a bit wistful.  My mother died when I was fresh out of college, and I would love to be giving her some new fragrance.  But I´m also happy to be taking a broader view for all Those Wonderful Moms Everywhere.  I have tried to select Best perfume for Mom fragrances with a (relatively) broad appeal, dividing them loosely into categories.  If you´re looking for something for Weirdo Mom, you´re on your own.  Oh, wait  I´m Weirdo Mom.  Okay, this is what I want bottles of:  L´Artisan Fleur de Carotte and CB I Hate Perfumes Black March

Luxury Mom – Patou Joy.  It smells beautiful AND expensive, making it perfect.  Or:  Patou 1000, if you like a little more spice, or Sublime (a civet sitting on a very expensive floral bouquet,)

Sporty Mom  – Maybe mom isn´t interesting in wafting intense sillage?  How about Christian Dior´s Cologne Blanche?  Plus it comes in that fabulous, huge bottle. Or: Balle de Match by Parfums de Nicolai, a slightly heavier scent (but still light) with citrus, juniper and vetiver.  Or Santa Maria Novella Eva, which is a citrus hug and kiss in a bottle.

Mysterious Mom –YSL Opium.  No, seriously.  A great fragrance I am finally grown up enough to appreciate.  If the original version is too heavy for you, try the LE that´s out right now, Opium Fleur Imperiale, which is just lovely (mandarin, orange, neroli, apricot, jasmine, osmanthus).  Try it even if you didn´t love Opium.

Classic Mom à¢â‚¬” Chanel Bois de Iles.  The only Chanel that works on me, and the most elegant perfume I have ever smelled.  She will thank you for it. (jasmine, damask rose, ylang-ylang, ginger, vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood). Or: Lanvin Arpege.  It has been reformulated from the original, which may have smelled different, but could not possibly have smelled better than this (honeysuckle, jasmine, roses and orange blossoms, vanilla and sandalwood)

Romantic Mom – Annick Goutal Passion, because what could be more passionate?  The first AG I ever smelled, and promptly fell in love with. (tuberose, grasse jasmine, vanilla).  Or: Guerlain l´Heure Bleue.  I promised myself no Guerlain, but I can´t resist this one.  Shamelessly romantic, sweeter than Mitsouko, sort of what Apres l´Ondee would be like if it was much stronger. (bergamot, lemon, coriander, neroli, Bulgarian rose, iris, heliotrope, jasmine, ylang-ylang, orchid, vanilla, sandalwood, musk.)  à¢â‚¬Å“One summer evening, Jacques Guerlain was overcome by intense turmoil. It was the suspended hour, the hour when the sky has lost its sun but not yet found its stars. Everything in nature is clothed in a blue light. L’Heure Bleue by Guerlain: an emotion which this perfume alone is worthy of expressing. escentual.co.uk

Here is my best Mother´s Day Present:

They are the greatest gift I have ever received.

Patty’s Mother’s Day Best Perfume for Mom  recommendations

My two someones that I want to get me another bottle of L’Artisan Fleur D’Oranger (a backup, I really need a backup of this) or a bottle of Serge Lutens Un Lys, but I’ll be so very happy if they remember to make me a card and wish me a Happy Mother’s Day are on the left.  Oh, the old man on the right in that picture is really my youngest son, Harry. He likes to put on his old man mask and go out skateboarding or bike riding and go dancing jigs down the street and make people almost crash their cars.  He’s a piece of work.  The oldest, on the left, is Alex. See how much shorter he is? Yes, the younger one is about 6’4″, and Alex has threatened to cut 6 inches or so off his legs forever. He was the one that was “the difficult teenager,” but he’s turning into such a nice young man.  I always knew that was in there through the years when he was running away and skipping school for weeks on end and hanging out with the homeless kids downtown, manipulating me for everything, but you worry the person you thought you knew is really gone forever.  I took him out to get some boxers and t-shirts at Target the other day, and I also picked him up a bicycle, and he wanted something else, and I walked by it and thought he would want it and asked him, and he says, “Well, yeah, I’d like that, but I wasn’t going to put the manipulative screws to you to get it.”  Wow, that was probably one of my top ten mom moments. There’s  the real Harry without the mask on the right, playing guitar. He’s an awesome guitar player.

They are my boys, and I don’t know how my life would have been as full without them. I know I would have been a lot more selfish person. They taught me to give of all of me and not just the part that didn’t matter.

This post may make it too late to shop for Mother’s Day, but there’s still birthdays and Christmas and Just Because you Love her.  Now this is a harder task than you might think because moms are so different, and, hey, I’m a mom, too, and, like March, I like lots of freaky stuff!  I also came up with some categories:

Perfume to Wear to Make sure you become a Mommy — This is a job for Chantecaille Frangipane. While not my favorite perfume, it does have a softness to it that men appear to like quite a lot.

Perfume to Cover up the Smelly Baby Spit-up Smells once you become a Mommy — This takes industrial strength perfume, while still remaining a good smell, so I’m thinking Donna Karan Wenge or Labdanum. It’s a little sweet as well as comforting, so it shouldn’t disturb the baby, but it will make you forget you are covered in spit-up and up to your armpits in diapers.

Perfume to Remind you you are NOT just a Mommy Taxi Driver — Should be something very feminine and womanly and carefree, like Ormonde Jayne Champaca or Guerlain Mitsouko.  How can a woman be just a taxi driver while wearing either of these?  Chanel Bois de Iles will also work just to make you feel worldly and sophisticated and beautiful.

Perfume your Husband should give you to show how much he appreciates the Mother of his Screaming Brats Children — Pure Parfum Coco or Pure Parfum Vol De Nuit or one of the Clive Christians or one of the Amouages or some Regina Harris Rose Maroc Oil or Yosh’s Ginger Ciao or just a big, fat gift certificate at Guerlain or Caron.

Perfume for Mom to Wear When she Has Teenagers so they Know Who is Boss — Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit or Caron Coup de Fouet or Poivre.  The perfected mom of teenagers “I can’t believe you think I’ll let you live while you have that bullshit attitude” look and one of these perfumes will get you the mom of teenagers zen you are gonna need when faced with a snarling ball of nihilistic angst dressed in black that looks only vaguely like the child you once had.

Perfume to Give your Mother that says how wonderful she is as a person, not just a mom —  Hug her really tight and let her smell your perfume, something soft and pretty like Marc Jacobs or Annick Goutal Songes, and don’t let go too soon, and tell her that not only are you glad she’s your mom, but that you would have wanted her for your friend even if she hadn’t been your mom. It’s okay to lie here, if you have to, just make it sound sincere, and skip all the crap from the past. She won’t be there forever, and it is a different world to live in when that person who thought you so unique that she collected and kept your ribbons, awards, drawings, school pictures and school work is gone.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there. Get a bottle of some expensive Champagne and toast all the hard work you have put in every single day growing humans.

Please go visit the other bloggers participating either today or this weekend in Best Perfume for Mom on Mother’s Day and leave a comment!

• Beauty Addict for Orphan Foundation of America
• Brain Trapped in Girl’s Body
• Legerdenez for Orphan Foundation of America
• Perfume Posse for Orphan Foundation of America
• Perfumery for FINCA International
• Perfume-Smellin’ Things for Orphan Foundation of America
• The Scented Salamander for Orphan Foundation of America
• Scenteur 7 for Orphan Foundation of America *Participating May 10th through the 15th!*
• Scentzilla! for FINCA International
• SmellyBlog for FINCA International
• The Soap Blog for UNIQUE
• Urban Chick for Womankind Worldwide *Participating May 12th ONLY*
• Victoria’s Own for FINCA International