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Mother’s Day is on the horizon, and what better way to show your mum how much you care than with a gorgeous new bottle of perfume?
It’s all well and good if you know your mother never strays from her favourite signature scent, but what if you’re not certain what she likes, or think she might fancy trying something different?
Or perhaps you’re keen to try a new perfume yourself but don’t want to risk wasting your money on one that’s not to your taste?
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With most stores currently closed and essential retailers like Boots and Superdrug no longer offering in-store testers, buying fragrance can be a bit of a gamble nowadays.
Fortunately, perfumer Jo Malone CBE, who founded the eponymous brand 30 years ago and has since launched fragrance house Jo Loves, has the perfect suggestion: perfume “discovery” kits.
Speaking exclusively to OK!, Jo says, “Discovery kits are absolutely brilliant. I don’t know why it took us so long to figure out these were a good idea!”
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Discovery kits are a variety of mini bottles of fragrances, allowing you to test out a few before splashing out on the real thing. Some even contain a voucher for money off a full-size bottle. These little vials are also ideal for handbags or travelling, and even allow you to try your hand at layering fragrances to create your own unique scent.
“You probably won’t wear all of them but it’ll also enable you to choose the one that’s completely right for you,” Jo explains. “You can figure out which fragrance family you always go back to, and then it’s easier to narrow fragrances down.”
Jo also suggests another sweet idea if you’re giving these as a gift: “Include a note saying, ‘When this is all over, let’s go and buy a bottle of perfume together.’”
Here are some of the OK! beauty team’s favourite fragrance kits, perfect for gifting a loved one – or treating yourself.
Jo Loves A Fragrance Discovery Set, buy it here for £25
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This contains seven 2ml bottles of the brand’s best-loved perfumes. Jo Malone creates her fragrances based on moments from her own life, or to “tell stories”; Pomelo, for example, was inspired by a walk along the beach in Turks and Caicos. Jo by Jo Loves is the fragrance she created especially for herself, and is the one she always keeps in her own handbag.
Yardley London Flowerful Collection, available in this month’s OK! Beauty Edit box
If you’re a fan of florals you’ll love this handbag-sized set by Yardley, which contains five 1.5ml samples in gorgeous garden scents, from Opulent Rose to Decadent Mimosa.
You’ll find this set, alongside five other pampering beauty products to help you look and feel your best, inside this month’s OK! Beauty Edit box. Its contents are worth over £40, but you get your hands on it from as little as £16.50.
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Floral Street The Discovery Set, buy it here for £14
This set of eight 1.5ml sprays – worth £28.80 in total – is the perfect way to sample British, vegan and sustainable fragrance house Floral Street’s unique scents. They’re modern takes on traditional flowery notes, with names like Neon Rose, Electric Rhubarb and Arizona Bloom.
Zara Emotions Collection Discovery Set, buy it here £15.99
Jo Malone has also created a popular line of perfumes and home fragrances for high-street retailer Zara. This pack contains 4ml bottles of all eight of the scents; Amalfi Sunray and Ebony Wood are the OK! beauty team’s personal favourites.
Escentual Fragrance Discovery Set, buy it here for £19.95
Each kit, released monthly, contains eight mystery vials focused on a particular fragrance family (April’s is fruity). Sniff, share your thoughts on Escentual’s Facebook group then wait for the perfumes to be unveiled to be at the end of the month.
The £19.95 cost of the box can be redeemed against any purchase on the website – perfect if you’ve just found your new signature scent.
Malin+Goetz Fragrance Discovery Kit, buy it here for £22
Malin+Goetz fragrances are unisex and intriguingly named (think Dark Rum, Stem and Cannabis), and this box introduces you to six of them in 2ml bottles. Most of these scents are also available as candles, too.
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