Our series of holiday gift posts continues with gift ideas for the men in your life, although there are plenty of “unisex” ideas in the other articles already. If you missed them, check out part 1 (scented body products), part 2 (travel sizes & coffrets) and part 3 (home fragrance).
From Cartier, “Cartier’s iconic masculine fragrance, Déclaration, is wrapped in a genuine piece of leather for a limited edition holiday experience.” $100 for 100 ml at Nordstrom…
It’s Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day — take your pick. Whether you’re shopping or not, it never hurts to look, right? As we did last year, we’re kicking off this year’s string of holiday gift posts with a bunch o’ scented bath & body products. More to come over the new few weeks!
From Guerlain, Liu powder spray: “…a light-as-air loose powder that enhances the face, body and hair with an iridescent golden veil. A mere press of the bulb releases the powder, leaving Liu’s mesmerizing aromas in its wake: a composition of aldehydes, sensual roses, vanilla, iris and woody notes.” $88 at Saks Fifth Avenue…
Aroma M, a New York-based, Japan-influenced “niche” perfume house, has just released the first two products in its new Aroma M Beauty collection. I’ve been a fan of Aroma M’s fragrances for a long time (my favorites are Geisha Violet and Geisha Marron), and I’ve recently become a convert to the idea of using oil treatments for hair and skin, so I was immediately looking forward to trying Aroma M’s Eastern-inspired Camellia Hair Oil and Camellia Face Oil.
According to the Aroma M website, “Camellia oil has been a Japanese beauty secret for centuries, and considered to be so beneficial and valuable that has become a symbol of wealth, virtue and happiness. It is made from cold pressed Japanese camellia (Tsubaki) buds, which is a member of the tea family.” In addition to its camellia seed oil, Aroma M’s Camellia Hair Oil contains virgin argan oil, golden jojoba oil, rosemary oil and tuberose oil, all organic. I don’t know much about the centuries-old methods of Japanese haircare, or the significance of haircare within the Geisha tradition, but I can still enjoy the simple luxury of this product when I work it into my own (decidedly non-Geisha-like) hair…
Father’s Day looms; better get shopping! In choosing gift suggestions for men, I’ve tried to provide a wide variety of choices for different personality types. My father was outdoorsy, sporty, and I’ve included gifts for that sort of guy. I live in an organic-loving town, so I’ve recommended products that are just about free of everything deemed harmful (see tomorrow’s post). I don’t have two-legged children, and my four-legged dependents won’t be buying me anything, but I’d be happy with any gift from my lists. If you’re still looking for a gift, here’s hoping something here will suit you and your father.
Everyone seems to love the simple designs of Malin+Goetz products. For perfume-adverse dads, ease them into fragrance with the light and bright Rum or Lime tonics (30 ml/$48). On the “hair front,” Malin+Goetz offers the Hair Gift Box with a Peppermint Shampoo and Cilantro Conditioner (8 oz each/$42) or naturally fragranced Hair Pomade (2 oz/$20) with meadowfoam seed oil, cannabis sativa seed oil, soybean, yucca and aloe. (This is a crossover product; see the “Homebody” category tomorrow.)
Mjölk (Milk), based in Toronto, represents Scandinavian and Japanese designers. The concrete shaving kit ($98) includes a shaving dish made from soft concrete, a shaving soap, and traditional beech wood brush with badger hair bristles…
My father loved clothes and dressing up, but he was also fond of walking around in his underwear or gardening clothes (“rags” my grandmother called them). He had a temper but was patient with animals, especially cats. His cats (at one point we had ten!) took turns sitting in his lap in the garden, and they all, man and cats, bird-watched together. The trait I appreciated most in my father was his curiosity. When I gave him gifts, he’d approach them with interest, as if they needed exploration, analysis. He wasted no opportunity to learn something. Once, for a present mind you, I gave him a boring book on the history of the U.S. Supreme Court; he read it from cover to cover. He loved antique folk sculptures of animals, so I bought him a homey little tome called “Carving Duck Decoys.” Father started carving ducks and several of them are staring at me as I write this. When it came to toiletries, my father used Ivory soap and old-fashioned drugstore shave cream until, thanks to yours truly, he became appreciative of, then addicted to, expensive shave lathers from England and all sorts of interesting soaps and potions. I can’t remember an “unsuccessful” gift to my father. I hope your father is as easy to buy for as mine was!
For fathers big and small, young and old, fancy and rustic; for regal and distinguished Fathers, fauxhemian pères, outdoorsy-sporty dads, and jazzy Daddy-Os, I present some gift ideas for Father’s Day…