dried flowers

Whether you're classy or edgy, prefer the subtle notes of flowers in bloom or the high-spirited fruity scents, there's a fragrance for you. Perfumes even make an excellent gift. The ancient Egyptians began using perfumes and we have continued that to this day. Fragrances can be inspired from anything — from Burberry's trench coat to the scents that capture seasons or a garden. When selecting a perfume, look for the 'notes' — top notes are smells perceived immediately, middle or heart notes mask the initial impression of the base note (which can be unpleasant at first, then become more pleasant) and the base notes, which appear after the top and middle notes have dissipated. Perfumes even come in various dilutions — parfum or extrait, esprit de parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette and eau de cologne, in decreasing dilution.