Perfume expert help needed please! Christmas present for MIL.

[Inertia]

My mother-in-law has asked for perfume for Christmas- any perfume. No further guidance is forthcoming unfortunately- she doesn't mind which she gets. I'm not even sure that she regularly wears perfume so couldn't say what sort of scent she likes.

DH reckons she has asked for Chanel number 5 in the past, but that's beyond our budget. I'm guessing she'd go for something fairly light and flowery rather than heavy / musky.

Please suggest names to me!

How much do you want to spend? You can get some classic perfumes very reasonably from allbeauty.com - Cabochard, Cabotine, Je Reviens etc.

If you want to get something more mainstream, how about Daisy? It's quite light and inoffensive, and probably not the sort of scent that anyone could vehemently dislike. Or the new Lancome one, La Vie est Belle?

There are great deals in boots at the moment.

If she likes flowery and close to the skin smells, she might like euphoria by ck or eternity monument by ck. or Armani Code, or Lovely by sarah Jessica Parker (my fav celeb perfume)

If she likes vanilla and stronger smells she might like a long lasting, strong one like lady million, but if she doesn't like it it's a big bottle of pong!

I like the pretty Fragonard bottles in Marks & Spencer

Le vie est belle is a huge bomb, not for the faint hearted. It really makes everything smell, clothes, car, house.

Lair du temps is nice but can be overpoweringly balmy in an old lady way-not great if you're in the same car a lot!

Daisy is fresh.

I love Romance by Ralph Lauren a light rose flowery scent that's a modern bur classic

Fragonard are lovely, I agree traviata :)

Antonia's Flowers
Bluebell (and others) by Penhaligons
Paloma Picasso
Valentino
Chanel No.19
Miss Dior

First is lovely, but quite strong.

DKNY Woman - slightly citrusy, not overly heavy.

If she doesn't usually wear perfume, I would go for something quite light, and modern. Lovely is a good suggestion. Aqua Allegoria, by Guerlain? Ther must be one of those that she might like.

Not a modern one, but Rive Gauche is classic and quite inoffensive.

I would also pick something you like - if she doesn't like it, you can always give it a good home!

M and S do a perfume called 'New York'. It's in the Autograph range and sold in all their shops. It's very cheap and in the same sort of perfume territory as Chanel no 5.
M and S also stock Roger and Gallet. Their Osmanthus perfume is bright, light, pretty and floral. And cheap. And the Fig is very attractive too.

Roger and Gallet is a good suggestion - I like Rose Imaginaire.

Going back to classics again, Arpege is lovely, and light.

By the way, chanel no 5 never strikes me as very light and flowery. It's complicated and classy. I'm a lover of light florals and I find chanel no 5 a bit much.
I think mrsschadenfreude might be nearer the mark with her suggestions of classics.

Gosh, lots of suggestions, thanks all! Will have a proper read through now...

Crikey, I haven't heard of many of these!

M&S is a good idea because she could always swap it if i get one she doesn't like.

TBH I wouldn't have a clue about Chanel no 5, so I'm sure you're right thecat- it's just that my MIL is generally more of a flowery sort of person.

OK, so I can pop out to Boots and M&S tomorrow so will try some of these suggestions. Thanks everyone.

Chanel no5 hair mist. A lot cheaper than the edp or edt- idea is you spray it in your hair. It's lovely because you smell it more that way yourself as your hair is closer to your nose than your wrists IYSWIM. It's like walking round in a cloud without overpowering other people.

White Linen by Estée Lauder. Ageless, classic, light. Utterly lovely. And it seems to suit everyone.

Another vote for the M&S Fragonard range, classic and classy, very pretty packaging too.

Qvc have Penhaligons and other sets at the moment.They also have a really good return policy.

Fragonard have some nice floral perfumes. I have Grains de Soleil, which is lovely but could never be described as "light"! The Sweet Pea one is light and floral. I've got their Verveine too, which is a bit overwhelming for a citrus (L'occitane's is better). Avoid the "other" Fragonards (M & S doesn't do the whole range) as they can be a bit niche and love/hate.

There's another thread going on at the moment about which horrible perfume to buy an awful MIL. You might want to have a look at that to see what to avoid - there's some duplication! Funny how perfume is so subjective!

I like Very Irresistible by Givenchy for something floral. And Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone - smells really Christmassy to me as I got it last year! But not to everyone's taste.

I recently found Givenchy's Dahlia Noir when browsing in HoF. Never heard of it before but loving it. Flowery but also quite baby powdery if that makes any sense?! Paid £38 for a small bottle.

O de Lancome is nice and fresh. And, yes, lots on here that are on that other thread as well.