Perfume for an older lady- ideas?

[takehimjolene]

I'd be really love some ideas on a perfume to buy for my mother (late 70s). She and my Dad are both not in the best of health and I have been tasked with buying perfume for her birthday as a present from Dad (who is not well enough to shop even online). She has asked for perfume, and I think her idea is that wearing something new will make her feel a bit better as she's dealing with some tricky times. However, their poor health and the stress/worry is making them both pretty cranky and they have told me in no uncertain terms that they don't want any involvement in choosing something (I had suggested I get some samples for her to smell) but they really want it to be right. I'm not very familiar with perfumes (I have a go to perfume that I have been wearing for years, but she doesn't like that so clearly going by my taste is not the best idea!).
The only pointers they will give me are:

1. Not a 'heavy' perfume
2. Not cheap shit! (her words, I think she means no dupes, M&S, gift selections etc)
3. Not an 'old lady' perfume

In her younger days Mum always preferred heavier perfumes, but she doesn't want that now. One lighter perfume that I know she did like was Eternity, but she's made it clear that she wants something she's not had before. If anyone can give me any ideas on potentially suitable perfumes to try that would be amazing! I've had a look at a few shops but am struggling to work out where to start amongst the hundreds of options.

Gucci bloom

Mon Guerlain

Estée Lauder pleasures

My mum loves Jo Malone Pear and Freesia or any of theirs tbh

Coco noir

I like Mon Guerlain as suggested by PP. It’s not the lightest but not the heaviest either. A feminine vanilla. Lasts ok.

Have a look at Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet - light, feminine and pleasant. Doesn’t last long though.

Take a look at the Fragrantica website and search for Eternity and see what other people (heavy duty perfume fans mainly) think is similar.

Cerruti 1881, light but lasts and is feminine. Boots have it. Cerruti 1881 Femme Eau de Toilette Spray 100ml - Boots

Coco Noir is too heavy!

My mum likes Issey Miyake’s L’eau D’issey - it’s light and classic. She also likes Clinique’s Happy. Make sure you buy it from Boots or JL or somewhere reputable - a lot of fakes on Amazon etc.

I always buy my Mum (78) perfume as she won't spend the money herself. She's got:
Liz Earle no 100 (these are amazing perfumes, not too expensive and last brilliantly)
Coco Mademoiselle
Mugler Alien (this is her no 1 favourite)
Gucci Flora glorious gardenia
Tom Ford Black Orchid

She also loves Estee Lauder Youth Dew but I point blank refuse to buy that for her as it's so grim

What’s the perfume of yours that she doesn’t like Op?

Youth Dew -classic not grim 😉

White Linen

Liz Earle 100 - beautiful and comes in a really lovely box❤️

Light Blue

I think she'd appreciate a classic, so I suggest Chanel No.19. It's a little more green than Eternity and is quite light.

It would be helpful to know which perfume of yours she doesn't like.

My grandma (who’d be over 100 now if she was still alive) liked Youth Dew so I’m afraid that puts it into the old fashioned category.

If she liked Eternity look at the current CK options available . I like Obsessed . a lighter version of Obsession.

L'air du temps by nina ricci

One of the Penhaligons, I like most of them (I'm about that age) maybe Empressa or Quercus or others, they do an online questionaire to help identify what you might like,
https://www.penhaligons.com/uk/en/fragranceprofilerquiz

and definitely not cheap. You can get samples. You can get matching shower gels etc to go with for another present if successful. I also like Chanel No. 5 from my youth.

Jo malone, orange blossom.

My MIL likes Clarins Eau Dynamisante. Very light and refreshing.

jo Malone Bluebell.

Thanks everyone- it's great to have a bit of a list to start with when I go shopping for this. Think I'll start by sampling the ones that have come up a few times but will go armed with the longer list.
The perfume of mine that she dislikes is Black Orchid (I don't know why, she just says it smells weird).

I'm in a quandary about L'air du temps. I remember her wearing it when I was a child and I'm pretty sure she still has the remnants of a bottle at the back of a cupboard so I'm not sure if that means she liked it and has kept the bottle as a reminder or whether she'd think it was something she already has and reject it. The logical thing would be to ask her but unfortunately at the moment that's tricky. I know she sounds like a nightmare but she hasn't always been like this there's some cognitive decline plus a lot of stress so I'm treading carefully.

I'm 71 and my main scent is Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle

For evenings, I sometimes wear Guerlain's Shalimar, which is over 100 years old so could be described either as an 'old lady perfume' or an enduring classic.

No - don’t get her something from the past. I wouldn’t want to wear something I wore forty or fifty years ago - would you? Not to speak of the fact that what’s currently being sold will probably bear scant relation to the original. And that it’s an exemplar of the kind of cheap crap people tend to think is good enough for anyone past middle age.

How about a Frederic Malle? (Not Portrait of a Lady.) Le Parfum de Therese is properly glorious, without being heavy.

Or pretty much anything summery from Perfumer H. If your father’s feeling particularly generous he could get one in a handblown glass bottle - but they’re perfectly lovely in the normal glass bottles too.

I'm about 10 years younger than your mum and I love maison margiela replica. I.have beach walk.whicj somehow smells salty, like sea air and I'm currently wearing one with moon in the title , which is like a very light patchouli, much nicer than it sounds. I also love flowerbomb and paradoxe( can't remember who it's by though)

Pengaligons do a discovery set of 5 x 5ml bottles. She could then choose her favourite to have a big bottle of.