Lancelot White is an eau de toilette in Faberlic's men's range. Its notes are described in the catalogue by the people who composed it — this page is about buying fragrance for somebody else, which is where most fragrance purchases go wrong.
Fragrance is the hardest gift
Worth acknowledging before you start. Scent is personal, it changes on skin, and a fragrance someone loves on a friend may not work on them at all.
That does not make it impossible. It makes research worthwhile.
Find out what they already wear
The single most useful piece of information. Look at what is on their shelf, or ask someone who would know.
One fragrance they love tells you the family, and something adjacent in that family is far more likely to succeed than a guess. If you can find the notes listed for it, you have most of what you need.
Match the format to how they live
Eau de toilette suits someone who wears fragrance to work, in warm climates, or prefers something that stays close.
Eau de parfum suits someone who wears fragrance in the evening or in cold weather.
Giving the wrong concentration is a more common mistake than giving the wrong family, and it is easier to avoid.
What to avoid as a gift
- The fragrance you like yourself. The most common error; you are buying for their nose
- Anything from the most polarising end — heavy orientals, oud, leather. Loved intensely by their people, disliked by everyone else
- Buying without checking the return policy. Many places will not accept opened fragrance back
The honest alternative
If you have no information at all, consider a gift card or an offer to choose together. Less romantic, and considerably more likely to result in something actually worn rather than displayed.
For the recipient
Testing properly: on skin, thirty minutes minimum, one at a time. The full note structure is in the Faberlic catalogue.
Store it cool and dark, in its box — not on a bathroom shelf.