Christmas gifting can be a pain. Depending on who you’re buying a gift for — Secret Santa among colleagues/friends/that cycling group you’ve been spending too much time with — it’s not an easy feat to come up with one that will actually be used.
There’ll be plenty of Christmas gift bundles in the coming weeks, but let’s face it, they aren’t necessarily the most useful beyond the festivities. How many times have we received one only to forget all about it till the next spring-cleaning session?
What’s always a winner, however, are fragrances. For one, they’re fuss-free in that you don’t need to muddle over sizing, as is with the case for clothes. When kept well, fragrances tend to last for quite a long time. And of course, they come in range of offerings too — perfumes, candles, room sprays and more.
Raffles City Singapore‘s revamped store offerings (with more to come) have seen a renewed focused on bringing in some big-named fragrance and grooming brands as part of its retail mix. We pick three perfectly useful gifts to consider from holiday collections by Acqua di Parma as well as new-kids-on-the-block Diptyque and Creed that’ll last well beyond just Christmas.
Acqua di Parma
The Acqua di Parma Holiday Season collection takes on an artistic slant. An explosion of colours are wrapped around each piece in the collection, with prints made from a marbled paper technique steeped in traditional Italian craftsmanship.
It is visually apparent in the collection’s highly limited Advent Calendar — dressed in the brand’s trademark yellow. The circular shape of the Advent Calendar is inspired by the brand’s signature hat box and is designed with 25 windows, each containing a gift from the Acqua di Parma universe. They include a selection from the Holiday Season collection as well as key icons to the brand.
Only five pieces of the Acqua di Parma Advent Calendar are available in Singapore, however — all exclusive to the Raffles City boutique.
We’d recommend going for the Selection Set as an option if you’ve missed out on the Advent Calendar. 10 Acqua di Parma fragrances are beautifully packaged in each set. Each vial contains 1.5ml of fragrance ranging from the bright and fresh Arancia di Capri to the beloved Colonia. Not only will this gift the recipient with a range of scents to mix around, it’ll also be the perfect introduction to Acqua di Parma and the kind of scent profile that they gravitate towards.
The Acqua di Parma boutique is located at 01-07 Raffles City.
Diptyque
French maison Diptyque takes inspiration from the starry, wintry skies for its holiday collection. Launching in full at the Singapore flagship in Raffles City, constellation-like motifs decorate the extensive collection that spans home fragrances from candles to room sprays, as well as eau de parfums. Iconic Diptyque scents are given new life with reimagined vessels, while three new scents are introduced for the season: Sapin, Neige, and Étincelles.
Its limited-edition Advent Calendar is a black gift set that looks like a mysterious celestial object. The two-tiered packaging captures the different facets of the night sky, with each box containing a different Diptyque surprise meant to be unveiled throughout Christmas. And the Advent Calendar glows in the dark too; how’s that for a stunning gift?
For something a bit more specific, the collection’s limited-edition home diffuser would be an exceptional addition to an interior space. The glass elements of the piece were blown by master glassblowers from the Nivyne workshop in France, featuring a transparent glossy black body.
The Diptyque boutique is located at 01-05 Raffles City.
Creed
The House of Creed is by no means a new brand in Singapore, having had a retail presence at counters in departmental stores. The Raffles City boutique however, is its first-ever physical store here. The store is where one can find a more extensive range of Creed fragrances as well as Les Royales Exclusives collection (the crown jewel of the brand) that is not available anywhere else in Singapore.
The maison’s rich heritage dates back to the late 18th century where it was the clothier to European royalty and famed for its unique scents that adorned its tailored garments. It has grown to be one of the most recognisable brands in luxury fragrances with the Aventus being its best-selling fragrance to date.
The Leather Explore collection highlights this heritage with a slew of leather cases meant to accompany Creed’s line of fragrances. Crafted from Italian leather, the pieces are wrapped in a traditional French navy colour with the maison’s emblem embedded within a print.
The pièce de résistance of the collection is the Trunk Rue Royale — a sizeable travel trunk (or a permanent display case) that’s designed to fit two 100ml fragrances from the Heritage collection. The fragrances are sold separately.
But perhaps the more functional option is the collection’s range of Creed candles. They’re available in three sizes — 220g and 650g— and in two delicate scents inspired by travel. Birmainie Oud is a combination of sweet styrax and tonka bean for a scent that’s reminiscent of Agar trees in Myanmar, while Vanisia contains a base of vanilla nectar mixed in with an amber note.
Both candles are presented in a glass vessel and the 650g versions are further dressed with the navy blue leather that’s distinctive of the collection. The best thing is, once the candles are spent, these vessels can be reused to hold just about anything or left as interior ornaments.
The House of Creed is located at 01-39C Raffles City. Pre-orders for its Christmas collection is now available in-store.
