Q. Smelladora, it's now holiday gift shopping season and I don't want to fall back on giving the usual boring presents. I'm counting on you to pull me out of my online shopping slump! - S.O.S. Shopper
A. Sweetie, darling, shopping can be hellish, especially when you're shopping for quantities of friends. I've come across a number of web sites which are fun, interactive, and offer unique and scentsational products...
Quick! There's a new solution for shopping pitfalls at Beauty.com has a new interactive chart to help you find a fragrance quickly. A pull-down menu has Fragrance Finder offers hundreds of options, from Anna Sui to Yves St. Laurent. Also, consult with their Fragrance advisor - he can make product recommendations and answer your questions by email.
Fun! An international outfit with spectacularly fun products, Lush products are as fun to read about as to buy. About their Sand castle Soap, "You get a slice of the sand castle, you clean your body with it then you go out and make yourself a dress from safety pins and date a man with floppy hair." Wow. Their "Rabbit" chocolate bath bar is under $5 and would make a great gift, paired with a bottle of "Skinny Dip", their violet and chocolate scented shower gel. There's also a good selection of wrapped gifts for under $15.
Lacking Scents? Burt's Bees has lovely gifts in cute boxes. Plus, their product lines are organized by families of scent (vegetable scents, bay rum, i-ching spiritual scents) to make shopping quicker. A friend of mine used to use their carrot moisturizing cream and it smelled so good and was so mild that her baby would surreptitiously snack on it.
Unique! Fill out a detailed profile and receive a completely customized fragrance which you can order made especially for you at Eleuria.com. Smelladora herself received a recommendation for "a sophisticated blend of exotic floral and mossy notes with fruity top notes consisting of black currant bud, mandarin, and plum modified with the mossy notes of galbanum and balanced with an intoxicating mix of vanilla and musk". Delicious...