Absolutely Magazine December Issue: Lawrence's Fragrance Gift Guide

Where does one begin when selecting a scent for someone else? Actually it is not as difficult as one might think, quite often the clues are all there. Lawrence Roullier White mixes and matches perfect perfumes with worthy recipients. 

The Aesthete. For the lover of pure beauty, for the poet, the dreamer, clarity is key. No room for sensory overload here. Juliette Has a Gun’s Not A Perfume plays to the wearer’s own natural chemistry, enhancing the scent of the skin it smells different on everyone. 

The Aristocrat. Portrait of a Lady by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle is a modern masterpiece of refined fragrance. Built around a heart of heavy rose and dark patchouli, this is a noble and commanding scent, for the woman born with a taste for the finer things and used to getting them. 

The Bon Vivant. The life and soul of the party should have a scent as equally full of fun, wit and repartee. Party by Sentifique, does what it says on the label, popping with pimento, sparkling with citrus and alluring with expensive magnolia blossom and sexy aldehydes. 

The Champion. Sarah McCartney is an olfactory lyricist and her ode to a sporting hero’s moment of triumph, 4160 Tuesdays’ Time to Draw the Raffle Numbers, bursts with pride and adrenalin. A winning fragrance for winners! Wear it if you do not want to be left behind. 

The Child Prodigy. For the perfumer in waiting what better fragrance than one made by a perfumer, Silvio Levi, for his daughter? Dolce Riso by Cale Fragranze d’Autore is a happy, optimistic scent; top notes of apple and lime unusually mingle with a middle of rice and wheat, with a base of soft musk and sweet vanilla. 

The Countryphile. For lovers of the countryside Union’s Quince, Mint and Moss bursts with British botany. This subtly addictive scent is at once coolly elegant and also sexy and slightly dangerous, beneath the staid tweed jacket beats the heart of a hunter. 

The Dandy. For the bright young thing, the proud peacock, Parfums d’Orsay’s - named after its eponymous founding beau - Le Dandy literally has his name on it. A flourish of a fragrance; like the glimpse of red silk sock or the surprising angle of a rakish hat. 

The Entrepreneur. Determination and dexterity drive movers and shakers, but all leaders need a good team. Ex Idolo’s Thirty-Three is one of those fragrances that never lets you down. Powerful and commanding Thirty-Three is assured and reassuring, with quite literally a steely core. 

The Connoisseur. Pour un Homme de Caron was the first fragrance designed specifically for men and it is as beguiling today as it way 80 years ago. Team it with a Hardy Amies suit, a New & Lingwood shirt and the knowledge that you know best. 

The Jetsetter. The world traveller needs a scent which is equally at home in the tropics or the snowy wastes, during twenty-four hours of sunlight or perpetual night. Farina Gegenuber 1709 is one of the oldest fragrances in the world and its timeless endurance has won it the reputation of being one of the most versatile. It is a great little pick-me-up too, if feeling jaded or jetlagged. 

The Matinee Idol. For the suave leading-man, with sharp suits and an equally sharp wit, only the sartorial elegance of Eight & Bob, a cologne that is a genuinely a cut above, will do. 

The Style Savant. New York’s fashion forward flock to Aedes de Venustas (Temple of Beauty) in the West Village. The brand’s latest scent, Iris Nazarena, is a thing of great beauty indeed and worthy of worship. Suede notes of iris, twist with rose and musk, with a whisper of intoxicating incense. 

The Multi-tasker. Ruth Mastenbroek’s signature fragrance is like the string of pearls of the fragrance world; perfect with a shirt and jeans, little black dress or full-on red carpet frock. This elegant chypre is both ultimately wearable and highly individual, and glides gracefully from day into evening. 

The Lover 1. Byredo’s Mr Marvelous says it all. Clean crisp notes of green lavender and bright bamboo, mix with dark notes of black amber and cedarwood. Mr Marvelous is masculine and intelligent, much like your man! 

The Lover 2. Deeply by Maria Lux is a feminine, spicy; cinnamon, vanilla and amber concoction. Always sexy but blended to evoke the sense of security one feels, knowing one has found one’s soul mate. 

The Rock Star. For the real rebel who wouldn't be caught dead endorsing a celebrity scent Mark Buxton’s Wood and Absinth strikes the right note. A sense of danger and allure combine in this slightly other worldly scent, where normal mundane rules do not apply. 

The Screen Siren. The sultry seductress must trail a sillage worthy of the many men she leaves in her wake, for her there really only is one fragrance; Narcotic Venus by Nasomatto. 

The Visionary. The trendsetting maverick operates outside of convention, as does Josh Lobb with his Portland based label; Slumberhouse. Not for the lily-livered Josh’s powerhouse scents are for brave trail blazers. Ore, new this winter, is one of the best scents of the year. Smell it and weep.