Mother’s Day can be tricky business. You want to find something special for your mom, but it is also important to choose something she will use. A small indulgence is a good place to start. In the past, I’ve put together a glamor kit for my mom that included her favorite M.A.C. lipstick along with a scarf and a pair of sunglasses, both of which she collects. This year I’m thinking of a variation on the theme, choosing Rouge Hermes lipstick and an Hermes scarf and forgoing the glasses.
Fragrance is a popular gift choice for Mother’s Day, and there are a lot of new ones this spring. If your mom has a favorite designer, chances are he or she recently has introduced a new scent. Escada has a fruity fragrance called Sexy Graffiti, Carolina Herrera just unveiled Chic, Oscar de la Renta debuted Intrusion (the name as published has been corrected in this text) and Ralph Lauren brought out Glamorous. If your mom is a Vera Wang fan, you can rack up extra points by taking her to meet Wang, who will be touting her new scent at Marshall Field’s State Street from noon to 2 p.m. Friday in the store’s atrium. If your mom can’t make it, you can have Wang sign a bottle for her.
My pick for the most intriguing fragrance is “Bouquet de la Reine” from Floris. Created to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s golden jubilee, this bottle is very regal-looking and will have special appeal to Anglophiles–and readers of Dominick Dunne novels, who might remember that the grand ladies of his books always used Floris soap. Floris is available at Neiman Marcus. Whatever you choose for your mother, enjoy the day. I’ll be on my yearly visit to the flea market with my mom.
