A card to keep: choosing a STORIES Christmas Gift Box

The gifts that are remembered are rarely the most expensive. They are the ones that show someone was paying attention.

The card is the part they keep

I have a drawer of cards I have kept over the years. The ones I go back to are not the neatest. They are the ones where someone wrote down a memory, and a few of them still carry the faintest trace of the person who sent them.

So every STORIES Christmas Gift Box carries a card. One side holds our Christmas wish: scenting your story of yet-to-be discovered memories and special moments. The other side is for your words. It begins Dear, ends With Love, and leaves the lines in between for you.

Write your own note, then spritz the card with the fragrance inside before you give it.

If you are sending the gift straight to someone, add your message as you order. We will write it on the card by hand, never printed, and spritz it with the fragrance before the box is closed.

Whoever receives it can keep the card in a drawer and spritz it again whenever they choose. Each time, your words and the scent return together, long after Christmas has passed.

Choose by the person, not the price

Each Gift Box arrives in our magnetic box, tied with a wide velvet ribbon, and each is priced below its pieces bought individually. The question is not how much to spend. It is who you are choosing for.

For someone who loves fragrance. The STORIES Eau de Parfum Deluxe Duo, £305, holds STORIES Nº.01 and STORIES Nº.02 at 100ml. Two chapters of one story, to wear alone or layered: begin with STORIES Nº.02 and mist STORIES Nº.01 over it. The deeper scent anchors and the brighter one lifts.

For the one who wears it every day. The Fragrance & Body Trio, £195, brings the 100ml Eau de Parfum together with the Hand & Body Wash and Lotion in 60ml. The Deluxe Fragrance & Body Trio, £235, gives them the wash and lotion in 500ml, for the basin and the bath. Both come in STORIES Nº.01 or STORIES Nº.02.

For the one with a bottle at home and another in their bag. The STORIES Nº.01 Deluxe Gift Set, £280, holds the 100ml and the 30ml Eau de Parfum, the pipette that refills one from the other, the Hand & Body Lotion in 60ml and a recycled cotton tote.

For the traveller. The STORIES Nº.01 Deluxe Travel Trio, £110, pairs the 30ml Eau de Parfum with the wash and lotion in 60ml, all sized for hand luggage.

For someone who would rather be lightly scented than perfumed. The Hand & Body Duo, £79, is the wash and lotion in 500ml. Skincare first, carrying a light veil of the fragrance, close to the skin.

For the home. The Bougie Parfumée Candle Trio, £95, is 210g of fragrance, composed as three: top, heart and base, each its own candle. Light one for a single layer, or all three for the whole composition, and create a walkway of perfume notes through the house.

For a first introduction. The Hand & Body Travel Duo, £40, is the wash and lotion in 60ml. A considered way to meet STORIES for the first time.

Why the sets come in that order

Fragrance needs something to hold onto. On dry skin the molecules have nothing to anchor them, so they evaporate and the scent leaves far faster. Hydrated skin holds them, lets them evolve slowly, and keeps them for longer.

That is why so many of the Gift Boxes pair the Eau de Parfum with Hand & Body. The wash leaves a receptive surface. The lotion, worked in while the skin is still warm, is what the fragrance binds to. Then the Eau de Parfum, misted onto pulse points and never rubbed.

Give the three together and you are giving the fragrance at its best.

Made to be kept

Every STORIES Eau de Parfum is in refillable glass. When it is empty it can come back to us through Return to Refill, or be refilled at home by pipette. The bottle you give this Christmas is one they can keep for years.

Several of the Eau de Parfum Gift Boxes include complimentary engraving on one bottle: a name, a date or a short message, etched into the glass. Each product page says whether it is included. Please allow an additional three to five working days before dispatch for engraved pieces.

Every Christmas Gift Box travels with complimentary delivery to the UK and Ireland. Not sure which to choose? Email customercare@storiesparfums.com, tell us who it is for, and we will help.

Explore the Christmas Gift Boxes

THE SCIENCE, SOUL & STORY OF FRAGRANCE