Buying perfume for someone else is not easy - especially if you don't like going to the smelly counter at your local department store. This can make life very difficult for the common man. I for one have a great fear of choosing perfume for my loved one. Nevertheless I know she likes it and that she'll appreciate it a lot more than any of my feeble efforts to buy her something thoughtful. However the problem comes when choosing perfume blind, or rather without smell.

The perfume adverts say wonderful things about each and every perfume they sell and never concede that one might smell better than the other. They also fail to help me pick the right one as more often than not they talk of the smells they deliver in vivid terms such as pink pepper and orange blossom. Please excuse my ignorance but I have no ideas what these things smell like on their own let alone when they are mixed together with other like named scents. This makes visualising or rather imagining the smell extremely difficult. Not that I know what she would like if I could imagine. So how can I possibly go about choosing a perfume online?

Choose by name

Probably the quickest and safest method of picking a perfume is to do so by name. Channel, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Christian Dior are arguably the most popular perfume makers at the moment and going with these big names would be a safe bet. Wikipedia have published an entirely unreliable list that places Rose 31 by Le Labo, Lily and Spice by Penhaligon and fleur de male by Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Choose by price

Well if you don't know what to get then you can just throw money at it, right? Well, yes I guess. But I'm unconvinced by this. Obviously cheap perfume is a no no as your woman will know if she's been short changed. Bu it would be naive to throw a ridiculous amount of money at something that she may not actually like. I would recommend a mid range bottle and would set a price range of 35 pounds for 30mls. That way you can't go wrong.

Choose by make

The sale of Perfume is mainly based on the image and advertising that goes into it. A safe bet would be to opt for a brand that you know your loved one likes - such as a high class clothing brand and opt for the perfume that they sell. Perfumes are sold by an enormous range of designers

Choose by celebrity

The perfume industry is dominated by celebrity endorsed ranges of perfume. The best selling perfumes of the moment are from Christiana Aguilera, Katie Price and Kate Moss. Making your choice this way is difficult. You need to be aware that although Katie Price and Christina Aguilera are your ideal women they may not appeal to your loved one. Being compared to either could indeed be upsetting to some women. I would go for Kate Moss as she represents beauty and style which no woman would mind being associated with.

Choose by tagline

The taglines with which perfume is sold are some of the most fascinating sound bites you might ever hear. Choosing your perfume this way might represent an enormous risk but it is a fun way to pick. Katie Prices fragrance comes with the tagline 'one spray and your stunning'. Sean Combs released his fragrance and said that 'everyone has an emotional connection to Pina Colada'. The fragrance from Paris Hilton was delivered with the tagline, 'find out what it smells like to be a star'. Britney Spears' new perfume was delivered with the line 'tick, tock, the magic begins at midnight'. Well there you are!