When did you last take a slow look at your mother's hands? The hands that wrapped a lunchbox, that rested on your forehead, that waved from a station platform. Hands may be the part of a person that memory holds onto longer than the face.
May is the month in which gifts for Mother's Day are thought over. Some gifts carry the way they were chosen more clearly than what they are. When the gift is hand beauty, we suggest choosing by fragrance for exactly that reason. You need not ask about preferences; picture your mother's ordinary day, and the scent tends to choose itself.
This article introduces Soie's five fragrances by setting each against a moment in a mother's day. For a gift that arrives a little after Mother's Day itself, fragrance suits the unhurried pace.
Why give hand beauty
Hands are used by everyone, every day, and everyone feels their age in them. Unlike clothing or jewellery, a hand beauty gift requires no choice of size or style, and it reaches a mother of any age and any way of life exactly as it is.
To give a hand serum and a hand soap is also to give the few seconds of washing and moisturising that make up part of every day. Each time they are used, the fragrance rises, and each time the giver comes to mind. Because they are used up, they remain present in daily life for a long while.
There is one more quality that makes this a considerate gift. A hand serum that leaves no stickiness can be used in the middle of cooking, between chores, before picking up a phone, so it does not ask a busy mother to stop and wait. Formulated gently enough for sensitive skin, it is also easy to give without worrying about how it will be received, though anyone who finds a product does not suit their skin should simply stop using it.
Choosing among five fragrances, by moment
A word on how to read the descriptions below. Soie's fragrances are composed to be enjoyed at the hands, noticed when a hand comes near rather than filling a room. Even the richer scents among the five therefore sit quietly, which is worth knowing if your mother has never worn perfume and might hesitate at the idea.
Soie's five fragrances were composed by a dedicated perfumer over many years, and each carries its own scene. Choose by where in your mother's day you would like the scent to live.
For a mother who enjoys her afternoons: LUXURY FLORAL
A scent where the relaxation and grace of teatime at a hotel meet. A gentle floral citrus of bergamot and neroli, finished clean and refined with jasmine and musk. Notes: bergamot, mandarin, neroli, rose, vetiver, musk and amber. For a mother who keeps the ritual of tea, who likes things graceful and refined. It is also the easiest choice when you are unsure.
For a mother who loves to dress: ELEGANT TIME
An elegant, refined scent that evokes dressing for the evening. The enchanting sweetness of osmanthus and tuberose is lifted with oriental spice for a gorgeous impression with a firm core. Notes: osmanthus, ginger, cardamom, tuberose, muguet, jasmine, sandalwood, musk and cedarwood. For a mother who takes her time getting ready, who is fond of the hour of dusk.
For a mother who opens the windows first thing: COLOR DROPS
A light, transparent fresh floral inspired by drops of a rainbow after the rain. The dreamlike air of lilac and a watery accord is layered with musk. Notes: lilac, wisteria, rose, watery accord, sandalwood, musk and cedarwood. For a mother who starts the morning bright, and for one who has never cared for sweet scents.
For a mother who keeps quiet hours: SUPREME TEA
A scent that recalls a journey back to oneself. Two teas, Japanese green tea and British black tea, are paired with herbs for a calm yet urbane refinement that makes you want to breathe deeply. Notes: rosemary, bergamot, sage, igusa (rush grass), green tea, British tea, amber, musk, moss and patchouli. For a mother who reads, who gardens, who prefers a settled fragrance.
For a mother beginning something new: SAKURA
A refreshing scent of the first cherry blossoms, like taking a new step.White lavender and sakura carry the dewy freshness of blossoms after rain, pure and quietly refined. Notes: white lavender, grapefruit, lychee, sakura, magnolia, white rose, musk and cedarwood. For a mother who has taken up a new pursuit, and for one whom a clear, pure scent simply suits.
Matching or combining
The hand serum and the hand soap share the same five fragrances. Give them in one scent and the habit of washing and then moisturising is enjoyed in a single fragrance that layers naturally on the hands. Combine two different scents and there is the pleasure of choosing between morning and evening, mood and occasion.
If you are still torn, think about where the gift will live. A soap stays at the basin and is used by whoever passes through the house, so a scent that suits the whole household, such as LUXURY FLORAL or SAKURA, is a safe choice there. A serum is more personal, kept on a desk or by the bed, and can carry the fragrance that is most distinctly hers.
For presenting the gift, Soie offers a gift bag, ready to be handed over as it is on the day. The combinations are shown on our gift page, and the five fragrances are introduced on the fragrance page.
From Soie, to a mother's hands
Soie (pronounced swah; French for silk) proposes hand beauty as a gift because the hands reflect, more plainly than anywhere else, the time a person has spent working. To deliver a few seconds of moisture and fragrance each day to hands that have been used for so long is, we believe, one way of saying thank you without words.
On Mother's Day, or on a May weekend a little after it, we hope a gift chosen by scent will quietly take its place at your mother's basin.
