Cool Birthday Presents: Le Labo "Discovery Set"

We're big believers in the fact that every birthday present should be carefully selected with the recipient in mind. However, our position has recently come under attack, from ourselves, because we are realizing that we infrequently have sufficient time to carefully select anything, including but not limited to our health insurance policy. And so: our occasional suggestion for birthday presents that we, anyway, would be quite pleased to receive.

This is a "discovery set" from Le Labo, one of our favorite perfume brands out there. They have a store at 233 Elizabeth in Manhattan and what we imagine to be a very streamlined facility in Grasse, France, the perfume-making capital du monde. (We once tried so hard to get to Grasse that we took a totally of six hours of trains only to find out that there was a bus strike and no way to get the last 50 miles.)

Anyway: discovery set. Three perfumes, your choice, all in cute little glass things, $52

And of course, if you're rich, there's always the Olfactionary: "a box with the 40 fundamental natural essences used in perfumery. This remarkable tool has served as a guide to perfume-makers around the world." Hedge fund assistant managers have to spend their money on something. The Olfactionary, $520