Looking for a special present?

Here’s a tip; the best gifts are things your giftee would never buy for themselves.

A special little something that brings some luxury to everyday life is the ideal way to spoil someone special.

Whether you’re off to paint the town red at a 30th bash or marking Mum’s 60th with a family dinner, here are five fabulous treats to bring along.

They’ll enjoy them for weeks after the party is over.

MARVELOUSLY MINTY

€35 at Brown Thomas Cork 

A new fragrance from the oldest candle makers in the world, Rathbornes Wild Mint, Watercress & Thyme Handwash and Body Lotion will transport you to a spring meadow.

Sharp and sweet top notes of mint, lemon and eucalyptus mingle with fragrant camphor and rosemary in a herbal blend warmed by base notes of thyme and ginger.

Ingredients include soothing lavender seaweed, gentle chamomile extract and detoxifying ginseng root, which leave hands as nourished as they are fragrant.

THE GIFT OF CHOICE

€80 at La Bougie, Kinsale

Buying perfume is a very personal experience, which makes it difficult to treat someone else.

Cork company La Bougie has the perfect solution; order their Dram Set, which allows your lucky giftee to sample all the gorgeous La Bougie scents.

Once they’ve chosen their favourite, La Bougie will send you the full 100ml bottle – plus you get to keep all the trial sizes (Bitter Orange, Herringbone Tweed, Napa Leather, Bourbon Rose, Green Jasmine, Ambergris, Lime Blossom and Birch).

MAKE IT RAIN

€47.95 at Rain Africa, Kinsale and Winthrop Arcade

Rain Africa Ireland sells luxury South African bath and body products that are natural, handmade and Fair Trade accredited.

Their Aloe Therapy gift box is a bestseller… and for good reason. It contains the  liquid soap; foam bath, bath crystals and body lotion, all with the floral fragrance note of roses and geranium found in the essential oil of Cape Malva.

A CITRUS EXPLOSION

€34.95 at The Handmade Soap Company

We’ve been addicted to the Handmade Soap Company’s zingy fresh hand washes since they first released their famous Lemongrass and Cedar range, but the scents keep on getting better.

The limited edition gift box is inspired by Cupid himself; a citrusy explosion of sweet pink grapefruit and calming may chang that’s guaranteed to lift spirits and senses.

AN ARTISINAL TREAT

€32 at Brown Thomas Cork

A brilliant gift for a refined gent, Cloon Keen Atelier have created this perfumed candle by hand in their workshop in Galway.

Designed to evoke the calm of an old fashioned Irish library, the Antique Library Candle creates an ambiance of leather bound volumes, old wood and beeswax polish. Featuring notes of cedar, incense and citrus, it’ll make any home smell like a grand old mansion.