EDGE San Francisco

This year, instead of waiting until the last minute and ducking into a drug store for a case of Altoids and a bow, pause and reflect upon the people on your gift list. Then reward them with your thoughtfulness.

If names like Patou, Worth, Cire Trudon, Santa Maria Novella, and Lalique set your heart beating faster, then the biannual Elements Showcase, which takes place in Manhattan in August and January of each year, is every perfume fanatic’s fantasyland.

What’s more sexy than confidence? You can smell it across the room, pulling you closer like a subliminal aphrodisiac. Confidence is knowing that fragrance is non-gendered - no matter what the marketers want you to believe.

One of our first fragrance memories is the smell of lilacs in the spring. All of us recall moments when the beauty of fragrance has caused us to pay closer attention. This summer, let fragrance waft into the recesses of your memory.

This year, take your mother for a walk on Mother’s Day - and sit with her. Listen to your mother - and when she’s finished, hand her a gift and remind her how much you love her. In truth, there’s nothing as good as the gift of time.

It’s possible to think of Elements Showcase as the Art Basel of the fragrance industry. As much an art fair as it is a design show, New York’s Elements Showcase has become an acclaimed exhibition for some of the most visionary creators of fragrance.

"This fragrance is really for people of all ages and I’ve had to talk some of my guy friends out of wearing it," Swift said, laughing. "So it’s debatable whether it’s, you know, for both (sexes)."

The rhythms of autumn have taken over. For autumn skin care, think about exfoliation and rehydration. It’s time to eat your kale - and slather your face with a pumpkin mask.

Natalie’s Executive Chef Geoffroy Deconinck is collaborating with the internationally known perfume expert Chandler Burr to present the restaurant’s fifth Scent Dinner on Friday, October 21.

For some people, there’s only autumn - autumn and its feast of fragrances. Now is the time to get lost in the woods. Breathe in the heavy richness of autumn - and wear it all the way home.