Olympéa Eau de Parfum Gift Set

Salted vanilla is the reason people remember this one, and the Rabanne Olympéa Eau de Parfum Gift Set is the version of it that comes ready to give.

That salted vanilla sits in the heart and it is the whole character of the scent: sweet, certainly, but pulled back by something briny and savoury so that it never collapses into pudding. Above it, green mandarin opens tart rather than juicy, jasmine gives the broad white floral lift, and ginger flower adds a sharp, slightly soapy brightness that has nothing of the root's heat about it. Underneath, cashmeran brings a soft, faintly furred warmth and ambergris keeps that mineral, skin close quality running to the end. Six materials, arranged so the salt and the sugar are always pulling in opposite directions.

At eau de parfum strength it lasts well and projects properly for the first couple of hours before settling down. It is a night scent more than a day one, and it does its best work in cool weather, though plenty of people wear it all year and the salty edge keeps it from feeling airless in summer.

As a gift it is a safe bet for anyone who likes sweetness with an edge on it rather than straight sugar, and because it is already boxed it needs nothing else doing to it. It is a sensible choice for somebody whose taste you half know, since the salt in the middle stops it being the obvious sweet present. Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion and Loc Dong are the perfumers behind the composition.

Rabanne began as a Paris fashion label, the designer's first collection shown in 1966. Fragrance followed two years later when Puig, the Spanish company that still owns the brand, set up its perfume division, and Puig went on to acquire the whole house in 1987.