Recently, I've been looking through my website orders and noticed something interesting.
First, most of my customers are men.
They're buying gifts for all the usual reasons – birthdays, anniversaries, apologies, saying "I love you", saying "I'm sorry", and sometimes probably both at the same time.
Second, most of them pick either Classic Red or Cobalt Blue.
When I designed our Signature 5 bouquet, I originally chose a lighter blue, something closer to Tiffany Blue.
Because honestly?
I thought it was cute.
I loved it.
I was convinced everyone else would love it too.
Turns out I was wrong.
Most of the men completely ignored it and went straight for Cobalt Blue instead.
After a lot of thinking (and a completely unscientific interview with my husband Ray), I realised men and women seem to see colours very differently.
For Ray, blue is Cobalt Blue.
That's it.
It looks expensive.
It looks premium.
It looks like a proper blue.
Tiffany Blue?
Apparently that's not even a colour category in his brain.
For context, Ray is a very traditional straight guy.
His world is games, computers, IT and football.
He can tell you which game works on which console.
He can tell you which football player joined which team in what year.
He can probably tell you their birthday too.
Then one day he asked me:
"Is Helena Rubinstein a good brand?"
I nearly fell off my chair.
"Yes. Very good. Very expensive. Don't buy it. I don't even use it."
He replied:
"Oh good. I saw an ad and Googled the price. Nearly had a heart attack."
Fair enough.
At least he asked before buying something.
Back to flowers.
Our Signature 5 also comes in Dusty Pink.
I personally love it.
Ray looked at it and immediately said:
"It looks like a rose that's faded. If someone gave me that, I'd think we're breaking up."
Honestly?
That explains a lot.
Most of our Dusty Pink orders are either women buying for other women or women buying for themselves.
Then I decided to make a Cobalt Blue version of Signature 5.
And something unexpected happened.
I loved it.
More than the Tiffany Blue version.
A lot more.
It feels cleaner.
Stronger.
More confident.
Maybe it's because I'm getting older.
Maybe it's because my taste is changing.
Or maybe the men were right all along.
And that's the funny part.
Somehow my taste – as a picky middle-aged woman who cares way too much about design, packaging and tiny details – ended up matching the taste of a man whose perfect weekend involves football, video games and beer.
I definitely didn't see that coming.
Signature 5 in Cobalt Blue will be available very soon.
Hopefully you'll love it as much as I do.
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