I'm done pandering to scent snobs—these 7 perfumes smell *really* great and are far from pretentious
Turning up your nose at ‘naff’ notes is a thing of the past
When I first started my career in journalism, fresh out of university and swapping rural Somerset for the big smoke, fitting in with the glamorous and groomed glossy magazine girls was never going to happen overnight—but boy did I try. I dressed in head-to-toe black (Primark, but still…), gave myself bunions with silly heels and doused myself in what I thought was a wonderfully chic perfume. Lolita Lempicka, housed in a jewel toned, heart-shaped bottle was sexy and sophisticated, or so I thought. That was until my first Monday morning team meeting, during which someone started sniffing... “What is that smell?” The accusations flew around: the cleaners had switched products? Had someone been baking? Who’d accidentally used their daughter’s body spray? The vanilla-heavy scent – sweet and creamy – was a flop.
After confiding in the beauty editor I learned that vanilla notes were a no-no if you wanted to smell ‘expensive’, cool or classy. She armed me with a sample of a jasmine-loaded fragrance, and from then onwards I put my preference for vanilla, and Lolita Lempicka, back in a drawer. Jasmine or rose perfumes? Classic. Amber scents? Sexy. Citrus fragrances? Perky! But vanilla? Sweet, sickly and really rather naff.
Even in more recent years, if someone cool/clever/sophisticated asked what perfume notes I liked I’d say tonka instead of vanilla (a bean that is similar but spicier, more grown up), as if admitting I favoured the sweet spice would be akin to saying that McDonald’s is my favourite food (top five, for sure) or I don’t understand the opera (also true). Gourmand fragrances – those that smell edible and sugary – were never seen as sophisticated. But they wouldn’t be the only victim of scent snobbery—other notes could rouse judgement too. Oud, for example – beloved by many markets, of course – could be seen as too strong, showy-offy even. Musk was thought best to stay firmly in the 70s. And anything fruity, apart from fresh citrus notes, too childish or saccharine.
That’s not to say that those notes don’t sell. Lancôme’s La Vie Est Belle, for example, is one of the most popular perfumes in the world and is both fruity and gourmand, bursting with blackcurrant and praline. It’s more that these sorts of scents wouldn’t get the seal of approval from perfume aficionados or the Santal-wearing crowd who favoured the ‘status’ scent approach. Skin scents (gentle fragrances designed to enhance the natural smell of your skin) like Le Labo’s Another 13 or Escentric Molecules ruled for years amongst the cool kids, and your classic floral scents (Chanel No.5, for example) have, and will always be, acceptable.
But the tables, it seems, have turned. The appetite for gourmands, for example, has boomed in the last few years, with data insight and trend forecasters, Spate, finding a 78% rise in Google searches for ‘gourmand fragrances’ from 2022-23, and Jo Malone London noting a huge 21% growth in that sector year on year. For my beloved vanilla specifically, TikTok views of ‘vanilla perfume’ hashtags are up 383% in 2024. It seems I am very much not in the minority anymore. Even Glossier, the brand that sets the barometer of what cool girls are wearing, has leant in with its new Glossier You Rêve perfume that is packed full of pudding-ingredient notes like buttercream and toasted almond.
Research by Mintel shows that the UK fragrance market has reached an estimated £1,744million this year and is tracking to be worth over £2 billion by 2029. It also showed that 78% of consumers believe that fragrance can ‘improve mental wellbeing’. Could it be that people are now choosing notes not because they’re ‘cool’ but because they make them feel good? Getting the occasional waft of a scent that reminds me of freshly baked cookies certainly perks me up. The report also revealed that long-lasting perfumes are one of the ‘driving industry trends, as a result of financial concerns’ (e.g. the cost of living crisis). Stronger notes, like oud, will stick on the skin for longer, so you get more scent for your spray.
And when it comes to oud, a note previously reserved, for the most part, for the Middle-Eastern market, the growth is staggering. In the US, oud scents have seen a 174% year-on-year growth, and on TikTok #oudperfume is tagged in over 67million posts. The warm, woody resin can admittedly be dominating, but modern iterations by brands like Byredo, Tom Ford and Hermès have balanced the ingredient into complex and contemporary scents that smell rich and rich—but not overpowering. This has introduced the note to a whole new market and generation of trend-setting fragrance wearers.
From fruity and fondant-iced to fresh and floral, anything goes in today’s fragrance world. Perfumes are being created to be enjoyed, to induce happiness, to spark joy and, sure, to garner some compliments. And the niche brands and luxury houses (the brands that set the trends—the brands that my magazine colleagues in that fateful first meeting would have approved of) are leading the way. There are no rules, but there are some favourites. See below for my pick of head-turning scents that may have one turned noses up…
1. Matiere Premiere Vanilla Powder
The current queen of vanilla scents, beloved by beauty editors who would once have stuffed anything with the words ‘vanilla’ and ‘powder’ (the latter inferring it would be too old fashioned) in the back of the sample cupboard. It’s sweet, yes, but softened with creamy white musk. A proper stop-them-in-the-street scent.
2. Glossier You Rêve
This is about as gourmand as gourmand gets. Notes of buttercream, plum butter and toasted almond? It’s basically a dessert. And although it hits the skin in a rush of sugar, it does dry down to something subtler and sexier.
3. Victoria Beckham 21:50 Rêverie
Trust a Spice Girl to create a spiced fragrance so beautiful. The vanilla in this is less sweet and more raw in its smell—rich and bold. It has tonka bean in, too, for extra warmth and tobacco leaf for smokiness. It’s probably best suited to after-hours wear, but rules be damned, smell great all day I say.
4. Diptyque Les Essences de Diptyque Lilyphéa
For a fresher take on vanilla, try this floral number from Diptyque on for size. It’s bright and bucolic with violet, softened with my favourite sweet spice. If you’re a fan of green-smelling scents this is worth a sniff.
5. Hermès Hermessence Oud Alezan
If Hermès is doing oud, you know it’s officially chic. This is recognisably oud-y but has the sting taken out of the tail with a heavy dose of rose, making it more approachable. Think of it as the quiet-luxury scent of the oud world.
6. Parfum de Marly Delina
If it’s good enough for Snoop Dogg (who declared the really quite traditionally 'feminine' fragrance his perfume of choice) it’s good enough for me. But if you need more convincing, this fruity number – packed with lychee and rhubarb alongside musk and vanilla – is one of the most searched for on TikTok, too.
7. Lancôme La Vie Est Belle L'Elixir
As if Lancôme's original (worldwide best selling) La Vie Est Belle wasn’t fruity enough, the brand has made an even jammier version that bursts with raspberry. As first spray it is majorly sweet, but it settles to leave an elegant, expensive-smelling finish.
