All posts tagged: Fragrance

‘Me-time’ fragrances are trending – and their wearers are not interested in statements or seduction

‘Me-time’ fragrances are trending – and their wearers are not interested in statements or seduction

Published by Daniella Wilson

Here’s a new step to consider including in your evening cleansing routine: fragrance. Not one that’s about preparing you for sleep – this trend is not about pillow sprays – but one that helps to ground you in your evening and your own work-free time. This is about quite literally washing off the stresses of day when you get home and then using a perfume as a way to help to make a conscious mood shift. Bid welcome to the rise of Me Moments fragrances, spritzes that aren’t about armour or anyone else’s perceptions or expectations, that aren’t about pitching a specific mood, but simply about centring into yourself, harnessing your own equilibrium.     The shift from statement to self-soothing   Self soothing is the new seduction It’s a trend within a trend because it’s pegged to the rise of the clean skin girl aesthetic (dewy, glowy skin and a ‘no makeup’ look).  Now the growth of associated “clean girl scents reflect the pace of modern life, with fragrance becoming part of a personal …

6 Best Byredo Absolu Colognes: Its Strongest Fragrance Line

6 Best Byredo Absolu Colognes: Its Strongest Fragrance Line

Published by Jenni Sidey

If you haven’t heard of Byredo, your nostrils have yet to be blessed by one of the best fragrance houses in the game. Founded in Stockholm by Ben Gorham two decades ago, the brand offers a diverse array of high-quality scents—woody, floral, leathery, etc.—that appeal to anyone and everyone, no matter their preference for fragrance notes. The brand used to have a reputation for subtlety, but its absolu line (a collection of their most intense expressions) flips that on its head with scents that last all day and get better as the hours wear on. We’ve explained the difference before, but depending on how much of a percentage of perfumed oils is used in the product, a brand will distinguish its fragrance as an eau de parfum, eau de toilette, or (what we’re talking about) absolu de parfum. The latter denotes a deeply concentrated fragrance that has rich, longer-lasting key notes that you won’t have to reapply throughout the day—if at all. Byredo offers a grip of its most popular fragrances as absolu de parfums: …

Do You Need An Emotional Support Scent?

Do You Need An Emotional Support Scent?

Published by Daniella Wilson

The way we buy, and wear, fragrance is officially changing. No longer chosen for occasion (day or night), or because of celebrity influence, brand status or even as a means to attract others, it’s becoming a viable way of regulating your mood and emotions and creating a sense of self. “Consumers are increasingly looking for fragrances that do something for them and we’re seeing a clear shift towards functional fragrance where scent is chosen not only because it smells good, but because people want to feel a certain way, be it calmer, more positive, energised or simply happier,” says Michael White, Global R&D director at CPL Aromas, an independent British fragrance house. It’s representative of the cultural shift we’re seeing towards rituals and wellbeing in 2026 too. In a world that’s always switched on, where we can feel over stimulated and overwhelmed most days, fragrance becomes a small but scientifically proven way to alter our mood and influence how we feel almost immediately.    Emotional Support Scents Fragrance has the power to lift our mood …

Dior’s Francis Kurkdjian Says He “Plagiarized” Rihanna to Create J’adore Intense

Dior’s Francis Kurkdjian Says He “Plagiarized” Rihanna to Create J’adore Intense

Published by Sam Flores

There was no official dress code, but the crowd had arrived almost unanimously in black. The invitation, meanwhile—a white box containing a gold cassette tape alongside the new scent—was doing the rounds as a talking point all night. Was it a tease of R9, the album Rihanna’s fans have been circling for a decade? Nobody knew. The food and beverage came courtesy of Carvingblock and took inspiration from both Rihanna’s native Barbados and Dior’s Paris. There were potato croissants topped with crème fraîche and caviar; Barbadian mahi-mahi tacos with charred habanero and cabbage salsa; golden beetroot tartlets with curry spice. Later in the evening came the caviar poulet—a chicken nugget crowned with caviar. Out on the patio, smokers had taken up residence alongside a contingent of stylists swapping notes about their client lists for the upcoming slate of awards warm-up parties. Inside, Dior ambassadors Yuko Araki, Harriet Herbig-Matten, and Nicole Wallace were spritzing themselves with the heady new scent making its way through the party on a silver tray, while a pool table nearby had …

Louis Vuitton’s New Fragrance Made an Amber Convert Out of Me

Louis Vuitton’s New Fragrance Made an Amber Convert Out of Me

Published by Jenni Sidey

The nose has an innate ability to take a scent and drum up a vivid picture in your mind, whether it’s taking you back to a trip to the beach when you were a tot or conjuring a trek through a tropical rainforest. Louis Vuitton intrinsically understands this olfactory power, and is especially good at experimenting with it in its Fragrances of the World collection. Case in point: the luxury house’s first scent release of the year is Ambre Levant, a fragrance inspired by the “mythical golden hour of the Middle East.” Any reference to the Middle East at this moment in time is… complicated. But setting aside the ongoing conflicts in the region, the Middle East has a long history of producing rich, intense, and highly-concentrated scents. Oud, an essential oil harvested from aquilaria trees native to Southeast Asia and North India, is sought after for its woody, sweet, and smoky aroma. Though there are hints of that in Ambre Levant, Louis Vuitton’s house perfumier, Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud has created a slightly more nuanced concoction …

Le Labo Has a New Fragrance In Its Core Collection. We Tried It Out

Le Labo Has a New Fragrance In Its Core Collection. We Tried It Out

Published by Jenni Sidey

Amid a sea of celebrity-backed luxury house fragrances, Le Labo has stood out for its unisex, sophisticated scents grounded in memory and culture. Surely you’ve had a whiff of Santal 33, a woody-centric fragrance that for literal decades has wafted through the streets of most major cities. But Le Labo’s core collection includes more than just Santal 33. (We’re partial to Thé Matcha 26, our pick for the best overall cologne thanks to its beloved profile of matcha, fig, and fresh-cut grass.) And now there’s a new addition to their scent lineup: Violette 30. Le Labo describes Violette 30 as containing “verdant green floral notes with white tea notes, cedarwood, and a touch of guaiacwood.” That combination is one of Le Labo’s more bright, vibrant, and outwardly floral fragrances, a nice change of pace for its usual woody and musky offerings. It’s a especially interesting entry, given the winter timing of the release. (Typical cold-weather scents usually highlight darker, heavier notes like dried fruit, leather, and vanilla.) The new fragrance stands out in a crowded …

12 Best Fragrance Flankers of 2026 Prove That Instant Classics Can Use an Upgrade

12 Best Fragrance Flankers of 2026 Prove That Instant Classics Can Use an Upgrade

Published by Jenni Sidey

“Flanker” is a divisive word in perfumery. We’ve all seen the endless Sport and Extreme variations, where a designer house tweaks a couple of notes on an already popular fragrance, tacks on a new name, and rolls out another addition to the line at a headache-inducing cadence. The term conjures images of overly alcohol-laden, generic fumes written off as cash grabs that ride a familiar hit instead of meaningfully or artistically evolving it. But that reaction flattens the conversation. And while some of the skepticism is warranted, there’s far more nuance here than the opening notes might suggest. Many thoughtful reimaginings have gone on to become some of the most enduring and compelling “flankers” in modern perfumery. As Carlos Huber, fragrance developer and founder of Arquiste, explains, “the word flanker still carries baggage in the niche world, but when done with intelligence and restraint, they’re no longer seen as lowbrow, but as a legitimate creative tool.” Heck, many of Fragrantica’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Award winners were flankers, some of which we dive into below, so clearly …

26 Best New Men’s Fragrance Releases For Fall/Winter 2025

26 Best New Men’s Fragrance Releases For Fall/Winter 2025

Published by Akaay

Looking for a new scent to suit the longer nights and colder weather? This season’s fragrance launches from the major perfumers neatly fall into categories that could rival a BuzzFeed personality quiz. So, who will you be for the months ahead – Mr. Leather, Mr. Gourmand, or Mr. Amber? Before you decide, it helps to know what those fragrant families actually mean. Leather fragrances, inspired by the supple texture of tanned hide, are animalic, smoky and woody — evoking the tactile richness of suede and skin. Gourmand scents, on the other hand, are deliciously edible, blending notes of cocoa, coffee, vanilla and tonka bean with indulgent hints of caramel, rum, bourbon or cognac. Finally, amber fragrances are rich and sensual, built around resinous, spicy notes like incense, labdanum, ambroxan and benzoin. Of course, like any good Venn diagram, there’s overlap between these accords; all share a comforting theme of warmth and familiarity. Whether you crave the burnished scent of whisky, the sweetness of dessert, or the embrace of cashmere and firelight, these fragrances promise to …