Scent that smells good enough to eat

With mouthwatering notes including Chantilly cream, brown sugar and cherry, the biggest perfume trend of 2023 has seen some of our favourite foods translated into delicious fragrances.

Experts believe that a desire to boost feelings of comfort and happiness during the turbulent times of the past few years has fuelled the popularity of these sweet scents.

“There is a current trend for nostalgic scents with comforting ingredients centred around wellness, and food-inspired fragrances have the ability to instantly trigger happy emotional memories that can make you feel good,” says Michelle Feeney, founder of Floral Street Fragrances.

This is a trend you can really have fun with.

“Vanilla has always been popular when it comes to fragrance notes, but there are more unusual options to try, such as candy floss and tiramisu,” says Michelle.

Indeed while foodie fragrances are nothing new, the trend is seeing a whole host of launches with notes that are sweet, savoury, sour, and pretty much everything in between.

FOODIE FRAGRANCE

Salty: Salt in fragrance is a great balancer, and can level out sweetness with a distinctive tang. You should look for notes of olive, sea salt and brine.

Sweet: This is the most common foodie note used in scent and includes gourmand fragrance notes of cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, sugar, chocolate, coffee, honey and cognac.

Sour: Often associated with sharp-tasting fruits, sour notes can include citrus fruits, rhubarb, tart cherry and gooseberry.

Umami: Rich and earthy, umami notes add a depth and complexity to fragrance and can include seaweed, soy, mushroom, tomato, kimchi and green tea.

Bitter: Notes considered bitter are often fresh and herbaceous, including fennel, beetroot, tomato leaf and peas.

TRY THE TREND

Tea Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Black Tea, from £20, escentric.com, takes inspiration from the nation’s favourite brew, in a scent that is warmly spiced and comforting.

Blackcurrant Lancome La Vie est Belle Iris Absolu, £97, lancome.co.uk, is sweet and juicy with abundant notes of fig, blackcurrant, jasmine and patchouli.

Cherry Kayali Lovefest Burning Cherry, from £24, hudabeauty.com, is an unashamedly sweet scent with notes of praline, cherries, raspberries and patchouli.

Brown sugar Whind Neroli Bronze, £180, whind.com, is like sipping fresh juice on a sun-soaked holiday. Think orange blossom, brown sugar, cardamom and pomelo.

Coriander Granado Pharmacias Infusao Botanica, £110, libertylondon.com, is fresh, comforting and aromatic, with notes of coriander, peony and vetiver.

Candy floss Floral Street Wonderland Peony, from £28, floralstreet.com, is a light and frothy floral, containing notes of candy floss, balanced with peony, vetiver and cedarwood.

Milk Ellis Brooklyn Vanilla Milk, from £32, Space NK, smells just like those irresistible powdery milk bottle sweets you might remember from childhood, with an edge of musk.

Chantilly cream

Akro Bake, £160, fenwick.co.uk, draws inspiration from childhood cupcakes. Sweet and nostalgic, it features notes of Chantilly cream, praline, rum and brown sugar.

Vanilla Burberry Her Elixir, £58, theperfume shop.com, is sweet and fruity, a bit like Eton mess, with warm, juicy, summer-inspired notes of jasmine, strawberry and vanilla.

Cardamom Aesop Gloam, £140, aesop.com, is a richly spiced floral fragrance with cardamom, pink pepper and saffron. Warm and enveloping, it lingers on the skin like a hug.

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