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Do you ever smell flavors you want to bottle up and take home? Same—and the best gourmand perfumes do just that. These fragrances take the ingredients we’re most drawn to (okay, if you have a sweet tooth) and turn them into aromatic masterpieces. We’re talking dashes of vanilla balanced with dark rum, coffee accords blended with frothy milk, and black cherries that contrast patchouli—you understand where we’re going with this. The best gourmand perfumes offer a nuanced take on the scents we want to binge, and we can’t get enough of them.
As with every olfactive family, no two gourmands are the same. Since the umbrella term encompasses all types of foods and drinks, it’s natural that you'd find vast profiles within the category. Even perfumes that include vanilla don’t necessarily use the same type of vanilla (or the same amount!), so one could smell like a Middle School fever dream while the other evokes a bonne bouche in bed at The Ritz. To each their own sweet treat.
Our Top Picks:
- Best Vanilla: Byredo Vanille Antique Extrait de Parfum, $375
- Best Dessert: By Rosie Jane Dulce Eau de Parfum, $75
- Best Coffee: Maison Margiela ‘Replica’ Coffee Break Eau de Toilette, $165
- Best Tea: Le Labo Thé Matcha 26 Eau de Parfum, $230
- Best Nutty: D.S. & Durga Pistachio Eau de Parfum, $210
- Best Creamy: Commodity Milk Expressive Eau de Parfum, $145
- Best Zesty: Hermès Twilly Eau Ginger Eau de Parfum, $128
- Best Fig: The Maker Lover Eau de Parfum, $175
- Best Honey: Ellis Brooklyn Bee Eau de Parfum, $110
- Best Cherry: Tom Ford Cherry Smoke Eau de Parfum, $240
- Best Coconut: Nest New York Balinese Coconut Perfume Oil, $102
- Best Boozy: Kilian Roses On Ice Eau de Parfum, $255
We’ve tested hundreds of perfumes that carry delicious notes and ingredient combinations, but only a handful are mainstay-worthy. So, if you’re in the market for a mouth-watering scent, keep scrolling.
Best Vanilla: Byredo Vanille Antique Extrait de Parfum
Why We Love It: Vanilla fragrances are typically considered sweet and innocent, but this one is anything but. Vanille Antique is part of Byredo’s Night Veils collection, a series of fragrances that pay homage to the rituals of the night. Instead of syrupy vanilla, this one smells of intoxicating vanilla smoke. It plays with dark plum and fresh freesia for an opening that feels alluring and mouth-watering, only to be cut by that mysterious vanilla. Then, its sweetness is grounded by musky cistus oil and given an earthy texture with dashes of cashmere wood. It’s as complex and addictive as the lover in your dreams—the one you summon over and over again.
Notes: Madagascar vanilla beans, amber, plum, cistus oil | Available Sizes: 1.7 oz
Best Dessert: By Rosie Jane Dulce Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: This scent, an Allure Best of Beauty winner, is akin to the feeling of making a cake and licking off the icing. More specifically, it’s reminiscent of dulce de leche, or caramelized milk. The balanced blend of chocolate and vanilla, anchored in seductive Hinoki wood, makes this scent sweet without feeling cloying. Just a few spritzes and you'll realize: You can have your cake and smell it, too.
Notes: Musk, chocolate, vanilla, Hinoki wood | Available Sizes: 0.25 oz, 1.7 oz
Best Coffee: Maison Margiela 'Replica' Coffee Break Eau de Toilette
Why We Love It: Few things hit the soul as whole-heartedly as the first sip of coffee on a chilly Fall morning—that’s what this fragrance captures. It bottles feelings of coziness and warmth thanks to a careful blend of coffee, milk, and woody notes. Plus, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dash of lavender adds a blanket of calmness to this already comforting scent.
Notes: Coffee accord, sandalwood, cedar, milk mousse accord | Available Sizes: 1 oz, 3.4 oz
Best Tea: Le Labo Thé Matcha 26 Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: Le Labo is known for its creative and spellbinding scents (e.g. Santal 33 and Another 13), so it’s no surprise that its interpretation of matcha green tea would be equally sophisticated. Rather than being a straightforward matcha scent, this one is more cerebral. What we mean by this is that it transports you to a setting: Imagine sipping a warm matcha tea in the woods and complete serenity. With added notes of fig, cedarwood, and sandalwood, that’s what this fragrance achieves.
Notes: Matcha tea, bergamot, cedarwood, vetiver | Available Sizes: 0.5 oz, 1.7 oz, 3.4 oz, 16.9 oz
Best Nutty: D.S. & Durga Pistachio Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: Believe it or not, this pistachio scent was created on a whim and was intended to be a limited-edition run. However, after seeing how popular it was, D.S. & Durga brought Pistachio Eau de Parfum into its permanent collection and we’re so glad it did. The nutty pistachio achieves its delectable dessert-like scent by blending comforting notes of vanilla, almond, and cardamom. It’s so delicious that we even gave it an Allure Best of Beauty Award this year.
Notes: Pistachio, cardamom, roasted almond, vanilla crème | Available Sizes: 0.34 oz, 1.7 oz, 3.4 oz
Best Creamy: Commodity Milk Expression Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: Lactonic fragrances tend to dip on the warmer side of gourmand, and while we have several perfumes under that umbrella that we turn to over and over, Commodity’s take on a milky fragrance offers a refreshing balance. Warm notes of tonka bean and Mahogany wood melt the frothy marshmallow in this fragrance, only to be woken up with a splash of cold milk. It's a striking sensation of cold and warm; almost as if you were to jump into a cold plunge, and then a jacuzzi—of milk.
Notes: Cold milk, mahogany wood, marshmallow, tonka bean | Available Sizes: 0.34 oz, 3.4 oz
Best Zesty: Hermès Twilly Eau Ginger Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: Consider this a lesson in flirtation in a bottle. This fresh scent contrasts a bright peony and grounding cedarwood with a blast of ginger that feels invigorating, playful, and a tad bit like a tease. It wears beautifully on its own, but since the candied ginger is so unique and fragrant, and stands out amongst other notes. It also layers beautifully with deeper scents that beg for a punch of fun.
Notes: Candied ginger, peony, cedarwood | Available Sizes: 1 oz, 1.7 oz, 2.9 oz
Best Fig: The Maker Lover Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: The name of the fragrance is all the indication you need: This is a sensual fragrance with intricately blended notes. The scent evokes the magnetic bond between lovers, opening with vanilla and juicy—almost dripping—fig juice before evolving into a hypnotic blend of suede, cedar, and musk. It’s as attractive for the people around you as it is arousing for yourself—so much so, you'll wish you could bite into it.
Notes: Fig, vetiver, jasmine sambac, oud | Available Sizes: 0.33 oz, 1.7oz
Best Honey: Ellis Brooklyn Bee Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: Imagine thick, warm honey running down your throat after a sip of dark rum—that sets the scene for this decadent scent. Crowd-pleasing notes of vanilla and cocoa are mixed with sandalwood and rum for a perfume that feels like it belongs on a cocktail menu at an upscale piano bar. It’s warm and spicy, and the lickable honey accord feels almost too tantalizing to turn away.
Notes: Honey, vanilla bean, dark rum, cocoa absolute | Available Sizes: 0.25 oz, 0.33 oz, 1.7 oz, 3.4 oz
Best Cherry: Tom Ford Cherry Smoke Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: Tom Ford is no stranger to cherry scents: Lost Cherry and Electric Cherry are in our constant rotation, but Cherry Smoke reigns supreme for its exquisite balancing act. Juicy cherry and apricot lend a boost of sweetness to contrasting spicy saffron, lived-in leather, and smoked wood. The result is luscious and addicting. We love how it lingers for hours and even heats up in tandem with our bodies’ temperatures.
Notes: Dark cherry, saffron, osmanthus, smoked wood | Available Sizes: 1 oz, 1.7 oz
Best Coconut: Nest New York Balinese Coconut Perfume Oil
Why We Love It: Coconut scents can be tricky to nail, as more often than not they come off as artificial or overly sweet, but Nest New York nailed it. Their interpretation of coconut hails from the island of Bali: scents of salted musk from spending time by the sea, addictive tiare for an addicting dash of a floral, and creamy coconut. Balinese Coconut Perfume Oil is as sensual as it is tropical, and considering the application is an oil dropper versus a spritz, it feels almost intimate as the oil runs down your skin.
Notes: Creamy coconut, tiare blossom, frangipani accord, salted musk | Available Sizes: 0.20 oz, 1 oz
Best Boozy: Kilian Roses On Ice Eau de Parfum
Why We Love It: Gourmand fragrances are more than just food-inspired scents; they interpret all types of flavors you want to channel. So, let’s raise a toast to that with a perfume reminiscent of a true gin on the rocks. Roses on Ice is part of Kilian’s signature “the liquors” collection, opening with fresh notes of icy cucumber and juniper and drying down into a sharp combination of sandalwood and musk—all rounded out with distilled rose. It feels like a refreshing drink on a romantic night, with a subtle mineral scent that feels unexpected yet entirely welcome.
Notes: Cucumber, gin, rose, juniper berries | Available Sizes: 1.7 oz
More perfumes to add to your collection:
- 14 Best Vanilla Perfumes That'll Make You Smell Like a Literal Snack
- The Chat GPT of Fragrance Has Arrived
- Taylor Swift’s Favorite Perfume Got Me Back Into Fragrance After Not Wearing It For 5 Years
- 15 Best Roll-On Perfumes to Tote Around the Globe
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