FYI, TikTok: Classic Fragrances Like Chanel No. 5 Are Not “Grandma Perfumes”

When I was a little girl in the early ’90s, I spent a lot of time hanging out in the home of an old woman named Alyce, a distant relative, who was something of a second mother to my mom. I loved padding across her plush cream-colored carpet, admiring her knickknacks, and breathing in the trail of the rich, spicy, amber scent that was unmistakably “Alyce.” Her signature fragrance was Estée Lauder’s Youth Dew, a scent that, despite being a remnant of the ’50s, played a crucial role in my future fragrance palate.

As I write this now, at the wise, womanly age of 38, I’m directly facing a shelf in my home office with a selection of favorite fragrances from my collection—the ones I always keep at arm’s reach for midday refreshes. Sure, there are a few newbies in there, like Lore’s passionfruit- and mezcal-inspired Disfruta, and Liis’s tea-scented Ethereal Wave, but for the most part, my selection looks more like that of a glamorous senior citizen than a trendy 30-something: old-school Chanel, Guerlain’s Shalimar, original men’s Stetson, Clinique Aromatics Elixir, Prada’s original (and sadly discontinued) Amber, and—you guessed it—Estée Lauder Youth Dew, resplendent in an opaque turquoise bottle just like the one I imagine Alyce used. While these scents run the gamut from floral to spicy to woodsy, they’re all bold, unforgettable, and, in my opinion, timeless.

But my admittedly old-school fragrance palate is not a popular one at this exact moment in perfumery. Perfume TikTok has been popping since the beginning of the pandemic and continues to be a thriving community of fragrance fans who want to share their enthusiasm for all things scent… except, apparently, when it comes to classic fragrances like my beloved Chanel No. 5 and its compatriots. Everyone knows No. 5 is a legend, but the resounding conclusion—primarily among Gen Z—is that it smells “like a grandma” or an “old lady.” And they often don’t mean that as a compliment.

To be fair, I can see how No. 5 or Youth Dew may feel dated to some, the same way 2010s sandalwood scents smell very “of a time” to me. Mainstream perfume preferences fluctuate with time, ping-ponging from light and fresh to sweet and gourmand to woody and spicy and back again. Right now, we’re in an all-gourmand-everything phase, where vanilla sillage bombs are forming the fragrance palettes of our youth. But what I don’t understand is why bathing in a grand bouquet of symphonic florals automatically constitutes “grandma”—or, more importantly, why people are so opposed to being perceived as one.

There’s some cognitive (or is it olfactive?) dissonance here, and I can see where it comes from beyond ageist biases online. While perfume notes still play a major role in how fragrances are marketed, I’ve noticed a shift from scent-forward descriptions to a focus on “vibes” among brands in fragrance content. If you spend a little time scrolling through PerfumeTok or Fragrantica, you’ll notice users describing scents with evocative and sometimes niche language; they’re asking for scents that feel like drunk texting your ex at 4 a.m. or flying through the sunset on a unicorn. But I’ve witnessed little of the same approach when it comes to classic fragrances, which are ripe for all sorts of fabulous storytelling. Why would you want to smell like a liminal space or a chlorinated hotel pool but not a faded cocktail lounge singer chain-smoking cigarettes in a ratty mink coat, or the most famous movie star of all time (that’d be Marilyn Monroe, a known No. 5 devotee)?

Some of my favorite “old lady” scents gathered together.

Kara Nesvig

Then there’s the constant churn of new: new aesthetics, new trends, and countless new fragrances hitting the shelves every week, spurred by social media’s sped-up microtrend cycle (which, mind you, was not how things worked prior to this decade). Our culture is all about chasing the next big thing; trying on a look one day and discarding it the next for something that promises to be bigger, better, more. It makes sense that classic scents would get a little lost in the mix and overlooked in favor of something that promises to be more exciting, youthful, and modern.

Whether it’s a fear of growing (or smelling) old, feeling intimidated by the bold fragrance profile of a classic scent, or a preconceived idea about how these fragrances smell, that shouldn’t stop you from experiencing the beauty these so-called “grandma” perfumes have to offer. To me, appreciating classic perfumery is like sitting down to listen to your elders’ stories and absorb their knowledge, even if it isn’t always the most relevant to your own life. If you’re lucky, you will also be old enough to be a grandma. If you’re a young person who can’t live without Pafums de Marly’s Delina, Ariana Grande’s Cloud, or whatever vanilla scent is trending right now, know that one day someone much younger than you may call those “grandma perfumes,” solely because you happen to still like them and just happen to be old. That is, if those fragrances wind up having as much lasting power as true classics like No. 5, which endures in part because it was so groundbreaking.

Before Chanel No. 5 launched in 1921, one-note floral scents were the standard; Gabrielle Chanel deviated from that by reportedly asking perfumer Ernest Beaux for something that “smelled like a woman, not a rose.” And without Guerlain’s Shalimar (which also debuted in ’21), we probably wouldn’t have today’s vanilla scents. Estée Lauder launched Youth Dew in 1953 as a bath oil rather than a perfume and gave it a price point women could afford, so they didn’t have to rely on their husbands to gift it to them. It was game-changing; at the time, women weren’t even allowed to open a bank account without a co-signing husband.

I have noticed some tides turning: More TikTok users are opening up to the idea of wearing classic fragrance and sharing their thoughts on why they matter. And that’s how it should be; scent is for everyone and has no age. So I’m calling it high time we did away with downplaying such iconic creations as “grandma perfumes” and dismissing them solely for being beloved by our elders.

Older women are endlessly cool, and their lived experience is something to strive for, not run away from. Need I point you to Hotel Lobby’s recent Grand Holiday campaign, which starred a troupe of extremely stylish older women, or Batsheva’s 2024 runway show that exclusively featured women over 40 with gray hair? When you’ve been around a while, you’ve experienced more, and that often shows up in defined tastes, tangible self-confidence, and bold fragrance palates to match. Personally, I am desperate to become an iconic grandmother one day—a woman who has lived a lot of life, had a lot of fun, and smelled great for all of it.

Now explore more fragrances:

• The Best Fragrances on Amazon for Every Mood and Season
• 15 Best Fruity Perfumes That Are Ripe for the Picking
• The World’s Rarest Fragrances Live in a Shopping Plaza in Lake Tahoe

Now, watch Dove Cameron get ready:

Follow Allure on Instagramand TikTok, or subscribe to our newsletterto stay up to date on all things beauty.