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Imagine you’re packing a suitcase for a spring getaway. (You’re long overdue.) Perhaps you’re headed to Paris. Or somewhere more remote, like Bali or the Maldives. You’ll need an outfit for every occasion—dressy, casual—rain or shine. Spring fragrance trends are similar to the pieces you toss into your luggage: They’re flexible, fitting your mood and the occasion.
First, you’ll need something weather-appropriate. Juicy gourmands like pears, melons, and grapefruits will get you prepped for brighter, sunnier weather. You’ll also need a light but cozy and comfortable layer (it’s not quite summer, after all). For that, you’ll have creamy scents like vanilla, sandalwood, or pistachio. Of course, there’s the age-old excuse for overpacking: You don’t know what mood you’ll be in. For this getaway, you’ll need something if you’re feeling energetic (citrus), stressed (tea), et cetera. And lastly, you’ll need something for a wild night out—something bold and long-lasting that commands attention. An extrait that will announce your arrival at dinner and keep its oomph through a night of dancing.
Below, the experts break down every note and scent profile trending for spring, whether you’re truly jet-setting or simply need a little self-care after a long winter.
- Juicy gourmands
- Sweet and nostalgic
- Fragrance as self-care
- Creamy scent profiles
- Extraits, higher concentrations, and bolder scents
Juicy gourmands
If you caught a whiff of Persephone, goddess of spring and new growth, she’d probably smell like a fresh fruit salad—giant ripe berries, tangy grapefruits, and juicy pineapple. (Her hubby, Hades, hangs back in the spring, so she can skip around growing flowers and orchestrating otherworldly farmers’ markets.)
The bouncy, fruit-forward profile is a welcome change after the heavier comfort foods of winter. “There’s a beautiful rise in ‘water fruits,’ like melon, watermelon, and pear,” says Amelie Huynh, fragrance developer and CEO of D’Orsay. “These notes are juicy yet translucent, refreshing without being sharp. They mirror the season perfectly.”
“Freshness is a key territory for spring and summer,” adds perfumer Paul Guerlain. “We’re seeing more close-to-nature interpretations with juicy or even liquorous hyperrealistic fruits.” Opt for Tory Burch Sublime if you want to smell exactly like you’ve squeezed the ripest, pinkest grapefruit directly onto your skin.
If citrus isn’t your style, berry-forward Fulton & Rourke Ladybird or YSL Libre Berry Crush have a fruity profile with a little more weight (thanks to rich musk base notes of both), and Fabbrica Della Musa Opera Infernal offers a rich, juicy pineapple and bergamot. And if you, like Persephone, contain multitudes, something a little more complex like Anti Noshi Toro—a blend of pear, hinoki wood, and black pepper—will scratch your fresh produce itch while still giving you an air of mystery.
Fulton & Roark
Ladybird Extrait de Parfum
Anti
Noshi Toro Eau de Parfum
Tory Burch
Sublime Eau de Toilette
YSL
Libre Berry Crush Eau de Parfum
Fabbrica Della Musa
Opera Infernal Extrait de Parfum
Sweet and nostalgic
Given the state of the world in 2026, you’d forgive us for popping on our rose-colored glasses, posting a photo from 2016, and remembering the past as a sweeter time (even if in 2016 we were eyeing 2006 in the same way).
Even our plates are filled with nostalgia. The New York Times is predicting wholesome grandmacore as a culinary trend in 2026, and current wedding inspo will feed you photo after photo of heart-shaped coquette cakes with frilly white icing topped with maraschino cherries.
“The massive nostalgia trend is also [happening] in the fragrance world,” says Erwan Le Berrigaud, chief marketing officer of Nest New York. Look for nostalgic optimism (a.k.a. your trusty rose-colored glasses) in the form of sweet scent profiles, like wearing a baked Alaska, a pineapple upside-down cake, or a tall vanilla milkshake with a red-and-white striped straw.
Yes, gourmands have been getting increasingly complex since the boom last year, but for those of us looking to indulge in something simpler (à la the sweet, early 2000s edible beauty line by Jessica Simpson), there’s a smorgasbord of new fragrances to choose from. Leave it to the pop girlies to lead the charge on vintage coquette desserts. Sabrina Carpenter’s new Sweet Tooth Lemon Pie fragrance opens with lemon and settles into a warm vanilla and graham cracker finish, while Ariana Grande’s latest, R.E.M. Cherry Eclipse, smells like classic cherries jubilee topped with marshmallow meringue.
Phlur also recently launched Berry Cream, which takes you back to eating Strawberry Cream Savers as a kid. Looking for more sugar, less fruit? Clean Reserve Caramel Swirl is like bathing in warm caramelized coconut and white chocolate. For a brighter, more crystalline sugar scent, Ellis Brooklyn Miss Strawberry evokes a simpler early aughts era of sweet, sticky lip gloss and glittery body mists. Powder Love by Juliette Has a Gun is like visiting a county fair with top notes of cotton candy and marshmallow.
Sabrina Carpenter
Sweet Tooth Lemon Pie Eau de Parfum
Ariana Grande
R.E.M. Cherry Eclipse Eau de Parfum
Clean Reserve
Caramel Swirl Eau de Parfum
Juliette Has a Gun
Powder Love Eau de Parfum
Ellis Brooklyn
Miss Strawberry Perfume Mist
Fragrance as self-care
Welcome to your “you” era. We’re all scrambling, trying to make it to the gym, survive the news cycle, and make ends meet. This spring, the experts predict that your fragrance will be less of a stalwart signature and more of a flexible act of self-care, depending on what you need most that day. “Fragrance is being used as a personal tool of self-care and self-pleasure, rather than a public statement,” says fragrance developer Carlos Huber. “People are engaging with scent as a form of self-indulgence, memory, and ritual.”
Need a beach vacation? Look for solar fragrances that “evoke sunlit skin, warmth, and a sense of place,” says Huber. “Consumers are drawn to scents that transport them emotionally, particularly those tied to outdoor experiences, travel, and memory.” Try Boy Smells Solar Drip or Arquiste Sydney Rock Pool for scents that capture sun and saltwater.
If a garden stroll sounds like your happy place, Le Labo Violette 30 blends soothing white violet with white tea and cedarwood for a light but earthy scent, or try Replica Up at Dawn, featuring rose, pink pepper, and moss, to transport you to the rose gardens at Windsor Castle.
A tea-based scent can also carry you to a place of zen on a stressful day. Adriana Linares, owner of Madame Aucoin Perfume in New Orleans and Winter Park, Florida, recommends Etat Libre’s Above the Waves, which blends three teas (ceylon, oolong, and mate) with juicy plum (a perfect intersection of the juicy gourmand trend with an eye to self-care). And if these quiet, faraway moments sound like a yawn and self-care feels a lot more like a martini, Diptyque Orpheon is meant to send you time-traveling to a bar in 1960s Paris with a blend of tobacco, burnished wood, and jasmine.
Boy Smells
Solar Drip Eau de Parfum
Arquiste
Sydney Rock Pool Eau de Parfum
Le Labo
Violette 30 Eau de Parfum
Maison Margiela
Replica Up at Dawn Eau de Toilette
Diptyque
Orphéon Eau de Parfum
Etat Libre D’Orange
Above the Waves Eau de Parfum
Creamy scent profiles
Lest we forget, spring is not, in fact, summer (sorry). There’s still a chill in the air, and a lingering appetite for light cashmere sweaters, silky slip dresses, and milky chai tea. Several of our experts predict creamy warmth to be like a light jacket this spring—perfect comfort for mild, in-between weather.
“Creamy nuances are having a moment,” says Jeniece Trizzino, vice president of innovation and physical product at Scentbird in New York City. “These unique musks offer warmth and comfort while staying personal.”
“Think rice and toasted nuts, softened to feel gentle and wearable,” adds Lauren Marano, associate director of product development at Scentbird. “The common thread is playful restraint: scents that feel cozy, personal, and never overpowering…yet remain intriguing up close.”
Huynh recommends looking for notes like milk, cream, vanilla, almond, and touches of coffee or gingerbread, “notes that feel familiar and intimate,” she says.
Trizzino recommends Monarch Butterfly by Sanctuary, which blends vanilla orchid and sandalwood, an ingredient “long prized for its creamy warmth,” says perfumer Darryl Do. Coach Dreams Starlight blends sandalwood with pistachio to give it a lighter but nutty warmth. Byredo Alto Astral adds bright coconut water to cashmeran and sandalwood for a milky but bright scent that feels like wearing a gorgeous, featherlight cardigan.
And you can still get that cozy, creamy warmth without sandalwood. Parfums de Marly Athenais starts with bright yuzu and bergamot, but dries down to a comforting vanilla, tonka bean, and amber, and Navitus Parfums Vanilla Éclat has a buttermilk note that offers “softness over ultra-sugar,” says Marano.
Sanctuary
Monarch Butterfly Eau de Parfum
Coach
Dreams Starlight Eau de Parfum
Byredo
Alto Astral Eau de Parfum
Parfums de Marly
Athénaïs Eau de Parfum
Navitus Parfums
Vanilla Éclat Extrait de Parfum
Extraits, higher concentrations, and bolder scents
As we teeter toward a possible economic recession, and high prices are an everyday worry, consumers are looking to get more bang for their buck. A recent survey of beauty industry leaders by McKinsey and Company revealed that 75% of beauty executives expect to see more consumer scrutiny of perceived value.
That means a preference for fragrances that pack more punch and last a lot longer. “We are seeing a strong appetite for intensity and intimacy,” says Guerlain. “This translates into bolder concentrations [and] overdosed ingredients.” Expect to see extrait versions—the most concentrated fragrance (you need only a drop or two) that tends to last six to eight hours versus two to three for eau de toilette or four to five for eau de parfum—of classic scents like Matiere Premiere Vanilla Powder or Bvlgari Le Gemme Tygar.
Ormonde Jayne Oud Laisons stands out with a bold profile of licorice, oud, and patchouli. It’s “the kind of fragrance you’d wear to an opening night lecture at the Neue Galerie,” says Linares. If you really want to maximize your impact, D’Orsay Incense Crush does double duty. It’s an extrait de parfum packed with high-impact scents like clove, cardamom, and leather accord.
Matiere Premiere
Vanilla Powder Extrait de Parfum
Bvlgari
Le Gemme Tygar Extrait de Parfum
Ormonde Jayne
Oud Liaisons Eau de Parfum
D’Orsay
Incense Crush Extrait de Parfum
Meet the experts
- Darryl Do is a New York City-based perfumer.
- Paul Guerlain is a French perfumer at International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF).
- Carlos Huber is a fragrance developer and the founder of Arquiste.
- Amelie Huynh is a Paris-based fragrance developer and CEO of D’Orsay.
- Erwan Le Berrigaud is the chief marketing officer of Nest New York.
- Adriana Linares is the owner of Madame Aucoin Perfume in New Orleans and Winter Park, Florida.
- Lauren Marano is associate director of product development at Scentbird in New York City.
- Jeniece Trizzino is vice president of innovation and physical product at Scentbird in New York City.
Read more beauty stories:
- Fragrance Is All About Comfort and Escapism in 2026
- The Biggest Hair Trends of 2026 Bring the Drama
- The Tattoo Trends of 2026 Will Have You Feeling Nostalgic
- 6 Nail Polish Colors That’ll Be Everywhere in 2026
- The World’s Rarest Fragrances Live in a Shopping Plaza in Lake Tahoe
Now watch Dove Cameron’s 10-minute routine.
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