20 Best Perfumes For Women In 2022
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Once you find your signature scent, it will likely become an extension of you — don't be surprised if its allure interrupts conversations, leaves impressions, and blends into your outfits. Because it's the introduction you give of yourself to the people you meet, its importance can't be understated. Your perfume needs to complement who you are and reflect your chosen aesthetic. That's a tall order for a product, especially one you have to find in the labyrinth of department store aisles.
An easy way to sift through all that olfactory stimuli is to just choose the bottle you think would look best on your dresser. Most of them do smell good, so it's not the worst take. But for your signature scent, we'd advise you not to entirely judge a perfume by its bottle — you're also going to have to factor in what scent profiles you like.
"Simply put, there are eight olfactive families that are divided into two groups: in the Warm group, there is Fougere, oriental, and leather. In the Fresh group, you have citrus, floral, and aromatic. Interestingly, the chypre and woody families are a cross between warm and fresh," Joan Tanis from Maison Francis Kurkdjian told Vogue. Of course, narrowing in on your favorite scent profile will require you to actually test the perfume.
But scroll down for the next best thing: a curation of the most-loved perfumes this year, based on scent profiles, bottles, and reviews.
How we selected the perfumes
To make your quest to find the perfect signature scent easier, we've done the legwork for you. The perfumes we've chosen are consistently flying off the shelves and setting off restock notification emails. You'll see these perfumes on the vanities of editors and Sephora best-seller lists. And they're the best-sellers for a reason — whether it's for their versatility or long-lasting scents.
We've broken these perfumes down into a few categories so that the sampling doesn't take too long. You can choose from various scent profiles in this list, from earthy and musky to fruity and floral. You can also have a signature scent for every season, as we understand that the pumpkin spice doesn't quite hit the same in the summer. There's also a heady mix of cult favorites and newer brands that are making waves in the fragrance industry, so read on to find some of the best perfumes out there.
The best timeless perfume
In 1947, Christian Dior concocted a fragrance inspired by his sister, Catherine Dior, who had spent "every summer at Les Naÿssès" where "she tended her garden and the fields of jasmine and roses that were key ingredients for the production of Dior perfume," according to an excerpt from Justine Picardie's book "Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture" (via Elle). She had been the muse for many of the designer's creations, but the soft floral notes from this perfume still evoke their compelling relationship.
The iconic perfume and its longstanding influence could never have been predicted. Today, the Miss Dior Eau de parfum remains a bestseller for the French fashion house, with thousands of positive reviews. "This reminds me of a cozy picnic," a reviewer said, possibly alluding to the fresh scent of French Centifolia roses and iris notes. The perfume isn't overpoweringly floral, either, as it has hints of musk and Tonka bean to ground it. While it does have a few iterations, the original has lasted the test of time like no other.
Get a bouquet that will never wilt: A bottle of Miss Dior Eau de Parfum retails for $133.49 on Amazon.
The best everyday perfume
Every product from Glossier is an extension of your own natural beauty, as the brand's minimal skincare and makeup products work to complement and enhance the user without taking away from the person's essence. Its perfume does the same.
The Glossier You is one of the brand's top-rated products, with over 3,500 reviewers giving it an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars. Most of the reviewers mention that compliments from strangers come hand-in-hand with this fragrance. "I am obsessed with collecting perfumes. But there is only one in my collection that I come back to every single day, and that's Glossier You," one declared.
The perfume, marketed as "the ultimate personal fragrance," has a tingling mix of pink pepper and floral iris as well as light musky notes that really tie it all in. Musk has always been a popular grounding ingredient in perfumes but it may also be the reason people choose Glossier You as their everyday perfume. Sue Phillips from custom perfumery Scenterprises likened musk to body odor (in a good way) since its non-synthetic origins comes from deer secretion, which is why it kind of blends into your own scent. "It's so distinctive, pungent, sexy, and sensual," she told Well and Good. This perfume is literally made for you.
Buy the Glossier You Eau de parfum for $60 on Glossier's website.
The best luxury perfume
If the Diptyque perfume bottle is the pitch, we'd like to invest. The French heritage brand crafts delectably scented fragrances into packaging that strikes a balance between vintage charm and modern sleekness. Its perfumes appeal to those who love both aesthetics, taking cues from places and their historical stories.
The Diptyque Philosykos is one of the brand's best-selling perfumes, a combination of not-too-sweet figgy and woody notes that have won over anyone who happened to get a whiff. Diptyque hopes the product evokes "memory of a Greek summer at Mount Pelion where, to get to the sea, there was a natural grove of wild sun-soaked fig trees to cross through." The sweetness of the fig sap is cut by the freshness of the leaves, conjuring places you may not have visited but will think about going to anyway. On Fragrantica, almost 6,000 reviewers give the perfume a 4.2 out of 5 stars. Editors at Who What Wear have also listed it as one of their top picks.
If you're ready to book your tickets to Greece, pick up the Diptyque Philosykos for $190 on the brand's website.
The best cult-favorite perfume
We couldn't compile a list of the best perfumes out there without mentioning Chanel No.5 — that would be blasphemy. The legendary perfume blend was created by Gabrielle Coco Chanel herself in 1921, becoming an instant accessory to denote status and womanhood. It's since been immortalized in movies and the media, with Marilyn Monroe famously saying that she wears nothing but five drops of the perfume to bed (via YouTube).
The cult-classic perfume builds its complex fragrance around roses and jasmine, with citrus top notes and a touch of Bourbon vanilla to temper the floral part of the scent. It was also touted as one of the first perfumes to use aldehydes, which are compounds that can boost the scent of a fragrance (via The Perfume Society). The result is a seductive yet sweet perfume that's become a signature scent for many. On Sephora, that seems to be 36,000 people.
Join the cult and get a bottle of Chanel No. 5 for $146 from the brand's website.
The best affordable perfume
Dossier was founded in 2019 "out of a desire to make premium fragrances accessible to everyone" and reached peak popularity in 2022. The perfume brand, which crafts its fragrances in perfumeries in France, aims to reduce perfume markups by removing brand value and celebrity endorsements from the picture. Dossier CEO Sergio Tache told ShipBop that they want to "continue making perfumes for the 99% — not just the top 1% like most perfume companies — enabling people to build a collection of scents they can wear when and how they want without worrying about price."
Many of Dossier's perfumes are inspired by luxury perfume favorites, and they're transparent about which ones. One of its biggest best-sellers is the Fruity Almond perfume, inspired by Carolina Herrera's Good Girl. It combines a complex mixture of peach, florals, orange blossom, and tonka bean to give you Herrera's iconic sensual scent — but for less than $100. A reviewer on the website said, "I am still in awe about this product! The scent is exact to the designer brand. LOVE that I can now get it for a third of the price. I will NEVER be purchasing designer products now. THANK YOU-DOSSIER!"
Buy the Dossier Fruity Almond for $29 on the brand's website.
The best unisex perfume
Y2K-era trends have made a glorious comeback in the form of low-waisted jeans, kitschy accessories, and pop song mixes. That's the cue to bring back the CK One Eau de Toilette, a fresh scent that took over the market in the '90s. A spritz from this bottle is guaranteed to remind you of Kate Moss' ads for the brand: "The only one — the CK One — a fragrance for a man or a woman."
Almost every millennial remembers the chokehold this perfume had on them. The New York Times summed it up well in its headline: "It smelled like Gen X spirit." The fragrance knew how to appeal to everyone's tastes with a refreshing combination of citrusy top notes, floral mid notes of jasmine and violet, and a hint of musk. Even in 2022, almost 12,000 reviewers across the net consistently give it 5 stars. The thick, sleek bottle has also stood the test of time, or for this reviewer, 4 feet: "I dropped it once from about 4ft and it didn't break so that's a plus."
Get the iconic CK One Eau de Toilette for $64 on Amazon.
The best seductive perfume
If we had to pick, the Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium perfume would be declared the eternal sex symbol of our time (although the green M&M comes in at a close second). This perfume comes in a glittery black bottle that pairs well with high heels and a night out. "When the electrifying energy of black coffee meets the assertive femininity of white flowers, the result is one of our top perfumes for women: a vibrant, sensual and addictive contrast of light and dark," the brand asserts.
The cult-favorite perfume has been on every fragrance lover's list since its launch in 2014. The deep scents of coffee and vanilla mingle with the base cedarwood and patchouli notes to give you a deliciously sensual experience that blends into spaces like lowly-lit restaurants. If you need any more confirmation that this perfume is more seductive than any partner you could have, Zoe Kravitz endorsed an iteration of the perfume (via Youtube). If it's sexy enough for Catwoman, it's sexy enough for us.
Get the Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Eau de Parfum for $110.
The best celebrity perfume
There are many iconic perfumes created by celebrities, but one of our favorites is Ariana Grande's Cloud perfume, a fragrance she launched in 2018 that instantly became a crowd-pleaser. Don't be deterred by the cutesy bottle that sits on top of a white cloud — its sophisticated scent isn't sweet or intense like most celebrity perfumes. In fact, the perfume beat Britney Spears' Prerogative and KKW Body, winning Teen Vogue's Fragrance of the Year Award in 2019.
According to a description on Ulta, the perfume is "an uplifting fragrance. Inspiring. Dreamy. Playful." Here's how beauty editor Joelle Hyman described the scent to The Strategist: "it smells like a warm but clear breath of air." This clear, uplifting breath of air has lavender blossom and bergamot in its top notes, Crème De Coconut, and praline in its mid notes and a base of musk. A reviewer on Ulta says, "If I had to describe it, I'd say it's a 'Sugary woodsy' smell. Has an understated seductiveness to it."
If you're not an Ariana Grande fan, you might just become one. Get the Ariana Grande Cloud Eau De Parfum on Amazon for $45.
The best perfume for sensitive skin
A spritz of perfume can become a game of Russian roulette for people with sensitive skin — it can give you rashes, dry your skin, or leave it burning. First off, you should check with your dermatologist to see if you have any chronic inflammatory skin conditions (via PopSugar). But if you want a perfume that isn't as harsh on your skin, you could check out hypoallergenic perfumes. They don't eliminate reactions but reduce the possibility for them.
The 7 Virtues Vanilla Woods perfume is one popular hypoallergenic option, made with sugar cane alcohol and essential oils. Described as "warm and spicy" on Sephora, the product includes coming sustainably sourced vanilla, pear, and rose. One reviewer on the brand's website said, "I so liked the idea of having a signature scent, but never found a brand or scent that didn't give me headaches or I wasn't sick of smelling day to day... Enter 7Virtues...The game has been changed!"
Buy The 7 Virtues Vanilla Woods perfume for $85 at Sephora.
The best clean perfume
Actress Michelle Pfeiffer gave up perfumes for ten years after she found out that many fragrances had a number of toxic ingredients (via Vogue). However, when she re-entered the market a few years later, she did so with her own brand, Henry Rose, which champions ingredient transparency. The fragrance brand works with the Environmental Working Group to create non-toxic scents that are safe for you. "If you never want to read another label, you don't have to," she told Vogue.
One of the brand's most sought-after perfumes is Windows Down, a bright and citrusy combination of grapefruit and bergamot. The perfume also has floral notes of orange flower, earthy moss, and musk for a well-rounded fresh scent. Some reviewers compare it to a fresh summer's day and one says, "I don't know how they did it but this scent does not set off my allergies like other expensive name brands do."
Get the Henry Rose Windows Down perfume for $120 on the brand's website.
The best long-lasting perfume
It's incredibly frustrating to leave your wallet in despair after buying an expensive perfume, only to find out that it lasts as long as the bottle is in front of you.
To make sure your perfume has staying power, make sure you pick bottles with the label "eau de parfum" instead of "eau de toilette," as the former has a stronger concentration of essential oils. You can also look out for particular kinds of fragrances: "From an olfactive point of view, longer lasting fragrances typically present variations in wood, musk, and resin ingredients; this will establish the base foundation on the skin which will extend the wear for six hours and up," perfumer Claude Dir told InStyle.
The Armani Beauty Sì Passione Eau de Parfum ticks both boxes. It has base notes of cedarwood and vanilla, with top notes of sweet blackcurrant and pear. It's a spicy yet sweet cocktail of ingredients that Giorgio Armani says is "an irresistible combination of grace, strength, and independence of spirit." The perfume has 4.7 out of 5 stars on Ulta, where one reviewer said, "Love this fragrance! Si is a must and it lasts throughout the day."
Get the Armani Beauty Sì Passione Eau de Parfum on Amazon for $65.
The best perfume with floral notes
Everyone loves receiving a bouquet of flowers, even from themselves. "Floral fragrances are popular because they have mass appeal and tend to make people happy, evoking a favorite memory or a special time," Perfumer Martha Noyes explained. "They can also be blended with other notes to appeal more to men or others who may not want such a 'flowery' smell" (via Scentsy).
But if you're someone who commits wholeheartedly to the floral notes, you should bring home a bottle of Gucci Bloom. The perfume has base notes of jasmine, middle notes of tuberose, and top notes of rangoon creepers — all in a sweet medley of white floral scents that transport you to a well-kept garden. It's meant to capture "the spirit of the contemporary, diverse and authentic women of Gucci," according to the Ulta description. Alessandro Michele also said that "the bottle is not designed feminine to seduce men, but to keep company with the women who wear the perfume."
Bring Gucci Bloom home for $82 at Ulta.
The best perfume with fruity notes
Fruity perfumes have had a makeover from what they used to be in the early 2000s. They're no longer the shiny bottles of body sprays flavored with super sweet fruit concentrates, populating every teen's vanity. Now, fruity perfumes are more subtle. They're still sweet but have layers of complexity to them, often mixing florals and fresh scents to smell less like a cloying dessert and more like a refreshing cocktail.
If you like pear and sweet Italian orange on the menu, the Jimmy Choo eau de parfum might be the order for you. The fruity perfume has top notes of pear nectar and orange as well as subtle notes of tiger orchid. The base notes of patchouli and toffee linger on your skin long after you've spritzed it on to leave a bold impression. One reviewer on Ulta said, "This perfume is phenomenal...It's also sweet and fruity, but deep and sensual as well. It lasts such a long time, and you don't need much at all."
Channel your inner Y2K aesthetic and get the Jimmy Choo Eau de parfum on Amazon for $95.
The best perfume with earthy notes
Some of us gravitate towards grounding scents — the ones that take us into nature and evoke long hikes and rainy days. This kind of scent profile uses ingredients like cedar, sandalwood, balsam, resin, amber, musk, oakmoss, and patchouli, per Pure Fragrance Oils. If you're into earthy notes for your signature scent, you'd love The Nue Co Forest Lungs perfume.
The name of the perfume says it all: forest lungs, a unique combination of clean resin, cedarwood, and tart citrus that helps you breathe easier. The formula also features a trademarked ingredient Phytogaia, a replicate of organic compounds made by trees that support stress and anxiety reduction as well as the immune system.
The scent is as light and as earthy as it can get. One reviewer on Sephora called it "A walk in the Forest in a bottle!" Another said, "Forest lungs is the perfect name for this scent, because it truly does just capture the freshness and earthiness of the words."
Visit rainforests without leaving your home; get The Nue Co Forest Lungs for $95 at Dermstore.
The best perfume with musky notes
We've all heard of Le Labo Santal 33, a spicy scent made with sandalwood and cardamom that seems to be on every editor's vanity and every other person's wishlist. It made its debut during the reign of fruity perfumes, giving the market "the shock of the new, combined with the shock of the intimately familiar," as promised in the brand's manifesto.
Another one of its best sellers is the Le Labo Rose 31 Eau de Parfum. The nose behind it, Daphne Bugey, spoke to Another Magazine about the scent: "The idea was to create a kind of ambiguous rose scent, one that can be worn by men and women; at the time when I created it, there were no rose scents for men," she said. "The idea was that the rose had to be presented in a beautiful and pure but subtle way."
The top notes of rose are stirred into a warm mix of cumin, musks, and cedarwood to really let each ingredient shine. The muskiness of this perfume is described as "a distinctly physical animal note" that isn't too overpowering as musk can be, which makes it ideal for someone who loves musk but wants to venture into something that elevates it.
Get the Le Labo Rose 31 Eau de Parfum for $198 on the brand's website.
The best perfume with spicy notes
Luxury perfume brand Byredo is on a mission to "translate memories and emotions into products and experiences." Often, the brand's covetable perfumes and candles are inspired by their creator's memories.
Founder Ben Gorham concocted the Mumbai Noise perfume with his childhood visits to Mumbai, India, in mind. "[Mumbai] has an overwhelming sense of place that you just can't escape," he told Wallpaper. "The olfactive approach is one of contrasts and contradictions. Mumbai Noise is an amber fragrance that features rich, warm woods with brightness, plummy davana positioned alongside leather, bitter coffee stirred with sweet tonka beans," he said. The result is a spicy but warmly woodsy perfume that "kind of feels elegant but sexy in the same time and also grown," according to one reviewer. Another said that "this smells like how I imagine the streets of India food markets to smell like."
Get the Byredo Mumbai Noise for $196 at Saks Fifth Avenue.
The best perfume for summer
If you asked us what an ideal summer's day should be, we'd say a picturesque place reminiscent of the sets of "Call Me By Your Name" surrounded by gardens and Timothy Chalamet. Or we'd take cues from the description of Jo Malone's English Pear and Freesia perfume: "Orchards awash with golden sunshine. The sensuous freshness of just-ripe pears wrapped in a bouquet of cool white freesias, their unmistakeable blooms radiating innocence and a delicate touch."
The summery, fruity perfume layers patchouli, amber, and woods in a refreshing mix that's made it one of the brand's best-selling perfumes. One reviewer on its website said, "Nice scent that is not overpowering. Fresh and clean smell that reminds you of a spring day" while another tried their luck, "It smells really nice I like it. Please can you send me more samples?"
Invoke summer with the Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia for $145 on the brand's website.
The best perfume for winter
Accessorizing for winter is an art that requires discriminate layering and a will to go outside. If you need help with either of these, the Maison Margiela Replica by the Fireplace Fragrance is a good aide. The perfume is literally what it says it is, promising to give you "the pleasure of a reassuring fire crackling on a winter morning." It's part of the Replica collection, which is "a reproduction of familiar scents and moments of varying locations and periods," and this one does its job well (via Hypebeast).
Made with chestnuts and woody notes, the perfume has a smoky yet cozy feeling to it. It includes hints of vanilla, red berries, and florals like orange blossom and neroli, which might make you think of soft marshmallows roasting. A reviewer on the brand's website succinctly described it as "like a mallow that has gotten really brown. Like the outer layer is charred and crunchy and slides off the rest of the marshmallow? You can almost taste it. Also a very mild twinge of spice, but so subtle."
Get the Maison Margiela Replica by the Fireplace Fragrance at Sephora for $144.
The best perfume for spring
When it's time to stop and smell the roses (and all the other flowers out there), you might as well commit. The Dolce Lily Eau De Toilette is a light, misty scent that "celebrates the charming pink lily flower, a symbol of femininity and kindness," according to the brand's website. It comes in a curved pink bottle, topped with a pink flower cap that the brand is known for, so you can really get in the mood for the season.
The perfume also has citrusy top notes of bergamot to complement the heart notes of sweet passion fruit, lily, and rose. To balance the floral fruitiness, the base notes of the perfume feature musks, sandalwood, and a lingering hint of vanilla. The perfume has 4.6 out of 5 stars on Sephora, where one reviewer said, "If you are looking for a great perfume to wear in the spring, look no further! This fragrance is bright floral scent with hints of sweetness in there too! It's a very flirty scent that I really enjoy."
Get the Dolce Lily Eau De Toilette for $82 at Sephora.
The best perfume for fall
The unofficial initiation ceremony to fall begins the minute you see a burnt orange leaf float past you — or maybe when you sip on your first pumpkin spiced latte of the season. Now, you can add something new to the list: spraying on the Skylar Fall Cashmere perfume, a scent that has "fall" in it, so you know you're going to smell like the season when you wear it. The warm and spicy perfume perfectly complements the fall aesthetic — but be careful not to taste it; it could easily be confused for that Starbucks PSL.
It has top notes of roasted almond and spiced ginger and heart notes of cinnamon bark, clove, matcha tea. The grand finishing base includes sandalwood, caramelized vanilla, white musk, and golden amber. The brand aptly says that it "create[s] a warm chai latte–like indulgence." But if you're worried that it might be too sweet, this reviewer on Nordstrom might lessen your concern, writing: "my fear was that it might be too sugary sweet and I'd smell like a dessert, but there are some spicier, matures notes in it that dial it back and lend the sophistication." The perfume is also hypoallergenic so it's great for people with sensitive skin.
Get the Skylar Fall Cashmere perfume on Amazon for $85.