I started using Estée Lauder way before any of my friends because it was my aunt’s go-to makeup brand. When she first took me makeup shopping as a sixth grader, that was the counter she dragged me to. While my peers shopped at the drugstore, I was touching up in the bathroom with Double Wear Foundation. I grew up fast, I guess. Naturally, my first perfumes followed suit. Amidst my tray of the usual suspects (Marc Jacobs Daisy and Chanel Chance), I had a bottle of Bronze Goddess. Wearing it made me feel fancy, even if I was just going to a middle school dance.
Fast forward to 2026, and smelling like a mature grown-up is kind of the antithesis of all fragrance trends. Gourmands that remind us of youth dominate my fragrance shelf, with notes like frosted cake, ice cream cone, and caramel macchiato. But what about a scent that falls in between? That’s where Estée Lauder’s newest fragrance, Glimmer, comes in. It’s a fruity, floral take on sweet perfume that’s as bright and youthful as it is sophisticated.
I got to step inside the Estée Lauder offices to chat with Glimmer perfumer Jean-Marc Chaillan to sniff every key note individually before taking home a bottle and wearing it for the last month before it launched. Keep reading for tons of BTS on the fragrance and its history, plus a full review.
About Glimmer
Before smelling, we went through all the details of the perfume, including the history of Estée Lauder’s perfumes as a whole. The brand’s very first perfume, Youth Dew, launched in 1953. Back then, it was frowned upon to buy your own fragrance as a woman; your husband or boyfriend was supposed to gift it to you. What a snooze, right?
So when the brand launched Beautiful in 1985, potency was important. People wore it on their wedding day and wanted something that would last hours upon hours. One peek at the list of notes, and you’ll see. There are well over two dozen, many of which are varying types of heady florals. The same goes for floral Pleasures in ’95, albeit a slightly lighter scent.
Estée Lauder looked at empowerment, music, science, art, and micro- and macroeconomics, all leading to the idea that what everyone is craving right now is hope and connection. Glimmers are micro moments of joy, the opposite of a trigger, meant to inspire excitement. With that, that led them to create their very first gourmand after more than half a century of floral perfumes. But Glimmer is a modern expression of florals too, with a sweetened base that feels cozy and youthful.
What does Glimmer smell like?
The notes include three main accords: macaron rose, shimmering patchouli, and amber embrace. FYI: Accords are a blend of multiple notes together that create a new scent. So, “macaron rose” smells like, yes, roses, but also almond and lychee for an added sweetness. Chaillan describes shimmering patchouli as “not your grandma’s patchouli,” noting that the earthy note has more depth and sexiness in this accord. Amber embrace feels like a warm hug (and was easily my favorite when I sniffed them all individually—more on this below).
Along with those main accords, there’s also raspberry mousse, which adds a juicy, young scent. It’s like a freshly picked raspberry that’s watery, but not sticky or too sweet. Orange flower also adds warmth, and in fact, the flowers are picked at night when the scent’s warmth is at its highest concentration.
How I tested
At the Estée Lauder offices, Glimmer perfumer Jean-Marc Chaillan encouraged a bunch of other editors and myself to sniff every key note of Glimmer individually. Think of it like a wine tasting: When you can sniff each aspect of the perfume, separate from the whole composition, you see where it all comes from. Then, when you smell the juice as is, picking out those specific notes and accords is easier. It’s also a great way to test how well-blended a perfume is.
My review
I grew up in a household that was anti-floral perfumes. My mom hated practically every perfume I loved as a child, choosing fresh, fruity perfumes for herself. Even today, I still give her all of my fruity body mists, and she scoffs when I come home wearing anything too garden-like. But Glimmer is the one scent we can finally agree on. It’s the perfect mix of her favorites and mine, all wrapped up in this fresh concoction.
Upon first spritz, I get loads of raspberry. It’s very bright, like something I’d wear on the first sunny, 70-degree day of spring. But it doesn’t feel juvenile at all. On the contrary, it’s quite sophisticated. It feels like something my mom would have worn when I was a kid in the ’90s, actually, which makes sense that she enjoys it so much. There’s a nostalgia there that lends itself so well to the Estée DNA, but it’s not overly mature. I genuinely think anyone, of any generation, could wear this.
On the longevity front, I wish this lasted longer on my skin. I can smell it for a good four or five hours, but by the time I leave the office, I need a re-up. This isn’t the end of the world, though, as I usually like to change my perfume from day to night anyway. (And FWIW, many reviewers had a different experience, so perhaps it could last longer with your skin chemistry. No perfume’s sillage and wear-time is one-size-fits-all.)
Final verdict
I’ve already worn this countless times and received a gazillion compliments, even from those who typically have very different perfume tastes than I do (my mom, assistant beauty editor Jasmine Hyman, my grocery store clerk). I can see this being a well-loved perfume by so many people of all generations. In fact, I can’t wait to gift it to my aunt and grandma for Christmas—I already know they’ll love it too as a nice upgrade to the scents they’ve been wearing for decades.
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Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan with eight years of experience researching, writing, and editing hair, makeup, nail, and fragrance stories.
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
