- The biggest fall perfume trends feel inherently "fall," with nods to cozier vibes, dark liquors, and in-season produce.
- Perfumers and fragrance experts alike predict we'll continue to see high-performing perfumes, also known as extraits. These are best for people who want an intense scent trail and longevity from their perfume.
- Functional fragrance (scents that are meant to enhance your mood) is dominating new perfume launches as well.
As the weather cools down, the sun sets earlier, and our clothes get cozier, it's safe to say that our preferences change, especially when it comes to perfume. The fresh, bright, juicy scents you reached for in summer months don't make sense now. And in their place, you start loading up on fall perfumes that have a darker, more full-bodied profile. "Fall fragrance is all about warmth, richness, and sophistication, but with a twist," says perfumer Nicole Mancini. "Consumers are craving comfort and indulgence as the weather cools, yet they’re also looking for scents that feel creative and multidimensional. Think long-lasting, sensual fragrances with cozy depth, but reimagined in modern, unexpected ways."
The biggest fall perfume trends of 2025 are just that: Rich, deep, and a little moody. "I think cold weather always lends itself to 'heavier' perfumes, just like our wardrobes," says fragrance expert and founder of Biche, Alexandra Pauly. From warm gourmands that make you feel wrapped up in a blanket to ripe and smokey takes on fruity perfumes to booze-forward scents that evoke a crowded cocktail lounge, all the perfumes we're reaching for this season feel unequivocally fall-coded. Just take it from the experts.
1. Ripe for the Picking
Fruity notes are getting more luscious for fall. Instead of the sticky scents of summer, we're pairing notes like apple and cherry with woods and leather, and musks for a deeper profile. "We're going to see a lot more fruit scents with more of a deeper warm notes within them," says Phlur creative director Chriselle Lim.
One of the biggest ways we'll see this is in updated cherry perfumes. Cherry can be difficult to formulate unless you want a syrupy or ultra-sugary scent, explains Lim. But the brand perfected their own with Cherry Stem, "a very dark, lacquered, sexy scent," says Lim, thanks to black cherry, plum, brandy, ebony, and leather notes.
Apple scents are another area of excitement for perfumers, as they feel more crisp than other fruits. They're “fun, expressive, and playful," DSM-Firmenich principal perfumer Clement Gavarry previously told Cosmo. Obviously, it also feels like a mark of a new season—there's a reason we love the smell of apple-based fall candles filling our homes. If you want a version with a teensy bit of apple but not overpowering, contributor Ariel Wodarcyk ranked By Rosie Jane Birthday Suit Body Mist her top pick of all apple perfumes.
2. Cocktail Hour
Just as the rise of sober curiosity peaks, so does the interest in scents that smell like the back of the bar. “Smelling like alcohol might serve as a way to recreate the mood without the consequences," neuropsychologist Sanam Hafeez previously told Cosmo. "The fragrance acts like a symbolic fix, giving the brain a hint of the old high. It’s not the same, but it scratches at a similar itch.”
There's D.S. & Durga's Cognac Reign—a woody, caramelized cognac with some fruit notes that smells like a craft cocktail you'd pay a premium for. Kilian has a full range of booze-forward scents and recently released Angel's Share on the Rocks. It has the same cognac and tonka bean DNA as the O.G. Angel's Share but with a coolness and hint of orange. Or if you want something a bit sweeter, take Amouage Opus XVI Timber for a spin. It's lacquered with bourbon and vanilla for a dessert-like whiff.
3. Cozy Up
Gourmands for fall are like florals for spring. We all know it. But as we've been stuck in a gourmand generation of sorts, things have to start getting a bit more refined, says Pauly. "Instead of all-out sugary, ultra-sweet perfumes, we’re seeing brands pull back and pair gourmand notes with spices, incense, and woods for a darker, more 'grown-up' feel," she says. Nilsen adds: "We are smelling opulent notes of vanilla, leather, and even spices like saffron, but the treatment in so many of the fragrances makes the notes feel milky, whipped, and airy." Thus translating to a homey aroma.
"Delicious signatures of honey, chocolate, marshmallow, coffee, coconut, and date are everywhere, but they are never sickly cloying or sticky sweet," he adds. "We see them delivered with a creamy lightness and soft, fluffy textures, so they stay completely craveable but still easy and fun to wear." A popular note to expect? Caramel, featured in Ellis Brooklyn's Queens Caramel.
Spicy gourmands also create a cozy feel. Aesop's newest launch—Above Us, Steorra—takes a more spicy approach to vanilla and amber, like eating warm cardamom buns on a stoop. NOYZ calls their new Only Human fragrance a "skin-hugging gourmand," with notes of pink pepper, water lily, bamboo, vanilla bean, ambroxan, and cedarwood. Balenciaga just released a full fragrance line, including a vanilla/amber/musky concoction called Twenty Four Seven that's both soft and a little powdery. "Some brands are even incorporating aldehydes into gourmands to balance sweet notes with a clean, sparkling facet," says Pauly, nodding to Byredo's Alto Astral, a musky take with coconut water and cashmeran.
4. Form and Function
Everyone's looking for a mood boost right now, including the fragrance industry. Functional fragrance—meaning perfumes meant to help regulate your emotions, essentially a repackaged version of aromatherapy—are dominating fragrance launches. Whether you want it or not, your perfume was probably developed to evoke a certain mood. Perfumers pluck specific notes to intentionally make you feel something specific. Experts say this can somewhat be a placebo, but anecdotally, we can all agree that we have associations that are both positive and negative depending on the scent.
Perfumer Frank Vöelkl previously told Cosmo that there's been a clear shift in how we use fragrance, which could be signaling this trend. “I personally always believed that fragrance is there mainly for yourself,” he told us. “But it was not necessarily marketed to us that way for many years.” Now, fragrance is all about making you feel good, not your partner on a date night or the execs in your board meeting. Consider it the wellness-ification of fragrance. "The wellness movement is weaving into fragrance, with scents designed to support not just how you smell, but how you feel—tapping into mood, mindfulness, and emotional well-being," says Mancini.
Le Labo Eucalyptus 20 helps cool and calm you, whereas Touchland Sparkling Bergamot body spray is all about uplifting your senses with citrus. Imaginary Authors' How To Say Bicycle In French was inspired by tranquility and uses notes like rosemary and lavender to help reduce stress (if only for a little bit). Or if you're looking for some focus, try BornToStandOut's Black Guava, a scent packed with fruity and floral notes meant to make you feel "more alive," as the brand says.
5. In-Season Produce
It was high time fragrance entered the kitchen, no? "We've seen a noticeable rise in vegetal notes because they tick many boxes for today’s fragrance lovers: They’re unisex, connected to nature, and remarkably versatile," Isaac Lekach, co-founder & CEO of Flower Shop Perfumes Co., previously told Cosmo. "Some bring crisp freshness, while others offer singular earthiness." And it's not just the usual pumpkin-spice situation either. Anticipate tomato, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, and more finding their way into your perfume (kinda like how your mom used to sneak veggies into your food).
Contributing beauty editor Mary Honkus tested dozens of veggie perfumes, but her #1 pick was D.S. & Durga's Bistro Waters. "It is about as crisp and refreshing as vegetable scents come," she wrote. "It reminds me of walking through a budding herb garden."
6. Savor It
"Super sweet gourmands have reached a saturation point, so naturally, we’re turning to more savory perfumes," says Pauly. We're moving into a "more artistic realm," says Mancini, with more savory contrasts. For some, salt is a simple way to add a touch of savory to their perfumes, especially in gourmands. Ellis Brooklyn's Vanilla Salt, Heretic Black Salt, and Boy Smells Vanilla Era all have a lil extra bite from a salty or ambergris note.
But for those who are willing to take things further, perfumes with notes like milk, tea, rice, and mushrooms are entering the fragrance world. Pauly calls out Milk Orchid by Commodity, a collaboration with Emma, who goes by Perfumerism on social media, and was inspired by Emma's quest for a perfume that smelled like milk. (What's better: The fragrance quickly sold out.) If you didn't get your hands on that one, try Snif's Gentle Reminder, a frothy, milky, black tea scent. D'Annam created Matcha Soft Serve, combining traditional gourmand notes with milk and matcha tea. Dedcool Mochi Milk is a solid combo of both creamy milk and starchy rice.
7. The Era of Extraits
"Coming out of the summer where the 'vibe' was body mists all day and all the way, we see consumers recommitting to the luxury of fragrance," says vice-president perfumer Stephen Nilsen. But more specifically, he says we'll be reaching for scents with "a point of view and a trail that lasts all day." With that comes loud, "beast-mode" scents and flankers. Pauly predicts the reign of extrait flankers (essentially more concentrated versions of perfumers already in a brand's profile) will continue. Expect to see new iterations of your favorite perfumes with words like "intense," "elixir," and "extrait" attached to them, signifying that the "notes have been rebalanced to create a more defined and dramatic fragrance signature to create head-turning diffusion and bloom," says Nilsen.
Meet the experts:
- Alexandra Pauly is a fragrance expert and the founder of Biche, a luxurious beauty-forward approach to pet grooming.
- Chriselle Lim is the co-owner and creative director of Phlur fragrances, one of the biggest perfume brands at Sephora.
- Stephen Nilsen is a vice president perfumer at Givaudan and has been in the fragrance industry for more than 25 years.
- Nicole Mancini is a principal perfumer at dsm-Firmenich. She's the nose on some of our favorite scents, including Kylie Jenner Cosmic and Noteworthy No.415 Chateau.
- Frank Vöelkl is a principal perfumer at DSM-Firmenich. He's extremely well-known in fragrance, having been the formulator behind The Nue Co.’s Functional Fragrance, Le Labo’s Santal 33 and Glossier’s You lineup. He was previously interviewed about functional fragrance.
- Clement Gavarry is a principal perfumer at DSM-Firmenich and was previously interviewed about apple perfumes.
Why trust Cosmopolitan?
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan with seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing fragrance stories that range from Chanel perfumes to 2025 perfume trends. She’s an authority in all perfume categories, but she's tested nearly a hundred niche perfumes in her career to gauge which ones are actually worth it.
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.
