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These are the fragrances loved by your fave celebs – from Taylor Swift to Molly-Mae
Call it the smell of success...
While ‘fragrance wardrobes’ may have been stealing thunder from signature scents in the last few years, the idea of having that one identifying perfume can never lose its allure. There’s something so chic, and yet personal, about having one fragrance that captures the essence of you whether you opt for something sweeter, sugary or heavy on the sandalwood it's pretty cool having a smell that conjures you in people's minds with one whiff. A scent says a lot about a person, so it’s understandable to be curious about exactly what aromas our fave celebs choose to douse themselves in.
Are they bougie? Classic? Unconventional? Surprisingly playful? Maybe you want to know what they wear so that you too can smell like Hailey Bieber or Sofia Richie, or maybe you just want to experience what smelling Rihanna would be like. Either way we’ve trawled interviews, background sightings, ‘get ready with me’ and ‘what’s in my bag’ videos to compile this list just for you. If a few also make their way into our shopping baskets, so be it.
The perfumes that celebrities actually wear
Adele wears... Dior Hypnotic Poison, £104 (50ml)
Of course our no-nonsense national treasure has worn the same perfume since secondary school. Adele told Australia’s 60 Minutes she wouldn’t make a perfume, it would be inauthentic because she wouldn’t wear it herself. The reason? “I’ll always wear the same perfume I’ve always worn since I was 15,” she said; “Christian Dior Hypnotic Poison”.
Zoë Kravitz wears... YSL Black Opium Extreme, £105 (50ml)
Impossibly cool Zoë was chicly applying Black Opium Extreme in her Vogue Beauty secrets video. The heavy hitting scent is a revved up take on the cult Black Opium. Extra black coffee and a hard hit of patchouli sounds about right for Kravitz.
Sabrina Carpenter wears... Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace, £125 (100ml)
While Sabrina now has her own fragrances we went digging. In this clip that appears to be from Sabrina’s 2020 Vogue Beauty Secrets Video (same look, room and heading font) she douses herself in By the Fireplace declaring it; “smells so good”. Combining mature notes of burning wood and chestnut, with vanilla, berry and orange blossom, it’s giving sweet’n’grown.
Ariana Greenblatt wears... YSL Black Opium, £95 (50ml)
Ok so Ariana revealed to Refinery29 that she actually uses a combo of the beloved YSL Black Opium with Billie Eilish’s One fragrance. This combo of a young new scent with a classic it girl fragrance feels perfect for Ariana.
Jade Thirwall wears... Britney Spears Fantasy £22.99 (100ml)
Ok — full disclosure — Baccarat Rouge has replaced the iconic Fantasy as Jade’s signature scent, but the Little Mix alum revealed to New York Magazine that until its recent demotion, she’s worn Fantasy loyally since her teens; “It was gonna take a lot to lure me out of that Britney trance.” The nostalgic scent’s eclectic notes of cupcake, kiwi, jasmine and musk just feel more fun, more Jade.
Cardi B wears... Vicks VapoRub, £6.75 (100g)
Look, a signature scent is a signature scent. Cardi says she doesn’t wear a lot of traditional fragrance, telling Vogue Mexico she’s allergic, and slathers herself in Vicks instead. Comparing herself to Rhianna’s famously good smell, she laughed in TikTok saying; “I know when people meet me they say ‘she smells like Vicks, she smells like a cold.’”
Tyla wears... Byredo Mojave Ghost, £150 (50ml)
Cosmo covergirl and IRL Godess Tyla revealed the fresh Mojave Ghost as the fragrance base she always uses in this video with Vogue. With magnolia, sandalwood and cedarwood, this fragrance is an ode to desert flowers which feels on vibe.
Hailey Bieber wears... Ex Nihilo Fleur Narcotique £180 (50ml)
While we can’t tell you how to build a billion dollar business like Mrs Hailey Rhode Bieber, we can help you smell like her? Hailey revealed to Harper’s Bazaar that Parisian fragrance house Ex Nihilo’s Fleur Narcotique is the scent she always comes back to. Sweet-but-fresh top notes of peach and lychee, sophisticated jasmine and peony heart, grounding woody base; it’s so her.
Gigi Hadid wears... My Burberry Black £99 (50ml)
We have iconic makeup artist Erin Parsons to thank for this intel. Gigi combines Francis Kurkdijan’s intense reinterpretation of the classic My Burberry, with the now discontinued Haven by Lily Aldridge. Described as; “A London garden amidst a gathering storm”, My Burberry Black is captivating solo too.
Olivia Rodrigo wears... Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 £245 (70ml)
Viral Baccarat Rouge 540 has no shortage of celeb fans but no one puts it quite like Olivia Rodrigo who told GQ that she was never into perfume until she smelt this one. Why? Because rather than smelling like candy or flowers: "You could maybe, possibly, naturally smell this way—if you're like, an angel." Sold.
Sofia Richie Grainge wears... Who Is Elijah Nomad £90 (50ml)
The Australian fragrance house confirmed that Sofia organically ordered their popular Nomad fragrance, and while we can’t promise they’ll hand deliver it to you too, the eau de parfum’s’ addictive ‘Woody, Amber, Floral’ scent is yours for the taking.
Molly-Mae Hague wears... Who Is Elijah Cherry Fiesta £90 (50ml)
The brand’s sweeter, more playful Cherry Fiesta fragrance was also spotted on Molly-Mae’s dressing table in her show Becoming Molly-Mae.
Charlie XCX wears... Byredo Bibliotheque £150 (50ml)
Chappell Roan wears... Thin Wild Mercury Girl of the Year, £123 (50ml)
Mother caused a social media frenzy when she asked for help identifying a fragrance with ‘girl’ in the name, and ‘lipstick’ as a note. The perfume in question? Girl of the Year by Thin Wild Mercury, with further iconic notes including ‘vintage fur’ and ‘smoker’s leather jacket’. It’s made for her.
Sydney Sweeney wears... Marc Jacobs Daisy, £75 (50ml)
We kind of expected something more vibrant and zesty from Miss Sweeney, or perhaps sultry and rich. But her subtle and timeless eau de toilette is a peak underneath her public perception; “I like that this perfume is not so strong that when you walk in a room, you leave a cloud behind you. It’s very dainty,” she told The Cut.
Rihanna wears... Fenty Eau de Parfum, £115 (75ml)
Ok, so we were avoiding celeb’s own fragrances, but sorry, Riri is right, this smells exactly like her. Have I smelt Rihanna? No. But do I know this is exactly what she smells like? Yes. Warm, sensual, musky, spicy, and oozing Black luxury. You spray it on and you’re like; “Wow I smell like Rhianna”. Is it also this writer’s signature scent? Maybe.
Gracie Abrams wears... Glossier You, £70 (50ml)
One of two daily perfumes songbird Gracie Abrams told New York Magazine she couldn’t live without. The cult ‘skin-scent-enhancer’ from Glossier has classic notes of pink pepper, iris and musk, but smells a little different on everyone, delivering a scent that's familiar, yet personal. Like the perfect song.
Kiernan Shipka wears... Dior Miss Dior, £104 (50ml)
Fresh and Floral, Kiernan refers to herself as a “Miss Dior Girl”, showing at least one Gen z continuing the decades long tradition of this as thee ladylike fragrance for a young woman.
Elena Chabo is Cosmopolitan UK's former beauty writer, working on everything from buzzy celeb news and trending beauty, to sincere first-person reviews and engaging video content for social media. She also creates meatier features and expert-led how-to guides, for print and online. Her passion for Black beauty, textured hair, and the ways beauty interacts with culture, society, identity and relationships, quickly took over her writing career and led her into beauty journalism. Following an MA in Magazine Journalism in 2017, she cut her teeth across various roles at Stylist Magazine, before taking on a Digital Writer role at Good Housekeeping. It was here that beauty took centre stage and she launched and ran the site's first stand-alone beauty section. Remaining at Hearst, she joined the Cosmo beauty team in 2022. Find her on LinkedIn.
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