Perfumers have a nose for taking a classic note, like vanilla, and making it feel new. “Finding a different cut, a different design for an iconic ingredient in perfumery—that is the challenge when you create a modern vanilla,” says Aurélien Guichard, founder and perfumer of Matiere Premiere. Guichard’s Vanilla Powder puts its namesake note in an airy, luminous light, while at other fragrance houses, classic vanilla is undergoing a metamorphosis that renders it spicy, woody, creamy-with-a-bite, and green.
At Guerlain, creative director of fragrance Delphine Jelk appreciates the nostalgia of vanilla while pushing it in a new direction. “Vanilla is the ultimate universal emotion in fragrance,” she says. “It feels like a big cuddle. But today, we are treating it with sophistication rather than sugar. What separates a modern vanilla from a classic interpretation is the texture and the tension.”
Vogue’s Favorite Vanilla Perfumes:
- Best Luxury Vanilla: Guerlain L’art & La Matière Vanille Planifolia Extrait 21, $660
- Best Grown-Up Gourmand: Dior Vanilla Diorama, $231-$495
- Best Fruity Vanilla: Carolina Herrera La Bomba Eau de Parfum, $99-$190
- Best Luminous Vanilla: Matière Première Vanilla Powder, $230-$320
- Best Date-Night Vanilla: Victoria Beckham 21:50 Rêverie Eau de Parfum, $200-$290
- Best Solar Vanilla: Liberty LBTY Tana Meadows, $65-$330
- Best Woody Vanilla: Liis Bo Eau de Parfum, $178
- Best Creamy Vanilla: Henry Rose Dave Eau de Parfum, $35-$120
- Best Green Vanilla: Dries Van Noten Camouflage Refillable Eau de Parfum, $400
- Best Spicy Vanilla: Phlur Vanilla Skin Eau de Parfum, $32-$99
While some vanilla scents reduce the ingredient to a pastry-shop cliché, the new class gives the ingredient room to breathe. “We strip away the heavy, suffocating side and give it air,” Jelk says. “We pair it with crisp woods, cleaner musks, or unexpected contrasts—like the rich, deep earthiness of patchouli—so that the vanilla has architecture and attitude.”
Ahead, get a whiff of the vanilla perfumes that turn traditional notions of the note on their head. Nowadays, “Vanilla is less about a sugary dessert and more about skin, warmth, and raw materiality,” Jelk says.
Guerlain
Vanille Panifolia Extrait 21
- Why We Love It: Guerlain’s TikTok-famous scent contains a form of vanilla so painstakingly cultivated, it might as well be couture. “When we make our signature vanilla tinctures, we are hand-pollinating the pods and steeping them in alcohol,” Jelk says. “You realize immediately that vanilla is not just sweet. It is spicy, a little smoky, woody, balsamic, and even slightly leathery.” Dreamed up by Jelk, this scent incorporates vanilla planifolia that’s cold-soaked in alcohol for 21 days. With an ultra-intense, 30% concentration of vanilla tincture and absolute, the fragrance lives up to Guerlain’s reputation for infusing its scents with—as the house puts it—an “overabundance of vanilla.”
- Key Notes: Pink pepper, coriander, bergamot, Madagascar vanilla planifolia tincture and absolute, amber, musk, patchouli
- This Smells Like: A vanilla bean meticulously dusted with gold leaf by a white-gloved hand.
