If there’s a fragrance for every mood, personality, and occasion, the best fresh perfumes are all-encompassing. “A fresh and clean perfume is like an open window or a deep breath of morning air,” Delphine Jelk, Guerlain’s Creative Director of Fragrance, tells Vogue. “It’s never flat—it has texture, light, and a sense of movement.”
Jeniece Trizzino, VP of Innovation & Product at Scentbird and Drift, agrees, adding that fresh scents are less about smelling like particular notes, and more about the feeling they evoke. “There’s a lightness and clarity to these scents that feels almost restorative,” Trizzino says. And while these scents can certainly be airy and intimate, she emphasizes that they also hold a quiet confidence. “They don’t need to announce themselves to be memorable,” she adds.
Vogue’s Favorite Fresh Perfumes
Even better, the experts say that fresh scents don’t have to be beholden to any particular season. “Fresh fragrances are wonderful year-round, but they play completely different roles depending on the season,” says Jelk. “In the heat of summer, they are refreshing, cooling, and invigorating, like a splash of cold water. But in the winter, wearing a fresh or crisp fragrance can be an incredible mood booster when everything outside is gray and cold.”
Echoing that, Trizzino adds that fresh scents are trending thanks to their ease of wear at any time or day. “We’re seeing a real shift toward more intimate, second-skin scents and away from some of the heavier gourmands that have dominated in recent years,” she says. “Freshness now feels less like a seasonal category and more like a way of wearing fragrance.” A look at the fresh scents we’d recommend below.
In This Story
Best Vibrant: Ex Nihilo Blue Talisman Eau de Parfum
Ex Nihilo
Blue Talisman Eau de Parfum
- Why We Love It: Ex Nihilo’s Blue Talisman is a scent that’s hard to pin down to a single category on first sniff. “Blue Talisman feels like freshness viewed through a much more modern lens,” says Trizzino. “The pear, bergamot, ginger and mandarin give it this bright, almost electric opening, but then the musks and woods create a beautiful smoothness underneath.” All in all, she describes it as vibrant yet polished.
- Key Notes: Bergamot, ginger, mandarin orange, pear, orange blossom, georgywood, akigalawood, musk, amber.
- This Smells Like: Pear and crème fraîche.
Best Soapy: Maison Margiela Replica Lazy Sunday Morning Eau de Toilette
Maison Margiela
Replica Lazy Sunday Morning Eau de Toilette
- Why We Love It: Another scent inspired by newly-washed bed sheets, Lazy Sunday Morning recreates relies on lily of the valley to create a sense of freshness. Meanwhile, iris adds a subtle powdery quality. Then ambrette seeds add a touch of warmth—combining to evoke the sensation of the morning sun’s rays gently warming your skin.
- Key Notes: White musk, lily of the valley, iris
- This Smells Like: Staying in bed all day, guilt-free.
Best Fresh Cotton: Guerlain Eau de Coton
Guerlain
Eau de Coton Eau de Toilette
- Why We Love It: Jelk created a 5-piece fragrance collection for Guerlain, Les Eaux, all of which are rooted in the sensation of fabric on skin. While all scents are rooted in a white musk base, each has its own blend of raw notes that echo the fabric it’s named for. Eau de Coton, as Jelk explains, is “luminous and reassuring, with airy musks supporting almond and orange blossom to evoke freshly washed cotton.”
- Key Notes: Bergamot, lemon, green notes, almond, orange blossom, white musk, vanilla
- This Smells Like: Bedsheets fresh out of the wash.
Best Crisp Paper: Diptyque L’Eau Papier Eau de Toilette
Diptyque
L’Eau Papier Eau de Toilette
- Why We Love It: Calling all bookworms and poets—Diptyque’s L’eau Papier is meant to evoke fresh ink on paper. White musk serves as a base, setting the stage for the unique notes that follow, like rice steam, which evoke the crispness of paper. Meanwhile, mimosa (the flower, not the drink) adds subtle sun-drenched florals, while a hint of sesame adds a kick.
- Key Notes: White musk, rice steam accord, mimosa, blonde woods, sesame
- This Smells Like: Reading a hardcover book of poetry.
Best Linen: Byredo Blanche Eau de Parfum
Byredo
Blanche Eau de Parfum
- Why We Love It: One of Byredo’s best-known scents, Blanche, dates back to 2009 and remains a tried-and-true fresh staple. Its clean linen scent is largely due in part to its primary note, aldehyde; though there are soft undertones of blooms such as rose centifolia, peony, and violet. Once the scent dries down, sandalwood and white musks emerge.
- Key Notes: Aldehyde, rose centifolia, peony, violet, musks, sandalwood
- This Smells Like: Laundered linen, still warm from the dryer machine.
Best Zesty: Chanel Chance Eau Fraîche Eau de Parfum
- Why We Love It: Another variety in Chanel’s eau de toilette collection, Eau Fraîche is zesty yet subtle. While the scent is citrus-forward, it’s more like a generous squeeze of lemon in ice water than juicy ripe fruit. Plus, jasmine and teakwood linger on the skin with barely there floral and woodsy notes that last hours after their initial spritz.
- Key Notes: Citron, jasmine, teakwood
- This Smells Like: A sparkling water with lemon during an al fresco lunch.
Best Clean: Le Labo Another 13 Eau De Parfum
Le Labo
Another 13 Eau de Parfum
- Why We Love It: Another 13 is the underdog sibling of Santal 33. Both musky and fresh all at once, the scent blends earthy jasmine petals and moss, contrasted by abroxan and woods. There are hints of pear and apple too, adding a bit of crispness (like biting into the fruit itself). And while technically all fragrance is gender-neutral, Another 13 manages to be a true crowd-pleaser—one also listed in our colognes for men guide.
- Key Notes: Ambrox, musk, amber, jasmine petals, moss, ambrette seeds
- This Smells Like: “What are you wearing?” in a subtle and inviting way.
Best Ethereal: Parfums de Marly Valaya Eau de Parfum
Parfums de Marly
Valaya Eau de Parfum
- Why We Love It: There’s no doubt Parfums de Marly’s Valaya is a Vogue favorite—one that frequently pops up in our fragrance coverage and is name-dropped by experts. The fragrance manages to fall into several categories—from fresh to floral, and even a bit fruity—all of which is done in a truly ethereal manner. “This is one of the most beautiful examples of that second-skin quality scent,” says Trizzino. “Mandarin and white florals add luminosity, while the musk and woods make it feel soft and enveloping. It has presence, but it never feels like it enters the room before you do.”
- Editor’s Experience: “I thought I hated floral fragrances until I met Valaya. The scent is angelic, in a fresh blooming garden way—totally outside of my moody fragrance preference. Yet it’s probably my most consistently complimented perfume, and it compels folks to ask what I’m wearing.” —Conçetta Ciarlo, beauty shopping writer
- Key Notes: Bergamot, mandarin, white peach, orange flower, nymphaea, vetiver, musk.
- This Smells Like: Stepping foot into a blooming garden.
Best Salty: Jo Malone London Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne
Jo Malone London
Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne
- Why We Love It: Wood Sage and Sea Salt is the ultimate barely-there, fresh scent—no surprise, given Jo Malone specializes in simple yet refined fragrances. Aside from aquatic and salty notes, sage evokes driftwood on the shore. Meanwhile, ambrette seeds add slight musky undertones. All of which is so subtle that people would need to come in for a hug to detect.
- Key Notes: Salt, grapefruit, ambrette, sage
- This Smells Like: The ocean breeze on a cloudy and windy day.
Best Lavender: Matiere Premiere Metal Lavender Eau de Parfum
Matiere Premiere
Metal Lavender Eau de Parfum
- Why We Love It: Somehow, Matiere Premiere managed to make Lavender, one of the world’s oldest fragrance ingredients, feel like new and unexpected. That’s thanks to the addition of metal, inspired by the brand’s own metal vats at their Provençe distillation factories, which create lavender oil. The contrast of severity with soothing lavender is further deepened by subtle musk and cashmeran.
- Editor’s Experience Metal Lavender is minimalist and cool like a ’90s It girl who’s a little edgy (think: Angelina Jolie). It’s impossible to explain exactly what metallic notes smell like, but it contrasts beautifully with lavender oil. This is fresh in a non-boring, non-traditional way—which is exactly why I love it. —C.C.
- Key Notes: Lavandin oil grasse, metal, lavender absolute, musk, cashmeran
- This Smells Like: Subtle and severe all at once.
