For some brands, that interpretation means going even further outside the usual gourmand box than adding some nutty notes. In 2025, the appetite for edible notes is set to grow and delve deeper into the kitchen, exploring vegetal and savory ingredients like truffle, tomato leaf, basil, carrot, steamed rice, and even fermented soybeans. Similar to a traditional gourmand, these savory notes evoke a sense of comfort and nostalgia, whether it’s Snif’s take on a piece of pizza with Slice Society (which has notes of basil and tomato sauce) or Eloria capturing the smells of traditional Korean fermented sauces with its Jang Eau de Parfum. These are two very different fragrances, but our experts called out both as being highly experimental and surprisingly wearable. “You smell these types of scents and think, What am I smelling? Why is this familiar?” says Robertet perfumer Arielle Lebeau. “These savory notes add a layer of complexity and interest to a fragrance.”
These scents may not be for everyone but it’s indicative of where the industry is going in 2025 and beyond. “Savory flavors are not exactly romantic, but they’re exciting and they drive newness, fuel editorial storytelling, and reflect the broader trend of fragrance globalization,” says Matlin. “The business isn’t just catering to a Western consumer looking for white florals, but rather a more sophisticated, ‘seasoned’ (no pun intended) client who is open to new ideas and notes.”
Milky fragrances will be spiked with caffeine.
After two years as one of perfume’s most popular categories, milky fragrances are growing up and heading to the coffee shop. “I’m expecting to see this category expanding with new takes on other sweet drinks, from milk teas to lattes and matcha lattes,” says Susan Wai Hnin, founder of Gabar fragrances, who calls d’Annam’s Vietnamese Coffee a perfect example of the trend. With notes of coffee and condensed milk, d’Annam perfectly replicates the smell of Cà Phê Sữa Đá, a traditional Vietnamese drink. Kayali does something similar with Cafe Oud 19, capturing the smell of a creamy cappuccino, while Maison Margiela’s Coffee Break—one of the first milky drink scents, launched in 2019—is a warming and invigorating blend of coffee, milk mousse, and vanilla.
If coffee isn’t your milky drink of choice, there’ll be plenty of other options on the menu in 2025. Gabar’s 05 Lull Eau de Parfum is a soothing black tea scent that smells dreamy, creamy, and utterly romantic. Interest in matcha-inspired perfume is also picking up speed as 2024 comes to an end. Spate tracked a 127.4% increase in search year-over-year for the note on Google, and Lebeau says that many of her clients are asking for matcha scents. While some want the sweet, creamy version of the green tea-based drink, others are requesting the very earthy, bitter smell of pure matcha powder. “It’s interesting from a perfumer’s perspective because matcha is a very complex note to explore,” she says. If you’re looking for one that has more of a milky quality, Obvious Parfums Un Été, which incorporates both vanilla and tonka beans at the base, is a super-photorealistic option.
Expect to get your fill with rice fragrances.
Rice notes are set to be particularly popular in 2025, after the success of Diptyque’s Le Papier and the virality of d’Annam’s White Rice. It’s also one of the easiest notes to experiment with. “A steamed rice accord is soft, comforting, and clean, and will be familiar to many people,” says Sabas. It also smells particularly lovely on the skin when mixed with vanilla or soft woods like sandalwood, adds Lebeau. “These rice fragrances really feel like a new way of exploring the intersection between clean and skin scents,” says content creator Emma B., who adds that her followers are particularly interested in these types of fragrances right now.
Expect stone fruit and cherry scents to mature.
2024 was the year of fruity fragrances. It started with an obsession with strawberry scents, continued over the summer with Ellis Brooklyn’s pink pineapple-y Miami Nectar, and seems to be ending with excitement around cherry eau de parfums courtesy of Sabrina Carpenter’s Cherry Baby. That cherry note signals what we’ll see in 2025.
“Coming off the cherry trend, stone fruits—plums, mangos, peaches, apricots—are going to be really big next year,” says Lebeau. Plum is already being highlighted in many end-of-the-year releases like Marc Jacobs’s Perfect Elixir and Victoria Beckham’s Reverie 21:50, although my (and all of TikTok, it seems) current favorite plum scent is NOYZ Unmute, which is one part fruit fragrance, one part gourmand (classic and new, thanks to vanilla and pistachio), and all around intoxicating.
If you want to get ahead of the trend, there are already some amazing stone fruit-inspired fragrances out there. Eau So Vert’s Fruto Oscuro features two stone fruits native to Mexico—Mexican black cherry and zapote—and is unlike any fruity fragrance we’ve ever smelled. It’s somehow dark, syrupy, smoky, and tart all at the same time. Vilhelm Parfumerie’s Mango Skin smells like a super-fresh, ripe mango (versus something you might slurp down from Jamba Juice), while Tom Ford’s Bitter Peach is a classic in the category, bursting with notes of ripened peach, bright blood orange, and earthy patchouli.
Florals are ready to make their comeback.
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