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Spring is the perfect time to explore fragrances. From designer to niche, they celebrate the shift from gray, rainy days to sunshine, fresh blooms, and earthy greens. Fragrances will complement your spring fashion whether you want to smell musky for your blue, baggy jeans or airy florals for your pastel sweaters and long, white skirts.
Beyond fashion, scents wafting through our everyday lives mark memories of changes, emotions, and places. For this reason, the olfactory system serves as a unique place to artistically explore various facets of our identity. For example, as Tracy Wan points out in her article “The Hidden World of Scents Outside Your Door,” it is valuable to hone into scents around you and tap into your sense of smell. She references Tolaas, an olfactory artist who explores scents as units of data by capturing them in aluminum cans. Tolaas analyzed Mexico city’s air pollution in her exhibit Talking Nose, and similarly, visitors could smell collected scents representing Singaporean youth identity in her exhibit Eau D’You Who Am I.
With that in mind, I invite you to explore your identity and taste through some of these gorgeous spring fragrances!
Note: Although these fragrances can be bought directly from respective brand websites, you can find full bottles at department stores like John Lewis & Partners or Harvey Nichols. You can also find decants or bottles deeply discounted on sites like thefragranceshop.co.uk or ebay.co.uk at prices better suited to students. Finally, monthly subscription services like sniph.co.uk provide fun, travel-size fragrances to try before you commit to a full bottle.
Best Pink Floral Fragrance
Ex Nihilo Lust in Paradise– “a girl who likes to read books and wear pastel colors” – @smelllikestuart
Nothing says spring more than floral fragrances, and Lust in Paradise, a scent beloved by Hailey Beiber, is a golden, floral scent with top notes of pink pepper, peony, and lychee fruit, warmed by a white musk and cedar base. As described by @aroomwithperfume, it is a fresh, peony scent that smells like a “natural and realistic big, deep inhale of dew covered roses and peonies” with strong projection. Lust in Paradise will make you think of a warm, spring holiday, perhaps in the South of France. The main downside to this perfume is its priciness.
Best White Floral Fragrance
House of Bo La Mar– “a mermaid in a bottle” – @carolinemstern
La Mar is an elegant, aquatic white floral fragrance perfect for spring and the cusp of summer. With notes of seawater, gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, and a base of coconut and almond milk, the scent is reminiscent of a beach vacation. Bernardo Moller, the creator, explains he wanted to recreate the smell of one’s skin after diving into the ocean while wearing an exquisite, floral perfume. Similarly, many note that while coconut can be an overpowering note, it is well-blended in La Mar, creating an airy perfume underlined with a slight romantic creaminess as pointed out by @carolinemstern. It is the perfect scent to manifest the quick arrival of summer—worth the splurge (@carolinemstern).
Best Citrus Floral
Ormonde Jayne Levant– a girl who loves flowy white linen pants and wants to go to Greece
Ormonde Jayne Levant is the perfect spring, citrus floral infused with sun-bathed mandarins and bergamot. As described by @perfumewithemily, it is breezy with a “wispy sponge sugar like effect” that leaves you smelling like “bottled happiness.” This fragrance has a definite crispness to it, with many describing it as a fresh, clean white t-shirt and jeans or having a fresh out-of-the-shower feel.
Best Solar Floral Fragrance
Mizensir Solar Blossom– a girl who just wants to read in a flower field
One of my personal favorites, Solar Blossom, is a white floral and orange blossom perfume with a vanilla absolute base note that truly smells like bottled sunlight. When I first smelled it, it reminded me of flowers bursting with life under warm sunlight, leaving a lingering airy sweetness all around. As it develops on the skin, more layers emerge like its “green touch” as described by @scentedtherapy. Solar Blossom is for girls who love spring dresses, long white skirts, farmers markets, and who want to spend the day reading in a garden chair in the sunlight barefoot.
Best Rose Fragrance
Parfum de Marly Delina La Rosée – a girl who loves all things rose
Rose is an emblem of spring! Although Delina La Rosée is trendy and definitively rose dominant, its gorgeous lychee and pear top notes give the fragrance a unique and distinctive depth. As described by @larisabucur14, Delina La Rosée smells like rose water or a bath full of roses coupled with the scent of “freshly washed pears and a picnic on a warm day” (@gracie_jeany), who also jokes that the perfume smells very demure. Covered in Roses from Bath and Body Works also is a notorious popular dupe for the expensive PDM fragrance on TikTok.
Best Orange Blossom/Neroli Fragrance
Le Labo Fleur d’Oranger 27– a girl in jeans and a crisp, white shirt strolling through a major city on a sunny spring afternoon
Fleur d’Oranger 27 is a gorgeous orange blossom scent with a distinctive creaminess and an almost bitter, green undertone reminiscent of an actual orange tree. It is a relatively simple perfume with four notes, including orange blossom, petitgrain, bergamot, and lemon, making it a classic orange blossom perfume. Although it is a fresh, citrus perfume, its hints of bitterness are perfect for city girls.
Best Lilac Fragrance
Fragonard Lilas – “a garden fairy” @estherprocrasinates
Fragonard Lilas is a realistic and fresh lilac fragrance at an incredible price (it can be found in M&S for only £22) with incredibly high ratings. The fragrance is described by the brand as “a symbol of spring freshness” that harmoniously combines sweet florals with green and spicy undertones. @estherprocrasinates describes the scent perfectly as having a green, garden fairy vibe, encapsulating an entire bouquet of flowers from the lush lilac to the “green starchy stem.” I imagine this on a girl who loves the bitter earthiness of matcha, has a green thumb, and plays guitar.
Best Fruity Fragrance
Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pera Granita– a girl who just wants to eat sorbet in Florence
Pera Granita is another one of my personal favorite perfumes. On top of coming in a beautifully crafted bottle reminiscent of a bee hive, the grapefruit fragrance is intended to translate directly into a cool pear sorbet melting in your mouth on a warm day. Its fruity top notes of grapefruit, lemon, and bergamot blend perfectly with its floral middle notes of orange blossom, osmanthus, and hedione, crafting a delicate and balanced floral yet fruity scent. Although some believe the fragrance lacks depth, it is light, sweet, and reminiscent of the faint hint of blossoms in the spring air. Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria line is relatively affordable compared to some other lines in the fragrance world.
Best Fresh Citrus Fragrance
Hermés Un Jardin Sur Le Nil– a girl who wants to climb mountains and swim in a river
Hermés Un Jardin Sur Le Nil is a truly unique French designer perfume with sparkly top notes of grapefruit, green mango, tomato leaf, and carrot with middle notes of lotus, orange, peony, hyacinth, and bulrush alongside a musky cinnamon base note. It has a spicy, earthy and soft aquatic smell that complements its floral notes perfectly. It smells like a green tomato plant after a spring rain or a free flowing river with deep blue and green hues in the French countryside. It would suit someone who is down to earth, loves to travel and journal, wants to climb mountains, and swim in a river. This fragrance can often be found for less than £75.
Best Citrus Tea Fragrance
Liis Ethereal wave – a girl drinking iced tea lemonade on a sunny porch in her pjs
Ethereal Wave is a lovely scent with black tea, white tea, bergamot, blonde woods, and cardamom notes. It is a gentle fresh scent reminiscent of spring greenery while also reminiscent of warm tea with a splash of honey. It is perfect for girls who are homebodies and love wearing light, cozy clothes while reading poetry books and drinking iced tea on her front porch.
Best Green Floral Fragrance
Etat Libre d’Orange You or Someone Like You – a girl who loves to feel green and fresh
You or Someone Like You is a green, citrusy fragrance with subtle floral notes. It has top notes of mint, grapefruit, and bergamot and a base of white musk. Light rose and hedione notes give it a spring feel. It is the freshest fragrance on this list and perfect for someone who does not care for strong floral notes. It smells like an early morning walk in a dewy forest just after you have showered.
Whichever scent you choose, you’re certain to enjoy exploring different facets of your identity as you delve into the enriching world of spring fragrances!