Winter fragrances

Fragrances wearers report reaching for most often in winter, counted from published wearer votes.

These are counted from wearer votes at the venues each fragrance cites, not a recommendation from Scentorian. The first group is fragrances whose votes concentrate on winter. The second is fragrances worn right through the year, winter among them, whose votes never settled on one season. Weather, skin and how much you apply all change what a fragrance does.

Most often worn in winter — 56 fragrances

1 Million Eau de Toilette

Rabanne — Riot police could use it in place of stun grenades, one reviewer proposed in 2013: a fixture of late-2000s nightclubs, candied orange and cinnamon on a sweet, leathery amber.

A City on Fire Eau de Parfum

Imaginary Authors — A struck match, sulphur and all, and then the bonfire: wearers describe smoke that gets into hair and clothes, with a hint of dark berries if you go looking.

Alien Eau de Parfum

Mugler — Current bottles project strongly and persist, by many wearers' accounts, with jasmine sambac in the lead and warm cashmeran and amber behind it..

Angel Eau de Parfum

Mugler — The house's note list places caramelized cotton candy, praline and honey between bergamot and a vanilla-patchouli base.

Angels' Share Eau de Parfum

Kilian Paris — Cognac and oak with cinnamon, praline, tonka and vanilla: sweet and woody, and for many wearers it projects strongly for several hours..

Arabie Eau de Parfum

Serge Lutens — Dense dried fruit and cumin, with a dark, sticky sweetness and savoury spice.

Aromatics Elixir Eau de Parfum Spray

Clinique — Earthy patchouli and oakmoss carry dry, bitter-green flowers, and that mossiness reads as deep and woody to some reviewers, austere and medicinal to others..

Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum

Maison Francis Kurkdjian — Opinion splits hard between captivating and cloying on this spun-sugar-and-saffron scent, laid over a vast ambergris-and-dry-wood accord that some noses read as medicinal or metallic.

Bee Extrait de Parfum

Zoologist — Honey built without honey: the house uses beeswax and a royal-jelly accord, and wearers describe waxy, golden florals, mimosa and orange flower, over benzoin and vanilla.

Black Afgano Extrait de Parfum

Nasomatto — Dense resins and dark woods, with impressions of incense, tobacco and burnt coffee.

Black Opium Eau de Parfum

Yves Saint Laurent — Sweet coffee and vanilla, with white flowers in the background.

Breath of God Perfume

Lush — Two perfumes in one bottle, and wearers can feel the seam: cold air, melon and citrus drifting over temple smoke and sandalwood.

Cape Heartache Eau de Parfum

Imaginary Authors — Conifer woods and pine resin with a softer vanilla accent.

Civet Extrait de Parfum

Zoologist — The name promises a zoo.

Dark Eau de Parfum

Akro — Dry, bitter cocoa with cinnamon and hazelnut.

Eau Rihla Eau de Parfum

Diptyque — Raspberry against leather, and wearers argue about which wins: jammy fruit and pink pepper over a soft, woody leather that reminds some of a new car seat or a good handbag.

Encre Noire Eau de Toilette

Lalique — Here cypress and vetiver come across as damp earth, roots, bark and smoke, above softer wood and musk, though some catch a cleaner, almost minty green.

Fahrenheit Eau de Toilette

Dior — Mandarin, green violet and smoky leather, with an opening wearers keep likening to petrol or hot rubber.

Fantosmia Eau de Parfum

Jorum Studio — Dense and slightly medicinal to many wearers, drawing closer as it settles: pepper, pimento and fennel, green shiso and mate, over tobacco and leather..

Good Girl Eau de Parfum

Carolina Herrera — Tuberose and jasmine with coffee, cocoa and a warm almond-tonka base.

Gucci Rush Eau de Toilette

Gucci — Creamy peach, gardenia and vanilla over mossy patchouli, with the strong projection and long wear that wearers commonly report..

Hwyl

Aesop — Dry thyme and elemi, wood dust and incense.

Hypnotic Poison Eau de Toilette

Dior — Almond and vanilla with an anise edge that wearers keep naming as root beer, licorice or marzipan; Play-Doh comes up so often it works as a fit test.

Insolence Eau de Parfum

Guerlain — Violet in its loudest form: owners reach for Parma-violet sweets, grape candy and lipstick powder, with red berries and orange blossom behind it.

Jeux de Peau Eau de Parfum

Serge Lutens — Bread comes up in nearly every report: warm crust, toast and butter, then apricot jam, licorice and sandalwood as it dries down.

Jungle L'Éléphant Eau de Parfum

Kenzo — Clove and cardamom announce it before anything else, and wearers keep reaching for Christmas: mulled spice, potpourri, a scented candle, with mango and liquorice folded into a vanilla and patchouli base.

Kouros Eau de Toilette

Yves Saint Laurent — Soap and sweat in the same breath: clove and carnation over a musky, animal warmth that owners liken to clean bedsheets and, less kindly, to a urinal cake.

La Vie Est Belle Eau de Parfum

Lancôme — Strong projection and long wear are the norm in reviewers' reports of this sweet, powdery iris on a prominent patchouli base..

Like This Eau de Parfum

Etat Libre d'Orange — Pumpkin and ginger as warm, savoury vegetables and spice, with bright tangerine at the start.

Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum

Tom Ford — Cherry liqueur and bitter almond up front, then rose, jasmine, warm tonka and balsam.

Loulou Eau de Parfum

Cacharel — Purple, spiced and unmistakably of the eighties: a sweet floral with powder and a dense vanilla heart that wearers have come back to for decades.

Mitsouko

Guerlain — Soft peach against earthy patchouli and moss, with citrus and spice sharpening the opening.

Moth Extrait de Parfum

Zoologist — Dust, honey and smoke: wearers describe an old wardrobe opened after years, powdery flowers and burnt honey, once a loud spice-cabinet opening has passed, which some read as medicinal or metallic.

N°5 Eau de Parfum

Chanel — This is the fuller 1986 Eau de Parfum, and wearers speak of it on its own terms: the aldehydic sparkle first, then rose, jasmine and ylang-ylang settling over a soft vanilla warmth.

No. 02 L'Air du Désert Marocain

Tauer Perfumes — Heat held in stone is how many owners put it: coriander and cumin over rock rose, cedar and vetiver, drying to incense-like smoke and mineral dust.

Obsession for Women Eau de Parfum

Calvin Klein — Warm spice, amber and musk, sometimes with a powdery or incense-like haze: the spicy amber its long-time owners still reach for.

Ombré Leather Eau de Parfum

Tom Ford — Dry leather with flashes of floral and cardamom.

Oscar Eau de Toilette

Oscar de la Renta — A classic floral with a barbershop streak: clove and lavender run through it, soapy, faintly smoky and sweet.

Oud for Greatness Eau de Parfum

Initio Parfums Privés — Very strong early projection and long persistence are what many reviewers report from this saffron-and-lavender oud, smooth and sweet, though some accounts describe weaker wear..

Oud Maracujá Extrait de Parfum

Maison Crivelli — Passion fruit you can almost taste, sweet, tart and a little bitter, then a leathery rose and oud with vanilla underneath: that is the arc most wearers describe, and it lasts.

Pistachio Eau de Parfum

D.S. & Durga — Green pistachio, sugar and cardamom against earthy patchouli.

Portrait of a Lady Eau de Parfum

Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle — Rose and patchouli with clove, tart fruit and frankincense, in a texture many reviewers call rich; they also describe it projecting strongly and lasting long..

Replica By the Fireplace Eau de Toilette

Maison Margiela — Chestnut and clove with dry, slightly tarry guaiac and cade smoke, sweetened by vanilla and balsam as it settles.

Sacred Scarab Extrait de Parfum

Zoologist — Lemon and aldehydes fizz like a freshly opened bottle of wine, then the room goes dark: resins, dried fruit, myrrh and a musky, animal warmth that some wear as ritual incense.

Salome Eau de Parfum

Papillon Artisan Perfumes — Jasmine and rose with the lights turned down: cumin, honeyed musk and a warm animalic purr that wearers compare to Bal à Versailles and other vintage chypres.

Shalimar Eau de Parfum

Guerlain — To some reviewers the sharp bergamot opening reads rubbery or animalic before the softer vanilla arrives; beneath it lie powdery vanilla and tonka, smoky leather and resin..

Snowy Owl Extrait de Parfum

Zoologist — Cold rather than sweet: wearers describe snow, cold stone, chalky iris and the water left in a vase, with mint and a little coconut lotion at the edges.

Tabu Eau de Cologne

Dana — Spice, smoke and patchouli settling into a dusty, grown-up powder: soft as baby powder on some skins, loud, dry and faintly dirty on others, with an animal streak that one reviewer could not wait to shower off.

Tank Battle Perfume

Lush — Bubblegum dropped on wet soil: that collision is what nearly everyone reports, with metal, damp concrete and clove turning up often and cola or beetroot now and then.

Tobacco Vanille Eau de Parfum

Tom Ford — Tobacco leaf, vanilla, dried fruit and cocoa with warm spice.

Tonnerre Eau de Parfum

BeauFort London — Gunpowder, brandy and charred wood after a brief citrus opening, as wearers tell it, with birch tar adding a smoked-meat impression before it settles toward salt and ash..

Unknown Pleasures Eau de Parfum

Kerosene — Earl Grey and lemon show early, reviewers notice, then a warmer, sweeter pastry of caramel, vanilla and waffle cone takes over..

Vanilla | 28 Eau de Parfum

KAYALI — Sweet vanilla and brown sugar after a jasmine opening, with patchouli and amber giving the drydown an earthier edge.

White Diamonds

Elizabeth Taylor — A large, bright floral bouquet that grows softer and more powdery as it settles.

Woodcut Parfum

Olympic Orchids — Fresh-cut lumber, and specifically so: wearers describe sawn boards, sap, bark and the hot-metal smell of a saw, like a lumber yard or the wood aisle of a hardware store.

Youth-Dew Eau de Parfum

Estée Lauder — Dense cinnamon, clove, dark flowers and balsams, with patchouli giving a spiced-cola effect.

Winter fragrances

Most often worn in winter — 56 fragrances

Worn across the year, winter included — 23 fragrances