There may come a time this month when you realise that your winter fragrance has given you the cold shoulder.
A scent that felt like a cosseting cuddle last week may start to feel a bit clingy, like a woolly jumper on the tube at rush hour when your rucksack is too heavy.
Perhaps you have been spritzing a sultry oud all winter. You’ve been collecting compliments like they are going out of fashion, but now it’s starting to feel ill-placed. Or maybe that silken gourmand that you love is beginning to smell a bit boudoir. Spring friskiness is more for lambs than love-ins.
If this is ringing true it is likely that your perfume just, like your wardrobe, needs a refresh. Don’t worry. It’s nothing sinister. The new season needs it. We’ve endured months of damp, dark, dismal hibernation and now it’s time to throw open the windows and bury our faces in blossom.
Let us not forget too the transformative power of scent. A great fragrance doesn’t just make you smell good - it has the power to shift your persona as well. To uplift, energise, reboot, even reinvent. So - should you wish - you could choose to seize this seasonal switch as an excuse to become someone entirely new. How fun!
JO MALONE LONDON Beach Blossom Cologne
Blue skies, white sandy Seychelles shores and a beach bar in the distance. Take a trip via this refreshing, splashy, and sadly limited edition blend of coconut, mint, lime and almond.
£86 for 50ml at cultbeauty.com
ESTÉE LAUDER Bronze Goddess Aegea limited edition
What is summer without a novel incarnation of the Bronze Goddess franchise? This year’s offering is mouth-wateringly good, with bergamot, jasmine, fig nectar and creamy coconut milk. Take me to the beach…
£70 for 50ml, from April 24, esteelauder.co.uk
CHANEL Chance Eau Splendide
Masterminded by Olivier Polge, Chanel’s in-house perfumer, this — the fifth addition to the Chance line-up — is the fruitiest yet. Expect raspberry, rose, violet and geranium grown at the Chanel fields in Grasse.
From £109 for 50ml, chanel.com
ACQUA DI PARMA Buongiorno
Few things say summer like Acqua di Parma’s iconic scents. This time we’re off to Tuscany. Basil, mandarin leaves, cedarwood and amber conjure up verdant vistas, bare feet, burrata for lunch and the early morning sun on your skin. From £143 for 50ml, acquadiparma.com
GIVENCHY La Collection Particulière L’Enfant Terrible
A tribute to the bold, creative aristocrat Hubert de Givenchy and his garden, this bold beauty blends bergamot, ginger, black tea, and cedarwood. Warm, smoky, and unapologetically unconventional - just like the man himself.
£240 for 100ml (givenchybeauty.com)
BALMAIN BEAUTY Blanc Galaxie
A celebration of all things citrus with cédrat, buddha’s hand, bergamot, vert de mandarine and lime, Balmain Beauty’s latest launch delivers all the zing and zest you’d expect, but with an irresistible creamy softness, thanks to the addition of magnolia.
£195 for 50ml at selfridges.com
JO LOVES Pomelo Oud
Pomelo, Jo Malone CBE’s debut for Jo Loves, was inspired by beach walks in the Turks & Caicos. Now, she celebrates her move to Dubai with Pomelo Oud - a luxe twist that wraps the original’s zesty vibe in an opulent oud embrace.
£136 for 100ml (joloves.com)
GLOSSIER You Fleur
Dora Baghriche (co-creator of Glossier You), took the helm for Glossier’s first foray into florals, tasked with getting us to rethink the category. Don’t expect sniff a specific flower here, this ethereal, undeniably beautiful eau is concerned with being unrecognisable almost nondescript.
£70 for 50ml from 27th March (uk.glossier.com)
FFERN Spring 25
Producing thoughtful, limited edition fragrance runs in Somerset, Ffern’s offerings celebrate the best of British. Violet and daffodil scatter a woodland glade this time around. A perfect spring scene. And smell.
£99 for 32ml from 20th March (ffern.co)
LA PYAE Catch Me if you Fall
The first scent from beauty journalist Kathleen Baird-Murray, this is a softly spoken, elegant eau with with sandalwood, white flowers, iris and jasmine inspired by Myanmar. 9 years in the making it is well worth the wait.
£185 for 50ml (https://lapyae.com/)
LIIS Floating
Made in California, Liis scents are designed to be worn as a second skin. This peach bergamot and orchid brew will help you drift elegant and serene through even difficult days.
£141.90 for 50ml at (50ml.co.uk)
BYREDO Blanche Absolu
An ode to fresh, crisp linens, soft skin and human touch, Byredo Blanche debuted in 2009 and has remained one of the brand's most beloved scents. This intensified incarnation amps up all of the joy with extra aldehydic ooof and muskiness a plenty.
£190 for 50ml (byredo.com)
