They say the eyes eat first, but before we even see what we are eating, we often enjoy its aroma. The scent of a beloved dish, such as the gooey chocolate chip cookies your mom would pull out of the oven after school or the malty almond granita you had for breakfast while on vacation in Sicily, can evoke feelings of pleasure, happiness, and nostalgia. So it’s no surprise that gourmand perfumes and fragrances inspired by the edible world have skyrocketed in popularity. These scents lean on the extracts, essential oils, and notes of ingredients like vanilla, honey, coffee, fruit, and even aged soy sauce.
Food-inspired fragrances offer a big departure from more traditional floral, amber, and fresh scents, which rely on more botanical elements; a great gourmand will conjure olfactory memories of not just what amazing things you’ve smelled before, but tasted. Gourmand perfumes gained mainstream popularity in the 1990s, thanks largely in part to Thierry Mugler’s Angel, which smells of praline, red fruits, and vanilla. But they have been around for over a century, with many crediting Guerlain’s Shalimar — formulated a century ago, in 1925, and known for its generous use of vanilla — as the first.
Describing perfume is a lot like describing wine, or a complex dish; but instead of flavor notes, you have scent notes, or accords. The best fragrances, like the best dishes, are layered with lots of depth, which help make them memorable. These are the 14 best gourmand perfumes that will make you smell as good as your favorite foods taste.
For a fresh, subtly delicious scent: White Rice by d’Annam
There is nothing quite as comforting as freshly cooked white jasmine rice, a symbol of livelihood in Vietnam, where perfume house d’Annam originates. On the skin, the scent has a slightly sweet and gently nutty aroma — like a perfectly cooked bowl of rice. It’s a part of d’Annam’s collection dedicated to the elements of Vietnamese heritage, which also includes scents like Vietnamese Coffee and Pho Breakfast.
Pistachio-scented fragrances had quite the moment last year, and this one from Kayali is one of the best. Founder Mona Kattan was inspired by a trip to Rome to create a perfume based off of one of her favorite desserts: pistachio gelato. This scent is for people who love a sweeter perfume, with its notes of pistachio and hazelnut, but also sugary ice cream toppings like whipped cream, marshmallow, and even cotton candy.
