I've always been someone who loves perfumes and fragrances. Often when people talk about finishing an outfit with a cherry on top, they're thinking about shoes or a great pair of sunglasses. And while those are important parts of an outfit, the real cherry on top is a great fragrance.
Your scent says just as much about you as your outfit choice. I love fragrance so much that I carry a travel-size perfume in my purse everywhere I go. I'm a firm believer in mixing perfumes too. Certain brands, such as Jo Malone London, have scents designed to be mixed and matched across the entire collection. Personally, I love the combination of Wood Sage & Sea Salt with English Pear & Freesia. But currently, I'm wearing a mix of Rose 31 from Le Labo and Miss Dior's Absolutely Blooming. They balance each other well because the Le Labo is a little smoky and masculine while the Dior is light and sweet.
Certain fragrances gain the attention of fragrance lovers and become cult favorites. Some that immediately come to my mind are Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Baccarat Rouge or Le Labo's Santal 33. But whenever I hear about a new fragrance everyone can't get enough of, I have to wait and judge it for myself. I have high standards for perfume and need to really love a scent to justify spending money on it, especially considering that great fragrances aren't cheap.
For me to invest in a fragrance, it has to check four boxes. First, it has to last a long time (for me, that's at least five to six months). Second, it has to be sweet but not overwhelmingly so that you would mistake me for a high-school cheer captain. It has to be a little woodsy or smoky but not so much so you'd mistake me for someone's grandfather. And finally, it has to have character and personality.
I rounded up the 30 fragrances I believe are worth the hype to be called "cult favorites." including my current favorites, which sit on my vanity while I write this.
Keep scrolling to see which fragrances made the cut.
This perfume is one I'm wearing right now and can't get enough of. It's a strong perfume, so I usually only need one or two sprays of it, and I always mix it with a sweeter scent.
This perfume is a classic and is always a good choice. There are a few variations of the Miss Dior fragrance, but Absolutely Blooming is my favorite. This scent is definitely on the sweeter side. I mix it with Rose 31 from Le Labo, but it's also amazing on its own.
Lately, I've been reaching for this perfume all the time. It's so mysterious and dreamy. I think this might be one of my new favorites.
If you haven't tried Santal 33, you're missing out. There's a reason this is everyone's favorite scent. "I'd take a bath in this scent if I could afford it," one reviewer said. "I hope I'm buried with a bottle when I die." I'd have to agree.
This Prada perfume took TikTok by storm, and when I first got my hands on it, I could immediately see why. It's a warm floral perfume that's super long-lasting.
All of my most fashionable friends can't get enough of this perfume. I just got my hands on it a few weeks ago, and I have to say, I understand the hype. Whenever I have this on, I get asked what perfume I'm wearing. It's a woody scent with notes of bergamot, lemon, pepper, and juniper berries.
This perfume smells exactly like you just stuck your nose in a rosebud. I also love that it comes in a candle. If you're a fan of smelling like a rose, I've found your new favorite perfume.
One of our beauty editors said she'd bathe in this scent if she could. So yeah, it's good.
This light and floral scent is one of my favorite scents from Jo Malone London. I recommend mixing it with Wood Sage & Sea Salt.
Wood Sage & Sea Salt is another favorite scent of mine from Jo Malone. This one is great to mix with a lighter, more floral scent because it's on the muskier side.
This warm woody scent is a favorite in the Who What Wear office.
This scent was inspired by the smell of water on a woman's skin. It's light and clean, and the bottle looks like a work of art.
This scent has won me over. I've been wearing this nonstop since I got it. It blends nicely with Rose 31 from Le Labo. While I'm new to trying Byredo, I love the scents I have tried so far.
It should come as no surprise that this perfume smells just like bergamot.
I just got my hands on this, and I have to say I absolutely love how it smells. It smells romantic, floral, and rich. Exactly how I like to smell.
Libre is a classic Saint Laurent perfume. I have smelled it a few times but never owned a bottle myself. It's on the floral side and is light enough to layer with other scents but still smells great on its own. I'm into it.
There's a reason this is one of the more popular Margiela scents. It smells so fresh and comforting. It's a great everyday perfume.
Tom Ford's Lost Cherry is hands down a fan favorite. It's a strong scent that's warm, sultry, and, to be honest, delicious.
This one is a fan favorite for so many reasons. I reach for this whenever I'm going on a vacation. It smells like a tropical dream and instantly transports me to a sandy beach.
This one is for those who like a woody scent or those who want a woody scent in their collection.
Senior Who What Wear editor Anna LaPlaca says this perfume is her new go-to for everyday wear. It smells so clean and light that I think I need to get my hands on it myself.
I was so impressed when I first tried this perfume and have loved it ever since. It's a sensual fragrance designed for the modern woman. What's not to love?
Inspired by the Mojave Desert, this is one of Byredo's most popular scents.
My sister swears by this perfume. I have this scent in a candle, and it smells amazing. It's so cozy, and I also love the price point.
This is my second perfume from Parfums de Marly, and I love it so much. It's sensual and warm but still light and a bit on the sweet side. It's a great date night option if you ask me.
This perfume is inspired by the mix of roses in Ford's private rose garden, and who doesn't want to smell like that?
One of our editors has fallen in love with this scent. I haven't tried Ouai perfumes before, but now I think I must.
Flowerbomb is one of those perfumes everyone has tried and either loves or hates. I'm in the camp of loving it. It's super floral (hence the name) with a mix of cattleyas, freesia, sambac jasmine, and rose perfumes.
Bloom is one of Gucci's classic floral perfumes. I've smelled it many times, and you really can't go wrong with it.
This was my roommate in college's favorite perfume, so I'm always nostalgic when I smell it. This scent has been around forever and is one I'll always love. It's on the sweetly sultry side.
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