The fall season evokes memories of Friday football games, backyard bonfires, twilight trick-or-treating and orchard apple picking. Few things truly capture that autumnal essence like fragrances.
From warm and woody aromas to sweet and spicy scents, we’ve picked 25 perfumes and colognes you can harvest this fall.
Unisex Scents
We love a fragrance with some universal appeal, and both fall and winter scents are full of these options.
While any perfume or cologne can be worn by anyone, fruity and floral fragrances tend to be marketed toward women while leather, spice, and tobacco notes get pushed toward men. As fall is full of warm, crisp, spicy and earthy aromas, there is a lot more overlap with traditional options into the unisex scent category.
To start, you can’t go wrong with one of our favorites: Maison Margiela’s Replica By The Fireplace. While Autumn Vibes might be the natural go-to this season, we prefer By The Fireplace for its smoky wood scent and touch of vanilla for a hint of sweetness. Imagine s’mores by a campfire rather than a walk through the woods.
By The Fireplace starts with notes of clove, pink pepper and orange blossom, followed by a heart of chestnut, guaiac wood, and juniper. It dries to base notes of vanilla, Peru balsam and cashmeran, highlighting its woody, sweet and spicy accords with just a bit of powdery and muskiness.
More spicy scents include Juliette Has A Gun’s Ode To Dullness, Byredo’s Black Saffron, and Frederic Malle’s Musc Ravageur.
Ode To Dullness is a warm and spicy aroma with main accords of wood, star anise and soft spice. Both oriental spicy scents, Black Saffron features leather and wood with fruity touches while Musc Ravageur has more warm spices with vanilla and powdery notes.
There are also plenty of fragrances that feature vanilla any gender can enjoy.
For something that smells good enough to eat there’s Demeter’s Pumpkin Pie, and Bond No. 9’s New York Nights punches it up with notes of caramel and coffee with its warm spices. For more nutty notes, Jo Malone London’s English Oak & Hazelnut is ideal with is yummy hazelnut and woody scent.
Fragrance Notes
Ode To Dullness
Cashmere wood, sandalwood, star anise, tonka bean
Black Saffron
Top: saffron, juniper berries, Chinese grapefruit
Middle: leather, black violet
Base: raspberry, cashmeran, vetiver
Musc Ravageur
Top: Lavender, tangerine, bergamot, coriander, neroli
Middle: cinnamon, cloves, rose, orris root, osmanthus
Base: musk, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, sandalwood, guaiac wood, cedar, animal notes, patchouli
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin, wheat, sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger
New York Nights
Top: gardenia, carnation, jasmine
Middle: patchouli, flowers, sandalwood, sea notes
Base: caramel, coffee
Feminine Fragrances
For women, some perfumes that can’t go wrong range from warm and spicy bouquets like Carolina Herrera’s Nightfall Patchouli, Xerjoff’s Bouquet Ideale, and Chanel’s Coco Noir, feminine fragrances like Tom Ford’s Café Rose, Burberry’s Goddess, and Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre Intense, or sweet scents like Hermes’ L’Ambre des Merveilles, Ariana Grande’s Mod Vanilla, and Dedcool’s Fragrance 01 – Taunt.
Following that vanilla trend above all others are Burberry’s Goddess, Hermes’ L’Ambre des Merveilles and Ariana Grande’s Mod Vanilla. From top to bottom, Goddess features vanilla throughout its scent story. L’Ambre des Merveilles is a strong mix of amber with vanilla. Mod Vanilla dries to vanilla in the base and is accented with cacao butter and praline notes.
For fall fragrances with hints of florals, Tom Ford’s Café Rose combines Turkish and Bulgarian rose with ylang-ylang and warm notes of coffee and wood with spices. and Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre Intense is full of lavender and other floral notes touched with vanilla and citrus. Floral and green, Dedcool’s Fragrance 01 – Taunt is a vanilla scent combined with powdery florals, rich amber, and aquatic accords.
No list of autumn perfumes is complete without woody fragrances like Carolina Herrera’s Nightfall Patchouli, Xerjoff’s Bouquet Ideale and Chanel’s Coco Noir. A spicy and woody scent, Nightfall Patchouli is warmed with cinnamon and amber. Oriental woody fragrances, Bouquet Ideale packs powerful punches of warm wood and spices of cinnamon and nutmeg with sweet vanilla while Coco Noir brightens its warm spices and wood with fresh, fruity citrus and light florals.
Fragrance Notes
Nightfall Patchouli
Indonesian patchouli leaf, cinnamon, benzoin
Bouquet Ideale
Top: cinnamon, nutmeg
Middle: guaiac wood, sandalwood, Virginia cedar, papyrus
Base: vanille, coumarin, tobacco blossom, fresh labdanum, musk
Coco Noir
Top: grapefruit, bergamot, orange
Middle: rose, geranium, jasmine, narcissus, peach
Base: patchouli, sandalwood, olibanum, tonka bean, vanille, white musk, cloves, benzoin
Café Rose
Top: Turkish rose, black coffee
Middle: Bulgarian rose, ylang-ylang, patchouli, cardamom, coriander
Base: frankincense, sandalwood
Libre Intense
Top: lavender, mandarin orange, bergamot
Middle: lavender, Tunisian orange blossom, jasmine sambac, orchid
Base: Madagascar vanilla, tonka bean, ambergris, vetiver
L’Ambre des Merveilles
Amber, vanilla, labdanum, patchouli
Masculine Musks
For guys, colognes to capture the cozy comfort of fall include aromatic aromas like Guerlain’s L’Homme Ideal, John Varvatos’ Vintage, and Valentino’s Valentino Uomo Born In Roma, warm and spicy scents like DOLCE & GABBANA’s The One For Men, Carolina Herrera’s Bad Boy Extreme, and Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male Le Parfum, or a subtle sweetness with Tom Ford’s Private Blend Tobacco Vanille, Mont Blanc’s Legend, and Versace’s Eros Flame.
Another favorite, John Varvatos’ Vintage combines with the skin’s scent to create a mouthwatering aroma. A woody chypre fragrance, this EDT is aromatic with fresh spices, warm woods and sweet scents touched with smoky and rich leather and tobacco.
A sophisticated yet sensuous spray, it’s not only aromatic, warm and woody, but it asserts a strong masculine vibe with its core of spices and leather. This is accentuated by the flask-shaped bottle wrapped in handcrafted leather—the epitome of rugged elegance.
Both Mont Blanc’s Legend and Versace’s Eros Flame are warm and woody but feature main accords of fruity fragrances. Along with sandalwood and oak moss, Legend combines bright pineapple, bergamot and red apple with aromatic florals of lavender, geranium and rose. The woody spice of Eros Flame is broken with citrusy lemon and mandarin orange, sweet vanilla, patchouli and tonka beans, plus spicy pepper and rosemary and light florals of geranium and rose.
Other woody aromas include mineral, ozonic and aromatic Valentino’s Valentino Uomo Born In Roma and the warmly spiced DOLCE & GABBANA’s The One For Men with its additions of aromatic accords, warm amber, and citrus. A slight diversion from the woody colognes is Carolina Herrera’s Bad Boy Extreme with warm spices, amber and cacao plus plum and smoke.
Finally, let’s feature the vanilla-forward fragrances of Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male Le Parfum and Tom Ford’s Private Blend Tobacco Vanille. Warm and spicy, Le Male Le Parfum dries to its woody and vanilla base while balancing out with florals, and the Private Blend Tobacco Vanille is sweet with vanilla and dried fruits while adding its own spice with tobacco and woods plus creamy tonka and cacao. Guerlain’s L’Homme Ideal balances its main accords of almond, citrus and wood with the addition of vanilla and nutty notes.
Fragrance Notes
L’Homme Ideal
Top: citruses, orange blossom, rosemary, bitter orange
Middle: almond, tonka bean
Base: leather, cedar, vetiver
Vintage
Top: rhubarb, quince, pepper, wormwood, basil, fennel
Middle: cinnamon, juniper berries, lavender, green leaves, orris root, jasmine
Base: tobacco, suede, balsam fir, tonka bean, woody notes, oakmoss, patchouli
Valentino Uomo Born In Roma
Top: mineral notes, violet leaf, salt
Middle: ginger, wise
Base: woody notes, vetiver
The One For Men
Top: grapefruit, coriander, basil
Middle: ginger, cardamom, orange blossom
Base: amber, tobacco, cedar
Bad Boy Extreme
Cacao, Indonesian patchouli leaf, tonka bean, incense, vetiver, clary sage, olibanim, plum, Indian ginger, opoponax, bergamot, davana, labdanum
Private Blend Tobacco Vanille
Top: tobacco leaf, spicy notes
Middle: vanilla, cacao, tonka bean, tobacco blossom
Base: dried fruits, woody notes
Legend
Top: lavender, pineapple, bergamot, lemon verbena
Middle: red apple, dried fruits, oak moss, geranium, coumarin, rose
Base: tonka bean, sandalwood
Eros Flame
Top: mandarin orange, Madagascar pepper, lemon, chinotto, rosemary
Middle: geranium, rose, pepperwood
Base: vanilla, tonka beans, sandalwood, Texas cedar, patchouli, oakmoss
Room Aromas
As some extra options, you can also fill any room with autumn’s aroma.
Get cozy with Byredo’s Bibliotheque Candle or Yankee Candle’s Warm Cashmere Jar. For sweet scents, check out candles like Nicolai’s Scented Candle in Maharadjah and Malibu Apothecary’s Matte Black Candle in Montauk, or refill your wax melter with Northern Lights’ Wax Melts in Sandalwood & Patchouli.
Evoke the vibe of fall with delicious and mouthwatering fragrances like Maison Berger Paris’ Cube Scented Bouquet in Candy Apple or Jo Malone London’s Mimosa & Cardamom Home Candle. Pumpkin is always a perfect perfume for any room, and we love Voluspa’s 3 Wick Decorative Tin Candle in Spiced Pumpkin Latte, Nest Fragrances’ Reed Diffuser in Pumpkin Chai, and Calm Me’s Pumpkin + Persimmon Diffuser.
For smoky smells, try Illume’s Vanity Tin Candle in Woodfire, Diptyque’s Scented Candle in Feu De Bois, or Salt & Stone’s Candle in Santal & Vetiver. If spicy scents are your preference, there’s also Malin + Goetz’s Scented Votive Candle in Dark Rum, Voluspa’s Small Jar Candle in Baltic Amber, and Northern Lights’ Scented Soy Glass Candle in Whiskey & Tobacco.
For questions, concerns, or article ideas, feel free to reach out to our eCosmetics Beauty Editor directly at beauty@ecosmetics.com
