Welcoming DECEMBER

Discover scents that evoke festive gatherings, candlelit rooms, and the joy of the season.

- BY ALISHA AZUDDIN

The arrival of winter has always brought with it a desire for warmth, ritual and memory, and nowhere is that more clearly expressed than in the perfumes we reach for in December.

As temperatures drop and the world outside quietens, fragrance becomes a source of comfort: a beacon of light in darker evenings, a reminder of gatherings to come, a scented echo of years gone by. Perfume houses return to familiar materials at this time of year, from spices that recall kitchen tables to woods that conjure the soft glow of firelight, yet the most compelling winter scents never simply imitate the season—they reimagine it.

Jo Malone London captures this mood with their newest Sandalwood & Spiced Apricot scent, a fragrance that feels like a festive evening just beginning to unfold. It opens with the velvety sweetness of apricot, bright enough to suggest laughter starting to rise in the next room, before sandalwood lends its signature creamy warmth. Vanilla deepens the composition into something rounder and more enveloping, while a breeze of cardamom dances through with a freshness that keeps everything lifted. The result is a scent made for nights filled with games, ribbons and the soft rustle of wrapping paper.