Bite Me!

Perfumes with sweet notes of vanilla, cocoa, caramel, and honey are a guilt-free indulgence. Join us in the dining room, won't you?

- APRIL LONG

Petit fours and pavlova. Macaroons and madeleines. Bonbons and Bavarian cream. Cake. Custard. Marzipan. This may read like a fantasy postprandial selection for someone possessed of a raging sweet tooth, but in fact these are just a few of the confectionary-inspired notes being served up in an array of new perfumes. Consider them comfort food for the nostrils. Cavity risk: zero.

In 1992 fashion designer Thierry Mugler told perfumer Olivier Cresp he wanted a fragrance that would remind him of the Strasbourg funfairs he enjoyed as a child. Cresp went to a supermarket and bought cookies, then made history. Angel, the perfume he created for Mugler, introduced a sweet note reminiscent of cocoa and cotton candy-swirled with jasmine and a mammoth hit of patchouli—that was so distinctive and wildly popular it spawned an entirely new olfactive family, gourmand. Anyone who lived through the '90s and early aughts will recall the wave of sugar-spiked fragrances that followed Angel's tour-de-force debut, and egregiously cloying iterations (Victoria's Secret body sprays, we're looking at you) prompted a backlash like a bellyache after a binge. Fresh, airy fragrances (think Clinique Happy or Chanel Chance) and clever, less obvious gourmands (Viktor & Rolf's iconic Flowerbomb) moved in to clear our collective palates.

Now foodie fragrances are selling (and sometimes smelling) like hotcakes once again. According to industry news hub Perfumer & Flavorist, searches for gourmand fragrances surged 77 percent in 2024. The pandemic-era #perfumeTokfueled success of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris Baccarat Rouge 540-a scent with a hefty dose of ethyl maltol, the same candylike ingredient used in Angel-seems to have whetted our appetites, leaving us with an insatiable hunger for spritzes that make us say yum.