Perfumers have a talent for taking a classic note, like vanilla, and making it feel fresh. “Finding a different angle, a new take on an iconic ingredient in perfumery—that’s the challenge when you create a modern vanilla,” says Aurélien Guichard, founder and perfumer of Matiere Premiere. Guichard’s Vanilla Powder presents its namesake note in a light, airy way, while other fragrance houses are transforming classic vanilla into something spicy, woody, creamy with a kick, or green.

At Guerlain, fragrance creative director Delphine Jelk appreciates vanilla’s nostalgic appeal but is pushing it in new directions. “Vanilla is the ultimate universal emotion in fragrance,” she says. “It feels like a big hug. But today, we’re treating it with sophistication rather than sugar. What sets a modern vanilla apart from a classic one is the texture and the tension.”

Vogue’s Favorite Vanilla Perfumes:

Best Luxury Vanilla: Guerlain L’art & La Matière Vanille Planifolia Extrait 21, $660
Best Grown-Up Gourmand: Dior Vanilla Diorama, $231-$495
Best Fruity Vanilla: Carolina Herrera La Bomba Eau de Parfum, $99-$190
Best Luminous Vanilla: Matière Première Vanilla Powder, $230-$320
Best Date-Night Vanilla: Victoria Beckham 21:50 Rêverie Eau de Parfum, $200-$290
Best Solar Vanilla: Liberty LBTY Tana Meadows, $65-$330
Best Woody Vanilla: Liis Bo Eau de Parfum, $178
Best Creamy Vanilla: Henry Rose Dave Eau de Parfum, $35-$120
Best Green Vanilla: Dries Van Noten Camouflage Refillable Eau de Parfum, $400
Best Spicy Vanilla: Phlur Vanilla Skin Eau de Parfum, $32-$99

While some vanilla scents reduce the ingredient to a pastry-shop cliché, the new wave gives it room to shine. “We strip away the heavy, suffocating side and give it air,” Jelk says. “We pair it with crisp woods, cleaner musks, or unexpected contrasts—like the rich, deep earthiness of patchouli—so that the vanilla has structure and attitude.”

Ahead, get a whiff of the vanilla perfumes that flip traditional ideas of the note on their head. Nowadays, “Vanilla is less about a sugary dessert and more about skin, warmth, and raw materiality,” Jelk says.

Best Luxury Vanilla: Guerlain L’art & La Matière Vanille Planifolia Extrait 21
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Guerlain Vanille Planifolia Extrait 21, $660

Why We Love It: Guerlain’s TikTok-famous scent features a form of vanilla so carefully cultivated, it might as well be couture. “When we make our signature vanilla tinctures, we hand-pollinate the pods and steep them in alcohol,” Jelk says. “You realize right away that vanilla isn’t just sweet. It’s spicy, a little smoky, woody, balsamic, and even slightly leathery.” Created by Jelk, this scent uses vanilla planifolia that’s cold-soaked in alcohol for 21 days. With an ultra-intense, 30% concentration of vanilla tincture and absolute, the fragrance lives up to Guerlain’s reputation for infusing its scents with—as the house puts it—an “overabundance of vanilla.”

Key Notes: Pink pepper, coriander, bergamot, Madagascar vanilla planifolia tincture and absolute, amber, musk, patchouli
This Smells Like: A vanilla bean meticulously dusted with gold leaf by a white-gloved hand.

Best Grown-Up Gourmand: Dior Vanilla Diorama
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Dior Vanilla Diorama, $350

Why We Love It: This ambery gourmand could be served at Maxim’s; in fact, it was inspired by a dessert from the legendary restaurant. The Diorama Gourmand was a tribute to Christian Dior. The treat reportedly paired airy vanilla with orange zest and bittersweet chocolate, and perfumer François Demachy aimed to capture its flavor profile in this almost-edible scent.

Key Notes: Orange, lemon, pink pepper, rum, cacao, cardamom, bourbon vanilla, sandalwood, patchouli
This Smells Like: Checking in at the Ritz Paris and curing jetlag with a bite of its finest pastry, ordered from room service right away.

Best Fruity Vanilla: Carolina Herrera La Bomba Eau de Parfum
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Carolina Herrera
La Bomba Eau de Parfum
$138
CAROLINA HERRERA

Why We Love It: With solar vanilla wrapped in tropical fruits and flowers, plus a hint of cherry peony, this vanilla feels more like bossa nova drifting from a street corner than the gentle notes of a heavenly harp. The fruity scent practically calls for a vacation, while its butterfly-shaped bottle makes a bold statement on any vanity at home.

Key Notes: Pitaya, red frangipani, cherry peony, solar vanilla

This Smells Like: A scent caught in the folds of a hot-pink dress after dancing late into the night under beachside bistro lights.

Best Luminous Vanilla: Matiere Premiere Vanilla Powder
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Matiere Premiere
Vanilla Powder Eau de Parfum
$230
NORDSTROM

Why We Love It: “For me, a modern vanilla lets the ingredient’s texture show and smells of vanilla from start to finish,” says Guichard. “A modern vanilla blends richness and opulence with light, air, and delicacy.” A perfect example: this luminous scent. It pairs dark, moody Madagascar vanilla absolute with bright elements—like coconut powder, white musks, and palo santo—that bring a clean, dreamy softness to the mix.

Key Notes: Coconut powder, heliotrope, Madagascar vanilla absolute, white musk, palo santo wood, lactones

This Smells Like: The signature scent of an edgy cherub, or a vanilla bean plucked straight from the clouds.

Best Date-Night Vanilla: Victoria Beckham 21:50 Rêverie Eau de Parfum
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Victoria Beckham
Eau de Parfum 21:50 Rêverie
$200
NORDSTROM

Why We Love It: This genderless vanilla—described by perfumer Jérôme Épinette as “the most animalic, rawest version of vanilla”—is far from sugary. Its blend of vanilla and tonka beans with tobacco leaves, plum, and cedarwood is earthy, spicy, and dark, with no place in any pastry case.

Key Notes: Tobacco leaves, plum, vanilla, tonka beans, cedarwood

This Smells Like: A romantic dinner in Java, surrounded by flickering tea lights, rice fields, and wild vanilla vines. (In other words, the memory that inspired Victoria Beckham to create it.)

Best Solar Vanilla: Liberty LBTY Tana Meadows
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LBTY.
Tana Meadow Eau de Parfum
$330
NORDSTROM

Why We Love It: A tribute to softness, sunlight, and musk, Liberty’s solar vanilla comes dressed in wildflowers. Inspired by Liberty’s Thorpe print on silky Tana Meadows cotton, perfumer Hamid Merati-Kashani crafted a blend of juicy summer fruits, white flowers, and woody, praline-dipped vanilla.

Key Notes: Pear, cypress, ginger, mandarin, coconut, rose, white orchid, orris, jasmine, vanilla, ambroxan wood, praline, musk

This Smells Like: The scent version of a breezy sundress, paired with glowing, sun-kissed skin.

Best Woody Vanilla: Liis Bo Eau de Parfum
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Liis
Bo Eau de Parfum
$178
REVOLVE

Why We Love It: Liis’s smoky, woody vanilla smells like it just returned from an incense-lit retreat along the California coast. Working with Liis founders Alissa Sullivan and Leslie Hendin, perfumer Jérôme Épinette created an homage to Northern California’s rugged landscapes. With forests, grasslands, and wild beaches, the terrain—and the vanilla scent it inspired—is a call to bohemian souls.

Key Notes: Elemi, tobacco leaves, redwood pine, incense, guaiac wood, white cedarwood, vanilla beans

This Smells Like: A meditative walk through the forest at sunrise, as the redwood trunks glow in soft, ethereal pink light.

Best Creamy Vanilla: Henry Rose Dave Eau de Parfum
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Henry Rose
Dave Vanilla Eau de Parfum
$120
NORDSTROM

Why We Love It: Like vanilla wearing a leather jacket, this scent has a quality that Henry Rose founder Michelle Pfeiffer describes as “creamy yet spiked with tension.” Named after Pfeiffer’s husband, David E. Kelley, this eau de parfum adds spice, citrus, and a touch of contrasting bitterness to Chantilly vanilla bean. With notes of tangerine, tonka bean, pink pPepper and cocoa shell come together in this genderless scent, projecting power wrapped in warmth.
Key Notes: Tangerine, neroli, pink pepper, lavandin, orange flower, almond blossom, Chantilly vanilla bean, cocoa shell, tonka bean
This Smells Like: A vanilla scent for parlor games in a leather-clad room.

Best Green Vanilla: Dries Van Noten Camouflage Refillable Eau de Parfum
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Dries Van Noten Vanille Camouflage Refillable Eau de Parfum
$400 NORDSTROM
Why We Love It: Dries Van Noten’s double-vanilla perfume is green from the quality of its juice to the glass of its bottle. In the earthy scent, perfumer Alexandra Monet married resinous galbanum with custardy bourbon vanilla and creamy Tahitian vanilla. With verdant dashes of cypress, sandalwood, fig, and ylang-ylang, the eau de parfum is refillable and made with 90 percent naturally derived ingredients.
Key Notes: Galbanum, cypress, fig, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, vanilla bourbon absolute, vanilla Tahitensis, benzoin, ambery woods
This Smells Like: Waking up in a secluded bungalow overlooking Tahitian palm trees, with a vanilla candle burning low.

Best Spicy Vanilla: Phlur Vanilla Skin Eau de Parfum
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Phlur Vanilla Skin Eau de Parfum
$99 NORDSTROM
$99 AMAZON
Why We Love It: All sugar and spice, Phlur’s addictive vanilla was a viral hit as a body mist, and its eau de parfum counterpart has a higher oil concentration and a longer wear time. Perfumer Clément Gavarry infused the creamy, spicy, cozy blend with pink pepper, sugar crystals, and cashmere wood. The skin-clinging quality of the scent comes from its vanilla molecules, which shapeshift as the fragrance dies down. As the perfume opens, its vanilla has the airy, ephemeral feel of powdered sugar; later, it takes on the warmth and creaminess of cashmere wood.
Key Notes: Pink pepper, pink apple, sugar crystals, lily, jasmine petals, cashmere wood, vanilla, sandalwood, benzoin, agarwood
This Smells Like: An off-the-shoulder cashmere sweater grazing shower-fresh skin.

Everything You Need to Know
How We Tested
When we test and review a product, we take a holistic approach to deliver well-rounded recommendations. First, we lean on Vogue’s vast network of experts—from board-certified dermatologists to celebrity estheticians—to gain professional insight into the industry’s standout products, ones these specialists would actually use on their clients. We pair their expertise with our editorial best practices to curate the thoughtful edits you read on our site.
As it relates to vanilla perfumes, we selected the best based on the following characteristics: notes, projection, and wear time. To do this, we paired our own personal tests of each formula with expert guidance and reviewer insights to determine which we would recommend to you. Read more about our testing methodology here.

Meet the Experts
Aurélien Guichard, founder and perfumer of Matiere Premiere
Delphine Jelk is the creative director of fragrance and master perfumer at Guerlain.

Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about vanilla perfumes designed to answer both beginner and advanced questions

Beginner Questions

1 I love the smell of vanilla but I dont want to smell like a cupcake What should I look for
Look for perfumes described as woody smoky spicy or earthy These often pair vanilla with notes like sandalwood oud leather or patchouli which add depth and prevent the scent from being purely sugary

2 What is the difference between a sweet vanilla perfume and a complex one
A sweet vanilla is usually a singlenote scent like vanilla extract or cotton candy A complex vanilla has layers It starts with bright top notes develops into a rich heart and finally settles into a deep textured base where the vanilla is combined with woods resins or musk

3 Are there different types of vanilla notes
Yes Vanilla can be extracted and processed in different ways which changes the scent You might see
Bourbon Vanilla The most common rich creamy and sweet
Madagascar Vanilla Similar to Bourbon very smooth and classic
Mexican Vanilla Has a subtle spicy peppery kick
Tahitian Vanilla More floral fruity and less sweet
Smoked or Oud Vanilla Vanilla combined with smoky or woody notes for a darker feel

4 Why does vanilla perfume smell different on me than it does on my friend
Body chemistry plays a huge role Your skins pH natural oils and even your diet can affect how a perfume develops A perfume can smell sweeter smokier or more powdery depending on the person wearing it

5 When is the best time to wear a vanilla perfume
The beauty of complex vanilla perfumes is their versatility Lighter fresher vanillas are great for daytime and summer Richer woodier vanillas are perfect for evening winter and special occasions

Advanced Questions

6 What does structure mean when talking about a perfume
Structure refers to the perfumes architecturehow the top heart and base notes are balanced and unfold over