The best fruity perfumes promise to lighten the mood, slicing through grey days and transporting you to sunnier scenes, no matter the season. It's no wonder they're a universal favourite but these 12 delicious blends, in particular, have our team's approval.
If you’re anything like us, your first foray into fragrance probably began with a juicy little number - a sickly-sweet body spray or perhaps a berry-centric eau de toilette. In time though, these were succeeded with long lasting perfumes, with headier aromatics and elegant floral fragrances. Thus, it's no surprise that many of us class fruity blends as youthful but still, despite this perception, notes of citrus can be found amongst some of the most iconic and best perfumes for women.
"Fruity notes explode at the start of a fragrance, so for a young person who wants a powerful hit of fragrance, they are very attractive," agrees Master perfumer Ruth Mastenbroek, but not all iterations are cloying or overly sweet. "I personally love using fruity notes as they’re so versatile. I’m seeing them used more in high-end fragrances." So, if you're looking to embrace a luxe, fruity signature, these are the ones our beauty team recommend...
The 12 best fruity perfumes, per our beauty team
As mentioned, it's something of a common misconception that fruity fragrances are youthful and always sickly sweet. There are plenty of chic and mature blends out there - notably from brands like Jo Malone, Marc Jacobs and BDK.
"It’s about how these notes are combined that creates the actual fragrance and tells the story," Mastenbroek explains, to which point, we have 12 expertly crafted and versatile fruit perfumes to put forward.
RRP: from £51 for 40ml | Notes: coconut water, orchid, jasmine, sandalwood and vanilla
The first thing that'll hit you when you spray this on is definitely the coconut top-note – it's sexy and sunscreen-y in the way only that particular fruit knows how to be. Once that dissipates, a sophisticated white flower blend is what remains on the skin, with a skinlike and sensual hit of warm woods and vanilla. This lasts for a long time, is great value and is incredibly moreish. A signature summer scent for sure.
RRP: from £82 for 50ml | Notes: rose, pomelo, vetiver, clove, patchouli, and suede
This is one scent that immediately springs to mind when we hear the term 'fruity perfume.' Instead of sweet, berry notes, this blend is all sharp and zingy citrus. It brims with its namesake, pomelo, offering a sparkling and invigorating opening but beneath, also lies green vetiver and warm, slightly spicy hints of clove and patchouli. It's mature and effortlessly chic, with every spritz transporting you to hazy summer days in Portofino.
RRP: from £55 for 30ml | Notes: King William Pear, freesia and patchouli
This is the very best Jo Malone fragrance, as voted for by customers - once you've tried it once, you won't go back. The first impression is all juicy pears, fresh and faintly sweet, trailed by white freesias and woody patchouli. We love this because, for a fruity fragrance, it’s not at all loud and overbearing. Everything about it is subtle, which makes it a great day-to-day scent. If you're searching for a mature fruity perfume that will never date, this gets our vote as the best timeless scent that will work for all ages.
RRP: from £46 for 30ml | Notes: grapefruit, neroli, orange, pinot accord, lemon grass, jasmine, patchouli, amber and sandalwood
This sherbert-y scent with a citrus twist is a true mood booster. As the name suggests, Citron De Vigne smells clean and fresh, with a sparkling finish that takes you straight to the vineyard. It blends bright notes of orange and grapefruit with a warmer base of patchouli, amber and sandalwood. It's perfect for spring/summer wear and is a great value option too, considering the bottle is 100ml.
RRP: £140 for 100ml | Notes: wild strawberry, amber accord, violet leaf and bluebell
Oscillating between juicy and floral, Molton Brown's Bluebell & Wild Strawberry is the perfect contradiction to those who say fruity perfumes are all sweetness and no substance. This scent pairs fresh and dewy wild strawberry with classic bluebell, for an aroma that is delicate but deliciously juicy. It's spring bottled - and though you shouldn't judge a perfume by its bottle, the packaging adds to its chic appeal.
RRP: from £59 for 30ml | Notes: mandarin essence, Mango & Pineapple Smell-the-TasteTM, rosewater firad, orange blossom essence and cashmere woods
This is one of our favourite scents for summer that we could never get bored of, this has the perfect balance of fruitiness and hearty base notes. Bolder and more full-bodied than the original Daisy, the juicy citrus notes left me feeling energised and ready to face the day, but if softer, more delicate scents are your bag, this might be a little bit too punchy.
RRP: from £55 for 30ml | Notes: pear, strawberry, blackcurrant, pink pepper, peony, honeysuckle, lily-of-the-Valley, rose, musk and cedar
As this scent wears on throughout the day, you’ll get a hint of rose and then a lingering woody base. But this really is all about the pear. It stays present throughout, from the first spritz to the lingering dry down. For me, it’s a perfect summery scent, no question. But that’s not to say that spraying this in the depths of a miserable winter wouldn’t bring joy or perk up the senses.
RRP: £127 for 50ml | Notes: bergamot, galbanum, petitgrain, green tea, mastic, pink pepper, cedar and hay
If you favour citrus scents over that of sweet, fruity blends and are partial to a unisex fragrance, Aesop's Virēre is the one for you. It's woody and fresh, with those opening and zingy notes of crisp bergamot and petitgrain emerging first, before settling into a warm base of cedar and hay. It also features hints of green tea, which is a very trendy note right now, with tea perfumes, in general, gaining popularity.
RRP: £89 for 50ml | Notes: sparkling bergamot, Mara Strawberry, pink pepper, jasmine petals, Jasmine Lactone Captive, woodland greens, cedarwood, oakmoss, Captive Musks and orris root
This scent reimagines everything you might assume about strawberry perfumes, with any hint of artificial fruitiness banished far away. Instead, it's fresh, clean and peppered with just enough earthiness to prevent a too-sweet lingering effect. When it comes to wearing all day, the longevity could be better, but it can't be faulted if you want a blend of creamy, fresh, fruit notes. It's strawberry, but not as you currently know it!
RRP: from £62 for 30ml | Notes: Kalamansi Lime Accord, petitgrain, cardamom, coriander, Mate Essence, green tea, cedarwood and Cistus Absolute
If you're seeking a zingy and sparkling citrus scent, Maison Margiela's Under The Lemon Tree needs to be on your radar. Touted as one of the best REPLICA perfumes - alongside the likes of By The Fireplace and Jazz Club - it marries bright hints of lime with crisp green tea and woody facets to create a very light and almost dewy scent. It oozes summertime and is perfect for those who prefer freshness over sweet.
RRP: £177 for 100ml | Notes: Italian Bergamot, cherry accord, pink berries, black vanilla absolute, heliotrope, ambroxan, cashmeran, tonka bean, labdanum and white musk
With cherry perfumes being tipped as one of the biggest 2025 perfume trends, now is the time to add one to your collection - and BDK's Rouge Smoking gets our vote. The opening is very sweet and almost candy-like, with that blend of red and pink berries shining through, but as the minutes tick by, sultry hints of black vanilla, ambroxan, cashmeran and white musks saunter in, adding a moody smokiness to the scent that is so intriguing and sophisticated. The bottle pictured is available in a BDK discovery set with four other best-selling scents.
RRP: from £210 for 50ml | Notes: apple brandy, pineapple, bergamot, rum and vanilla
Dark and sensual, this scent is inspired by Kilian Hennessy's family history as cognac brewers. With woody notes of cognac barrels and the fizzy sweetness of apple brandy, it's one of the most unique fruity perfumes on the market. If you're already a fan of boozy perfumes, this appley blend will make a sweet and irresistibly rich addition to your collection. It's perfect for evening wear and whenever you want to radiate sophistication.
How we tested these fruity perfumes
As we say in all of our fragrance guides, perfume shopping is incredibly subjective. There aren't definitive measurements by which you can smell a scent and put it into the 'good' or 'bad' camps, so instead we have chosen these fruity perfumes based on a wide range of tastes and preferences across the beauty team, as well as assessing a few factors that might influence whether you, our reader, might enjoy them. The longevity, for instance, and whether the blends lean more towards sweet or green.
A selection of the fruity fragrance our Beauty Editor tested
Of the countless scents we tried, every fragrance featured in this guide came out on top for a particular type of buyer, mood or scent preference. We update this edit regularly with any of the latest fruity perfume launches that make the grade, as well as keeping our long-term tried-and-true favorites in the permanent collection.
FAQs
How to choose your perfect fruity perfume
This all comes down to personal preference. But if you’re in the market for a new fruity fragrance, whether you're hitting the department store or want to learn how to buy fragrance online, our experts have some great advice:
- Fruity doesn't always mean sweet: "Just because a fragrance says it has strawberry in it, doesn’t necessarily mean the fragrance will smell of strawberries," explains Mastenbroek. "It may be using the qualities and characteristics of strawberries to add a dose of green freshness and mouth-watering sweetness."
- Give it time: "Fruity notes don’t often last long, so if you’re choosing a new fragrance, I would always suggest wearing it for an hour or so to make sure you still like it once the top notes have faded," says Mastenbroek.
- Choose the right notes: "Fruity notes can be off-putting as we get older because when combined with sweet notes like vanilla, they can feel childish or unsophisticated," admits Mastenbroek. "Some elegant fruity notes are citrus, especially grapefruit, combined with floral notes like orange blossom, or as part of a cologne. These combinations can provide a good balance to the comfort and freshness that fruity notes offer."
- Have fun: "Be creative and remember to have fun," says Malone. "Fragrance can be taken seriously but picking your scent for the day should be joyful - and fruity fragrances are the perfect way to embrace spring and summer too."
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