The best fruity perfume will lighten your mood, slice through Monday morning brain fog and transport your mind to sunny climes no matter the season. A universal favourite for all ages and occasions, these perfectly sweet scents are rated highly by our beauty team.
If you’re anything like us, your first foray into fragrance probably began with a juicy little number. Like most 90s teens, a dousing in sickly-sweet Impulse was succeeded by fruity perfumes whose ingredient list read like the menu of a smoothie bar. Like hair mascara and Tamagotchis, most of us outgrew this phase, moving on to the best perfumes for women with headier aromatics and crisp unisex fragrance, so it's no surprise many of us see fruity fragrances as youthful.
"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 newer iterations are not all sickly-sweet. "I personally love using fruity notes as they’re so versatile. I’m seeing them used more in high-end fragrances. It’s about how these notes are combined that creates the actual fragrance and tells the story," she adds. If you're looking for a fruity perfume that can work for all ages and occasions, there's no going wrong with our beauty team's top picks.
The best fruity perfume 2024
Top notes: Coconut Water
Middle notes: Orchid, Jasmine
Base notes: Sandalwood, 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.
Top notes: Orange Oil
Middle notes: Bergamot
Base notes: Star Anise
Evoking the iconic Amalfi coast, Jo Loves' latest fragrance is bright yet soothing. The slightly bitter notes of orange oil whisk us on a summer holiday, sipping an aperitivo, while the spiciness of star anise grounds the scent in a warming musk that lingers all night long.
Top: Grapefruit, Neroli, Orange
Middle: Pinot accord, Lemon grass, Jasmine
Base: Patchouli, Amber, 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. This is a great value option too, considering the bottle is 100ml.
Top notes: Pear, Bergamot
Middle notes: Iris Butter, Rose, Plum Nectar
Base notes: Wood
That juicy just-ripe pear deliciousness is captured in this perfume. Switch out your springtime best perfumes with jasmine for this unmistakably summery scent. It's crisp yet sweet and mouthwatering at first, but then the stone fruit top dries down into a very elegant floral accord with classic rose and zippy neroli. Plus, with its beautiful bottle it's an ideal contender for gifting, if you can bear to give it away.
Top notes: King William Pear
Middle notes: Freesia
Base notes: 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.
Top notes: Mandarin essence, Mango & Pineapple Smell-the-TasteTM
Middle notes: Rosewater firad, Orange blossom essence
Base notes: Cashmere woods
This is one of our favourite scents for summer that we could never get bored of, this has the perfect balance of frutiness 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.
Top notes: Pear, Strawberry, Blackcurrant, Pink pepper
Middle notes: Peony, Honeysuckle, Lily-of-the-Valley, Rose
Base notes: Musk, 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.
Top notes: Sparkling Bergamot, Mara Strawberry, Pink Pepper
Middle notes: Jasmine Petals, Jasmine Lactone Captive, Woodland Greens
Base notes: Cedarwood, Oakmoss, Captive Musks, Orris Root
This perfume reimagines everything you might assume about strawberry scents, 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 current know it!
Top notes: Apple brandy
Middle notes: Pineapple and bergamot
Base notes: 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.
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. These were:
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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