Best perfume for women: 18 picks by style, from fresh to amber

There is no single winner, and any list that names one is guessing about your taste. What a good shortlist can do is cut a wall of bottles down to a handful that fit the way you dress, work and go out. Read the style you like first, then the one next to it: that is usually where the surprise favourite hides.

How to choose a women's perfume

Perfumers sort scents into families by their dominant notes. The fragrance wheel arranges them in a circle, so neighbouring families share a character, and the Wikipedia overview of perfume families notes that one perfume often belongs to more than one. For choosing, six plain styles are enough:

• Fresh. Citrus, green notes and light florals. Easy by day, in warm weather and at work.
• Floral. Rose, jasmine, peony and white flowers, from dewy and light to rich and heady.
• Fruity. Berries, cherry and plum over a soft base. Playful and bright.
• Gourmand. Vanilla, praline, caramel and coffee. Sweet and cosy, at its best when it is cold.
• Musky and powdery. Musk, iris and soft woods. Close to the skin and quietly elegant.
• Amber. Resins, vanilla, incense and spice. Deep, warm and made for evenings.

Look at the perfumes you already love, or loved once, and check which family they belong to. If you have never worn perfume, start with one fresh scent and one gourmand: how you feel about each tells you where to look next. Our guide to choosing perfume without smelling it shows how to read a list of notes.

Two more questions narrow things fast. Where will you wear it most, at a desk or out at night? And do you want people to notice it, or only the person standing next to you? Fresh and musky styles suit the first answer to each; gourmand and amber styles suit the second.

Fresh and bright

Light Blue by Dolce&Gabbana

Light Blue is Sicilian lemon, apple, cedar and bellflower over jasmine, white rose and bamboo, with musk and amber in the base. Crisp, sunny and uncomplicated, it launched in 2001 and is still one of the easiest fresh scents to wear. Think summer days, the office and holidays.

Un Jardin Sur Le Nil by Hermès

Un Jardin Sur Le Nil opens with grapefruit, green mango, carrot and tomato, then lotus, orange, bulrush and peony, over musk, iris, incense, labdanum and cinnamon. Green, watery and quietly unusual, it is the pick for someone who finds most fresh scents too sporty.

Valaya by Parfums de Marly

Valaya is aldehydes, white peach, bergamot and mandarin over orange blossom, lily-of-the-valley and vetiver, with musk, ambroxan, akigalawood and vanilla underneath. Clean, soapy and bright, like fresh laundry and white flowers. It is a niche house's take on the clean style, and it works as well at a desk as at a spring wedding.

Floral

Chloé Eau de Parfum by Chloé

Chloé Eau de Parfum is litchi, freesia and peony, then rose, lily-of-the-valley and magnolia, over amber and Virginia cedar. A soft, powdery rose that feels clean rather than old-fashioned, and one of the safest florals to wear to work.

Alien by Mugler

Alien is built on just three notes: jasmine sambac, cashmeran and amber. A radiant white floral with a warm, woody glow. It is a big personality, so one spray is a sensible start.

Lady Million by Rabanne

Lady Million opens with raspberry, neroli and Amalfi lemon, then jasmine, orange flower and gardenia, over white honey, patchouli and amber. Bright white flowers made sweet with honey, it sits between the floral and gourmand styles and suits evenings out.

Si by Giorgio Armani

Si is cassis over May rose and freesia, with vanilla, patchouli, woody notes and ambroxan in the base. Fruity, rosy and softly warm. It launched in 2013 and wears well from autumn into winter.

Fruity

Burberry Her by Burberry

Burberry Her piles up strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, sour cherry, black currant, mandarin and lemon over violet and jasmine, with musk, vanilla, cashmeran and oakmoss underneath. Juicy and playful, and easy to like on the first spray.

Lost Cherry by Tom Ford

Lost Cherry is bitter almond, black cherry and cherry liqueur, then sour cherry, plum, jasmine sambac and Turkish rose, over vanilla, tonka bean, cinnamon, Peru balsam, sandalwood and cloves. Boozy, dark fruit with an almond edge. It is the most expensive pick here per ml, so it is the one that most rewards trying first.

Sweet and gourmand

La Vie Est Belle by Lancôme

La Vie Est Belle is black currant and pear over iris, jasmine and orange blossom, with vanilla, praline, patchouli and tonka bean in the base. Sweet, powdery and warm, it is the reference point for the modern gourmand. See what La Vie Est Belle smells like for the full picture.

Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent

Black Opium opens with pear, pink pepper and orange blossom, then coffee, jasmine, bitter almond and licorice, over vanilla, patchouli, cashmere wood and cedar. Coffee and vanilla with a white-flower glow, made for nights out.

Good Girl by Carolina Herrera

Good Girl pairs almond, coffee, bergamot and lemon with tuberose, jasmine sambac, orange blossom and Bulgarian rose, over tonka bean, cacao, vanilla, praline and sandalwood. Sweet and floral at once, a little darker than La Vie Est Belle.

Prada Candy by Prada

Prada Candy is caramel over powdery notes and musk, with benzoin and vanilla underneath. Simple, soft and sweet, the gentlest gourmand in this list and the easiest to wear by day.

Hypnotic Poison by Dior

Hypnotic Poison opens with coconut, plum and apricot, then rose, jasmine, tuberose and caraway, over vanilla, almond, sandalwood and musk. Almond and vanilla at their creamiest. It launched in 1998 and still feels made for winter evenings.

Musky and powdery

Narciso Rodriguez For Her by Narciso Rodriguez

Narciso Rodriguez For Her is African orange flower, osmanthus and bergamot over a heart of musk and amber, with vetiver, patchouli and vanilla in the base. Musk is the whole point here: soft, skin-like and a little sensual. If you like this style, our musk note page lists more, and our guide to white musk perfumes explains the family.

Amber and warm

Shalimar Eau de Parfum by Guerlain

Shalimar Eau de Parfum opens with bergamot, lemon and mandarin, moves through iris, jasmine, rose and vetiver, and settles on vanilla, incense, leather, opoponax, sandalwood and tonka bean. Smoky vanilla and citrus. It is the textbook example of the amber family: Wikipedia's list of perfume families names Shalimar as a traditional amber.

Guidance by Amouage

Guidance is pear, hazelnut and olibanum over osmanthus, rose, saffron and jasmine sambac, with sandalwood, vanilla, ambergris and labdanum in the base. Nutty, floral and deeply warm, a niche amber for evenings. If you are torn between it and its sibling, read how the two Guidance perfumes differ.

Euphoria by Calvin Klein

Euphoria opens with pomegranate and persimmon, then black orchid, lotus and champaca, over amber, black violet, whipped cream and mahogany. Fruity, creamy and dark, an amber with a fruit bowl on top.

All eighteen, side by side

The season column is our own style guidance, drawn from the notes: fresh and floral styles for warm months and the office, gourmand and amber styles for cold months and evenings. Prices are the live price per ml of a 10ml decant.

Two things stand out. Most of the designer classics cost about the same per ml, so price is rarely the reason to choose one over another. And the two niche picks, Guidance and Valaya, cost more per ml, which is exactly why a small decant is the sensible way to meet them. Our guide to niche vs designer perfume explains what the difference buys you.

Three starter sets, by taste

If eighteen is still too many, start with three perfumes that cover different styles. Each set below takes one from a lighter style, one from the middle and one from a warmer style, so one week tells you which way you lean.

• If you mostly wear perfume to work. Light Blue, Chloé Eau de Parfum and Narciso Rodriguez For Her. Fresh, floral and musky, all easy in a shared room.
• If you want one perfume for evenings. Alien, Black Opium and Shalimar Eau de Parfum. A white floral, a coffee gourmand and a smoky amber.
• If you like sweet but not too sweet. Prada Candy, Si and La Vie Est Belle. Soft caramel, fruity rose and powdery praline, in rising order of sweetness.

A fourth option, if you are buying for someone else, is to pick one from each of the three styles she already wears. Our perfume gift guide has more ideas for that.

Eau de parfum, eau de toilette or parfum?

Most of the perfumes here are sold as an eau de parfum, the middle strength, and several also come in a lighter or richer version under the same name. Do not assume the richer one is better. A house often changes the notes between versions, so the eau de toilette of a scent you love can feel brighter and easier by day, while the richer version leans on its base. Our guide to eau de parfum vs eau de toilette explains what each label means and how to compare two versions on your skin.

How to find yours before buying a bottle

A paper strip shows you the first minutes of a perfume. What you actually live with is the heart and the base, and they only show up on your skin over a full day. That is why a small bottle is the smartest first step.

1. Choose three styles. One fresh or floral, one fruity or gourmand, one musky or amber. Order each as a 3ml decant: around 60 sprays gives you several days with every one of them.
2. Live with them. Wear one a day on normal days, at work, at dinner, at the weekend, and notice the one you miss when it is not on.
3. Keep the one you miss. That is your answer. A 10ml decant holds around 200 sprays and slips into a bag; the 30ml holds around 600 and costs the least per ml.

Our women's perfume collection has every women's scent we carry in all three sizes. For florals, start with the rose and jasmine note pages; for sweeter scents, our guide to vanilla perfumes sorts them by style. Once you have a favourite, our tips on making perfume last longer get more from every spray. As a gift, our perfume advent calendar for her puts Light Blue, Lost Cherry, Black Opium and Good Girl from this list among its 24 perfumes, with a 3ml decant behind every door.