The 17 Best Spring Fragrances on the Market Right Now

Spring fragrances don't have to scream floral. In fact, some of our favorite scents to wear between winter and summer are downright spicy. Others veer more fresh, offering notes of eucalyptus and fresh sea breezes. In short, there's a spring fragrance for everyone. And some of them might even become mainstays in your perfume arsenal.

Below, we rounded up 17 of our favorite spring fragrances. Keep scrolling to discover them all.

Byredo Mixed Emotions

Byredo Mixed Emotions $200.00

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Mixed Emotions was inspired by a year in quarantine and the emotions that we were all feeling simultaneously: loneliness, anxiety, longing, love, excitement, fear, and wonder. No two people had the same experience in isolation. Essentially, we were all experiencing mixed emotions: The good wasn’t all good, and the bad wasn’t all bad. Byredo set out to capture that in a scent.

Mixed Emotions blends maté (a tea-adjacent drink) with cassis, which is a sweet, dark liquor made from blackcurrants, and wood. The result could be likened to a mix of blackberries and incense, like Byredo’s Accord Oud, but side by side, Mixed Emotions is much juicier. Often, scents like this can wear too heavily on the skin, but this one doesn't. It’s tart and tangy but nicely balanced by the tea and wood. It’s got a lot of depth but is one of those scents that is just as good in the summer as it is in the winter.

Internal Affairs

Almost Guilty Internal Affairs $120.00

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This is a Black-owned fragrance that first sold out quickly after it dropped, but it is a spring scent through and through. It’s fruity, with a bit of a peppery, herbaceous note that runs through it.

The top features lemon, blackcurrant, and apple. The heart showcases pear, raspberry, jasmine, and patchouli, with a base of vanilla, wood, and musk. For being as fruit-forward as it is, it’s bright and buoyant without being too sweet. There are just as many fruity notes as there are notes that add depth, so instead of jumping out at you one by one, they blend into something entirely different and entirely new.

Tom Ford Costa Azzurra

Tom Ford Costa Azzurra $150.00

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This scent could almost be described as dangerous. It’s very citrusy, earthy, and woody. It’s strong. Costa Azzurra is inspired by and meant to emulate the smell of fresh sea air, which sounds nice, but have you ever smelled fresh sea air? It can sometimes be sulfuric.

The scent is half-retro, half-contemporary, and all drama. It’s bossy and sexy and confident, the kind of cologne you smell through someone else’s shirt that you’re desperately hoping to take off.

Of course, the bottle is also a big draw and is equal parts classic, simple, and gorgeous.

Acqua Di Parma Arancia Di Capri

Acqua Di Parma Arancia Di Capri $84.00 $82.00

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This is every great citrus note you’ve ever smelled in a fragrance, combined and bottled into one scent. Arancia di Capri takes the process of peeling a citrus fruit with your bare hands and puts every part of that into an olfactory experience. From digging through the tough, waxy skin that smells vaguely pungent and green to slowly peeling it back and smelling the bitter citrus oils spray from the rind. And finally, the sweet, juicy fruit itself.

It’s bright, refreshing, tangy, and sweet. The top notes are basically every citrus you can imagine. You’ll find cardamom and petitgrain with a beautiful base of caramel and musk in the middle. The caramel is truly unique; you barely smell it, but it gives it the slightest bit of warm sweetness that wears beautifully.

Atelier Cologne Pacific Lime

Atelier Cologne Pacific Lime $72.00

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Like all citruses, lime is bright and tangy, but it can also be really warm, in a way. As opposed to a lemon or an orange, a lime is bright and sharp and has a depth that you don’t get from other citruses. That said, of course, Pacific Lime is a standout. Coconut adds its milky warm sweetness, with spearmint and eucalyptus adding a fresh, green base.

This is such an exciting, wearable take on lime—a fresh, sweet, earthy take on citrus that is an absolute must-try for the warmer months.

 D.S. & Durga El Cosmico

D.S. & Durga El Cosmico $185.00

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D.S. & Durga’s tagline is "perfume is armchair travel." Rightfully so because each of their scents truly embodies another time and place. El Cosmico is no exception.

Inspired by the desert airs of Marfa, Texas, it’s made up of many notes: desert shrubs, desert pepper, and dry sand accord. There are also herbaceous notes throughout the fragrance. But with all of those earthy notes, it's also surprisingly sweet. Not sweet like candy but sweet like a sour gummy worm.

Persons of Interest Supernova

Persons of Interest Supernova $68.00

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Persons of Interest is a relatively new fragrance collection. If you gravitate to warm, sticky fragrances that tend to lean sweet, then you’ll like almost all of their scents. Supernova is an outlier in their collection in that it’s a little brighter than the rest of their fragrances. The brand will tell you that Supernova is made up of woods, lime, patchouli, coriander, and amber, but it’s so much more than that in practice.

Supernova smells just like it sounds. It’s bright but just a little bit bitter, enough to make your nose tingle. However, the sweetness counteracts all that and makes it deliciously addicting. Meanwhile, the woods and herbaceous notes give it a lot of dry depth and longevity. This is one of those fragrances that you'll want to wear again and again.

Vilhelm Parfumerie Morning Chess

Vilhelm Parfumerie Morning Chess $150.00

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This fragrance is so good that you'll always remember exactly where you were the first time you wore it, even if the only standout about that day was the fragrance itself.

Morning Chess is inspired by the perfumer’s summers in Sweden as a girl, playing chess with her grandfather in the morning. Bergamot, leather, patchouli, and amber come together to make a profoundly lovely scent.

This is one of those scents that’s everything simultaneously, so different parts of the scent will come out on different people. The bergamot really shines through with a sharp, satisfying sweetness, but the leather and patchouli create a strong base that never lets it get ahead of itself. It is deftly layered and perfectly balanced. It is really a true joy to wear.

Eat. Sweat. Undress. Diani Beach Hair Mist

Eat. Sweat. Undress. Diani Beach Hair Mist $40.00

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This is a hair perfume, but it belongs in this roundup because it smells like a fine fragrance and deserves to live alongside the rest of our favorites.

Diani Beach is built like a traditional fragrance with top notes of grapefruit, orange, coconut, bergamot, middle notes of pineapple, rose, black currant, and a base of amber, caramel, cedarwood, and vanilla. It’s beachy but not what you’d think of as a typical sunny, coconut beach scent. It’s more than that. It’s like a candlelit dinner on the ocean after a day in the sun, when its warmth is still radiating off of your skin.

Eat. Sweat. Undress. has five hair mists in all, but they also have a discovery set with mini vials of all five scents worth snagging.

Escada Candy Love

Escada Candy Love $59.00

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If you want to make every day feel like Valentine’s Day, Escada Candy Love is one great way to do that.

The exterior offers a clue as to the aroma. The standout notes are apple, rose, and vanilla whipped cream. It sounds sweet, and it is, but there’s enough rose in there to balance the sweetness without muting it. It’s fruity, fluffy, and so much fun to wear.

Valentino Uomo Born In Roma Yellow Dream

Valentino Uomo Born In Roma Yellow Dream $96.00

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This fragrance is so crazy, special, and made up of absolutely everything we love. Born In Roma Yellow Dream opens with mandarin orange and pineapple. The heart is made up of a gingerbread accord, and the base is vanilla and cedar.

On the skin, it’s a real treat—warm, smooth, and sweet with a very commanding wear (yet it's never too strong.)

Mugler Angel Nova

Mugler Angel Nova $139.00

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This fragrance is already iconic because it’s Mugler, a house that wrote the book on wild combinations of notes that make for unforgettable scents. Angel Nova is a delicious, more approachable take on the Angel franchise. It is equal parts fruity and floral, with a base of wood to give it some texture. The top kicks off with a juicy red pairing of lychee and raspberry, with a heart of rose, and wood, and benzoin, which is similar to vanilla, at the base.

This is a bright, fruity scent with an intellectual side. The notes in the scent are very well balanced, making for lovely wear on the skin that only gets better with time.

Maison Margiela Replica Under the Lemon Trees

Maison Margiela Replica Under the Lemon Trees $58.00

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Under The Lemon Tree is beautiful in its simplicity. The scent is essentially a fresh lemon, a little bit of wood, and some musk to let it breathe.

It’s fruity and airy and just really lovely. This one will also wear differently on anyone who wears it. Of course, all fragrances wear differently depending on the wearer's body chemistry. Still, this will be embodied differently depending on if it’s being worn under a sundress or a leather jacket.

Lush Furze

Lush Furze $105.00

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Furze captures everything we love about the beach tableau through a Lush lens. It’s got a pairing of vanilla and coconut that are actually more reserved than either of the notes typically are, especially when paired together. Neroli, florals, and woods round it out to make a beachy scent that is less animated and more still life. If not a more accurate take on the beach, then it is definitely a more adult take. You'll reach for this scent every spring.

Imaginary Authors Saint Julep

Imaginary Authors Saint Julep $95.00

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Saint Julep is inspired by the legend of an old speakeasy that was transported to the middle of a mint field on the backs of two dozen men. So, mint is the standout note here.

Mint is so hard to find in fragrances, especially in ways that don’t make it smell like a cleaning product, but this is different. Taking notes (literally) from the classic cocktail, the Mint Julep, you’ll find sweet mint, bourbon, sugar cube, plus tangerine and magnolia. It smells fresh and sweet, and it’s exactly what you want to wear in spring and might be even better to welcome in the hotter months.  

Cartier Declaration

Cartier Déclaration Haute Fraîcheur $79.00

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This botanical, woody, and spicy blend offers an updated take on the classic fragrance by Cartier. We love the stunning teal color of the bottle, which looks gorgeous on a vanity and calls to mind crystal blue waters. But it's the aroma—which is designed to mimic spring by "blooming" with citrus leaves and sap—that gets us every time.

Nest Golden Nectar

Nest Golden Nectar Eau de Parfum $86.00

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This scent is about as springtime as it gets, thanks to a warm floral aroma that's heavy with notes of golden orchid, amber, and musk. As a bonus, this fragrance is cruelty-free and formulated with parabens, silicones, or phthalates.

We love the story behind the scent, too. Perfumer Laura Slatkin's inspiration was none other than Cleopatra, who is said to have scented the sails of her boat with perfume, to entice suitors as she came upon the shore.