The best vanilla perfumes, by the kind of vanilla you like

What vanilla smells like in perfume

Natural vanilla comes from the cured pods of a climbing orchid. On its own it smells warm, sweet and slightly smoky, with a creamy, almost boozy depth that is quite different from the sugary vanilla of a dessert. In perfume, vanilla usually sits in the base, where it softens everything above it and gives a fragrance its warm finish.

What makes vanilla perfumes so different from each other is what surrounds the vanilla. Tobacco and spirits make it boozy. Resins such as benzoin and labdanum make it ambery and deep. Praline, caramel and coffee make it gourmand. Coconut makes it creamy, iris makes it powdery, and lavender makes it fresh. Tonka bean, which smells of almond, hay and vanilla at once, turns up beside vanilla in many of them.

So the useful question is not "which is the best vanilla perfume?" but "which vanilla do I like?". The styles below answer that.

Boozy and smoky vanilla

Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford

Tobacco Vanille opens with tobacco leaf and spicy notes, then vanilla, cacao, tobacco blossom and tonka bean, over dried fruits and woody notes. Honeyed tobacco and rich vanilla, dense and warm. Its sillage vote in the community leans strong, and winter and autumn evenings are when voters choose it. It launched in 2007 and set the template for this style.

Angels' Share by Kilian

Angels' Share is cognac over cinnamon, tonka bean and oak, with vanilla, praline, sandalwood and candied almond in the base. Warm cognac and spice, sweetened with praline. Most community voters rate its longevity long lasting, and voters pick it for winter and autumn evenings.

XJ 1861 Naxos by Xerjoff

XJ 1861 Naxos starts with lavender, bergamot and lemon, turns to honey, cinnamon and jasmine sambac, and ends on tobacco leaf, vanilla and tonka bean. Honey and tobacco with a bright, fresh start. Most community voters rate its sillage strong, so it needs a light hand.

Deep and ambery vanilla

Grand Soir by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Grand Soir is Spanish labdanum and orange, then lavender and Siam benzoin, over amber, vanilla, tonka bean, musk and cedar. Glowing resin and vanilla, like warm amber in candlelight. Most community voters rate its longevity long lasting. Voters pick it for winter and autumn evenings.

Shalimar Eau de Parfum by Guerlain

The vanilla in Shalimar Eau de Parfum is smoky and leathery. It shares the base with incense, leather, opoponax, sandalwood and tonka bean, sits under a heart of iris, jasmine and rose, and is lit up at the start by bergamot, lemon and mandarin. It launched in 1990 and remains a benchmark for ambery vanilla.

Sweet and gourmand vanilla

La Vie Est Belle by Lancôme

In La Vie Est Belle the vanilla comes with praline and tonka bean, lifted by pear and black currant at the top and softened by iris in the heart, with jasmine, orange blossom and patchouli around it. Sugared and powdery rather than boozy. Community votes on its longevity lean long lasting, then eternal.

Angel by Mugler

Angel is cotton candy, bergamot and fruit over honey, red berries and plum, with patchouli, chocolate, caramel and vanilla in the base. The perfume that made gourmand a family, launched in 1992. Community votes on its sillage lean enormous, then strong, so one spray is often enough.

Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent

Black Opium pours vanilla under coffee. A base of vanilla, patchouli, cashmere wood and cedar carries a heart of coffee, bitter almond, licorice and jasmine, brightened at first by pear, pink pepper and orange blossom. Dark, sweet and a little bitter. Winter is the season community voters pick for it.

Creamy and tropical vanilla

Coco Vanille by Mancera

Coco Vanille is coconut and white peach over tiare flower, ylang-ylang and jasmine, with Madagascar vanilla, white musk and woody notes in the base. Creamy, sunny and tropical, the rare vanilla that community voters pick for summer, for day and evening wear.

Vanille Absolu by Montale

Vanille Absolu keeps it simple: coconut and vanilla over woody notes, with a warm touch of cinnamon in its character. Straightforward, creamy and sweet. Community voters pick it for winter, by day and by night.

Hypnotic Poison by Dior

Hypnotic Poison is the almond vanilla of this group: vanilla, almond, sandalwood and musk in the base, a heart of jasmine, tuberose, rose and caraway, and coconut, plum and apricot to open. Soft, milky and warm. Community voters choose it for winter, after dark.

Soft and powdery vanilla

Mon Guerlain by Guerlain

Mon Guerlain is lavender and bergamot over iris, jasmine sambac and rose, with Tahitian vanilla, coumarin, Australian sandalwood, licorice and benzoin underneath. Lavender and vanilla, soft and polished. Community voters pick it for autumn and winter, by day, at the office and in the evening, which makes it one of the most versatile vanillas here.

Guidance by Amouage

Guidance uses vanilla as an undertone rather than the headline. Hazelnut, pear and olibanum open it; osmanthus, rose, saffron and jasmine sambac follow; sandalwood, ambergris, labdanum and vanilla hold the base. Most community voters rate its longevity eternal.

Delina by Parfums de Marly

Delina is litchi, rhubarb, bergamot and nutmeg over Turkish rose, peony, musk and vanilla, with cashmeran, incense, cedar and vetiver below. A rose first, softened by vanilla in the heart. Community voters pick it for spring, by day and in the evening.

Fresh vanilla

Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier

Le Male shows how fresh vanilla can be: a barbershop opening of lavender, mint, cardamom and bergamot, a spiced heart of cinnamon and orange blossom, and vanilla with tonka bean, amber and sandalwood underneath. It launched in 1995, and community voters reach for it on cold nights.

Valaya by Parfums de Marly

Valaya is aldehydes, white peach and bergamot over orange blossom and lily-of-the-valley, with musk, ambroxan and vanilla in the base. Here vanilla is a soft, clean glow under white flowers and musk. Community voters pick it for spring days.

How to wear vanilla

• Mind the dose. Sweet, rich vanillas carry, so start with one or two sprays and add only if you need to.
• Match the season. Most boozy, ambery and gourmand vanillas feel best when it is cold. For warm days, try a creamy, tropical or fresh vanilla such as Coco Vanille or Valaya.
• Layer for a new vanilla. A simple vanilla under a citrus or a fresh floral changes its character completely. Our perfume layering guide has pairings to try.

Find your vanilla before buying a bottle

Vanilla is where people most often discover that they love one style and cannot stand another, and you only find out on your own skin, over a whole day. So try the styles before you choose.

1. Choose your three. Boozy, gourmand and powdery make a good first set because they are the furthest apart. In 3ml, each one is around 60 sprays.
2. Judge it in the afternoon. Vanilla changes most in the dry-down, hours after you spray, so decide on skin rather than on the first minute.
3. Size up once you are sure. Around 200 sprays in a 10ml decant covers weeks of wear; around 600 in a 30ml decant is for the vanilla you reach for every week, at the lowest price per ml.

Every vanilla perfume we carry is on our vanilla note page, and our winter perfumes page gathers the warmest ones. If you are new to buying perfume online, our guide on choosing perfume without smelling it explains how to read the notes, and how to make perfume last longer helps whichever vanilla you choose.