A good perfume is like a killer outfit: it makes you feel confident. A bad perfume will do the opposite – they’re insipid at best and sickening at worst. The right scent will brighten your day; the wrong scent will clear out a room.
But finding the right perfumes can be tricky. Perfumes usually come in three types – eau de toilette, eau de parfum and extrait de parfum. You might be familiar with the first two; eau de toilette has a lower fragrance oil concentration in water, usually around five to ten percent, making for a lighter scent. Eau de parfum has a higher concentration, usually more than 20 per cent. However, you may not have heard of an extrait. More common among luxury brands like Chanel and Kilian, an extrait de parfum can reach concentrations up to 40 per cent, and cost more than £200.
On top of that, you need to know your floral scents from your gourmands, and consider staying power, throw, and scent notes. All this jargon can be hard to parse if you’re new to frangrance, and buying the wrong scent can be a costly mistake. Inflation means that even the humble eau de toilette can be expensive.
That’s why I tested more than a dozen perfumes for two months straight, seperating the quality from the merely costly. Several perfumes didn’t make the cut; these are the only perfumes I think you should buy.
How we tested
After researching the most sought-after perfumes from big-name and specialist brands, I compiled a testing longlist of more than 20 scents. I gave all the fragrances a full eight hours of wear and sprayed each one in the same way: on the pulse points of my left and right wrists, and the pulse points under the left and right sides of my jawbone. I then assessed the initial scents and compared them to the brands’ marketing. Then, as the day wore on, I paid attention to any changes in the aromas as their top notes faded.
Key criteria for the best perfumes included a distinct scent, long-lasting staying power and value for money. In fairness, all fragrances react to your skin oils and temperature, so one person’s potent perfume could fade rapidly on another.
However, these criteria meant some scents didn’t make the cut. I found that there was no justifying the barely-there aroma of Byredo’s gypsy water (£150, Cultbeauty.co.uk). In the same way, Kilian’s good girl gone bad (£225, Cultbeauty.co.uk) proved too familiar to popular favourites like YSL’s Black Opium (£97, Boots.com) to warrant its £180 price tag.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
I’ve accrued a wealth of scenting know-how in my years of industry experience. I’ve covered fragrance launches from Chanel, Sol de Janeiro and Marc Jacobs, and taken deep dives into the world of perfume dupes, and best perfume deals, so I’m well-versed in the key brands to look to and avoid.
The best perfumes for women 2025 are:
- Best overall – Zara waterlily tea dress eau de parfum: £29.99, Zara.com
- Best budget buy – Diem dare you eau de parfum: £25, Diemscents.com
- Best citrus scent – Jo Malone London lime basil and mandarin cologne: £55, Johnlewis.com
- Best gourmand scent – Tom Ford vanilla sex eau de parfum: £290, Spacenk.com
- Best summer scent – Miss Dior eau de parfum: £61.20, Boots.com
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