Fruit Perfumes Are the ‘It’ Fragrance Trend for Spring

March 5, 2024 Mary

It’s all coming up fruity in the world of fragrance.

On the heels of last year’s cherry perfume craze — propelled in part by Tom Ford’s viral Lost Cherry fragrance and its woodier counterpart, Cherry Smoke — brands are delving deeper into the realm of fruit-forward compositions.

While Spate forecasts cherry fragrances will remain a distinct frontrunner through 2024, it has also tracked year-over-year search growth of 60.4 percent for peach perfumes; 39.2 percent for citrus fragrances, and slightly lesser — but still significant — growth for mango and coconut perfumes.

Among this spring‘s entrants to the fruit fragrance space is By/rosie Jane’s Missy Eau de Parfum, which blends green mandarin, toasted coconut and pineapple notes with Australia’s native frangipani.

“It’s the most bright and joyful fragrance I’ve done,” said founder Rosie Jane Johnston, who crafts each of the brand’s fragrances herself and forecasts that Missy, which will launch at Sephora on March 11, could do around $3 million in sales during its first year on the market.

“I love the idea of a fragrance feeling innocent and sexy at the same time; both youthful and sophisticated,” she continued, adding Missy is the brand’s first fragrance that harnesses neuroscent technology in an aim to evoke the joy Johnston felt when crafting her beach-coded mood board for the perfume.

Nette’s upcoming Pear Jam Eau de Parfum, crafted with Givaudan’s Rodrigo Flores-Roux, similarly taps mood-boosting technology. “The emotions we’ve focused on for our existing fragrances have mostly been confidence, mindfulness and relaxation; for [Pear Jam], I wanted to focus on cultivating joy and happiness,” said founder Carol Han Pyle.

Another key aim of the fragrance — which was inspired by a scene in the 1990 film “Ghost” depicting Demi Moore’s character, Molly Jensen, being consoled following the death of her boyfriend by a Japanese pear-bearing friend — is to elevate the traditional scent profile of a fruit perfume.

“We didn’t have a fruit-focused fragrance in our collection, and I thought, how do we make a fruit-focused fragrance that doesn’t smell like a ‘teenage dream’ but that can capture this [movie’s] evocative scent experience — where [Moore] is a sculptor, it’s the ’90s, she’s in New York, it’s sophisticated,” said Han Pyle, also pointing to the protective significance of pears in Japanese culture, and that they signify abundance in Chinese culture.

In the case of LilaNur Parfums, the brand’s new Narangi Zeste Eau de Parfum is “a complete departure, stylistically, from our other fragrances,” said cocreator Paul Austin, who teamed up with Firmenich’s Clément Gavarry to combine India’s sweet narangi orange with lime, lemongrass and jasmine notes.

“Narangi Zeste is meant to feel like an invitation to a glamorous escape to an Indian lake, or to the Mediterranean,” he said, adding that the fragrance in part pays tribute to the influence of the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, from which the English, French and Spanish words for “orange,” are derived.

Though Austin did not comment on sales expectations for the launch, industry sources estimate Narangi Zeste could do around $250,000 in sales during its first year on the market.

Niche fragrance brand Liis wielded top notes of blood orange and fig for its newest In This World Eau de Parfum, which “takes place in a lush universe with green, sensuous notes,” said Leslie Hendin, who cofounded the brand with Alissa Sullivan. The brand’s nose is Jerome Epinette, and the new launch encapsulates Liis’ signature fusion of floral and fruity notes, aiming to spotlight fig “in a way that people maybe haven’t smelled before,” by pairing it with lavender, violet and tonka wood.

Here, the latest in fruity fragrance.

By/rosie Jane Missy Eau de Parfum

$75 at sephora.com starting March 11

A solar-fruity fragrance which combines green mandarin, frangipani, toasted coconut and pineapple notes and, according to founder Rosie Jane Johnston, is best sprayed “liberally and casually.”

Parfums de Marly Perseus Eau de Parfum

$365 at parfums-de-marly.com

The TikTok-loved brand’s latest pairs bergamot, blackcurrant bud and grapefruit with cashmere wood and tonka bean.

Liis In This World Eau de Parfum

$165 at liisfragrances.com

Notes of blood orange, eucalyptus fig, violet, lavender and sage meld in this seventh fragrance by Liis, which purports to have doubled its wholesale business in 2023 and will enter Cult Beauty in the U.K. this spring.

LilaNur Parfums Narangi Zeste Eau de Parfum

$285 at lilanur.com, bergdorfgoodman.com

An ode to India’s narangi orange, Narangi Zeste is also infused with Indian lime, patchouli, lemongrass and Jasmine.

Nette Pear Jam Eau de Parfum

$120 at nettenyc.com, sephora.com beginning March 21

Estimated by industry sources to reach $750,000 in first-year sales, Nette’s sixth fine fragrance combines pear with Bulgarian rose, ambrette seed and raspberry pulp.