The 10 Best Fragrances of 2022

Guerlain is a French luxury fragrance and makeup brand founded in 1828 with a history of nearly 200 years. Guerlain is a house of fragrance, which took the lead in introducing the concept of personalization, providing bespoke and exclusive fragrances for individuals, banquets, even books and magazines at the beginning of the 19th century. Its clients include the great French writer Honoré de Balzac, the Queen of Belgium, the Prince of Wales and other dignitaries. Guerlain is the prototype of modern perfume. In 1889, Aimé Guerlain inherited his father’s family business and became a perfumer. He created a perfume named as Jicky, which blended artificial and natural fragrances into one for the first time and separated it from all of the previous perfumes. From then on, the creative space for perfumery has been greatly expanded. Therefore, Jicky is widely regarded as the originator of modern perfumes.

Guerlain previous perfumes has a distinctive fragrance and outstanding quality, but most of them are not suitable for daily use. In order to please young and mass consumers, Guerlain launched Aqua Allegoria Series and Little Black Dress Series. The Aqua Allegoria series is a pioneering initiative for creating fresh fragrances. Of which, the first perfume was launched in 1999 and has continued to bring forth the new. The Aqua Allegoria Series  takes pure and fresh fragrance as its melody, which makes people feel refreshing and pleasant.

La Petite Robe Noire is a perfume targeting young female clients and created by Thierry Wasser in 2012. This fragrance has a rich and sweet floral and fruity fragrance and the heart-shaped bottle is reproduced from the classic L'Heure Bleue in 1912. Many people criticized the Little Black Dress has heavy powdery scent, which is different from the previous style of Guerlain. However, it well-presented the charming of feminine. Launched in 2017, the rose-scented Black Perfecto is the latest product from the Little Black Dress Series, which leaves more sensual scent.

Guerlain has many unforgettable classic perfumes, such as Shalimar, the first oriental fragrance for women; Habit Rouge, the first oriental fragrance for men; Mitsouko, the first fruity chypre fragrance; Vol de Nuit as a tribute to Saint Eck Suppeli, the author of "The Little Prince" and Imperiale, which was specially blended for Napoleon III’s wife Empress Eugenie. These perfumes were created half a century ago, and some are even a hundred years from now. But they are still regarded as classics by many senior perfume lovers today.

Chanel is French brand founded in 1910, which is a pioneer in the fashion revolution and a miracle in the perfume world. In 1921, when Ms. Coco Chanel chose No. 5 from a batch of samples provided by perfumer Ernest Beaux, she did not expect that this perfume would become an epoch-making fragrance. Vogue magazine claims that a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is sold worldwide every 30 seconds and Marilyn Monroe also said "I only wear Chanel N°5 to sleep."

N°5 achieved groundbreaking success and and enjoys high appeal in many markets around the world. The Perfumer Ernest Beaux accidentally poured too much aldehyde into the fifth sample and then it sparked a revolution in the art of perfumery. Nowadays, aldehyde fragrance is no longer popular, but N°5 is still a timeless classic that is difficult to exceed. Later Chanel created several versions for it, such as Eau de Toilette version and Eau de Toilette version.

Some people always believe that the scent of Chanel perfumes are tacky and not so unique as almost every perfume will go viral instantly after its début, such as Chance, which is a perfume series launched by Chanel for young ladies. Now there are four kinds of Chance available, namely Chance Eau Fraiche, Chance Eau Tendre and Chance Eau Vive. In order to seize the business opportunity of the blooming salon fragrance market, Chanel launched its high-end perfume line “Les Exclusifs” in 2007. This series of perfumes are expensive and only have 75mL and 200mL volume. They are blended with precious raw ingredients and superior aroma compounds, more importantly, the collection series reproduces many century-old fragrances that have been stopped production for a long time, such as N°22, 1932, Island Forest, etc.. Most of them have been recreated by two top perfumer Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake and their re-creation has been highly praised by authoritative fragrance critics such as Luca Turin. If you have sufficient budget, it is highly recommended to collect it. 

Chanel also has many successful perfumes for men, which are well-received by clients thanks to its refined feel and fresh, yet deep and mature scents.

Hermès was founded by Thierry Hermès in Paris, France in 1837. In the early years, it started with the manufacture of high-end harnesses with a history of more than 180 years from now. Later its business scope has expanded from harnesses to bags, accessories, scarves, perfumes, etc. Hermès began to develop perfumes in the middle of the last century. Émile Hermès, the 3^rd generation heir of the Hermès family, met perfumer Edmond Roudnitska, and that’s the beginning of Eau d’Hermès.

During the 50 years after Eau d’Hermès was born, Hermès has successively launched a lot of perfume products and all of them were created by different famous perfumers, such as Guy Robert, Maurice Roucel, Olivia Giacobetti. In 2004, Hermès had an exclusive house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, who brought the most prosperous period to Hermès fragrances for consecutive 12 years. As he pursues minimalism, so the Hermès perfume features subtle, elegant and natural scents, which is especially reflected in the Un Jardin series.

In 2003, Jean-Claude Ellena created the first perfume for Hermès, namely Un Jardin en Méditerranée, which was inspired by the private garden of Hermès display creative director Leila Merchari in Tunisia. The top note has the fragrance of lemon and citrus, which is a favorite of Jean-Claude Ellena, and mixed with the bitterness of the green grass. The middle notes begin to turn into the sweet fragrance of ripe fruits, and the woody aroma gradually emerges. The debut of Un Jardin en Méditerranée made Hermès perfume famous. In the following 12 years, Jean-Claude Ellena has successively launched four kinds of garden-themed perfumes, including the Nile Garden, Yuhou Garden, Roof Garden and Mr. Li’s Garden. However, with the resignation of Jean-Claude Ellena, this classic series may come to an end.

The Hermessence Colletion belongs to the boutique salon series of Hermes, which positioned as high-end series and only have 100ml volume available. The erre d’ s Hermes is the most popular fragrance for men in the history and generally known as "the most expected smell from your boyfriend", so it’s truly a “perfume killer” to females. The fragance of Terre d'Hermes is composed of the lively aroma of grapefruit, sweet pepper and pink pepper as well as geranium and cedar, so it brings a sense of calm, firm and gentle. Therefore, it’s suitable for most mature men, and also a good choice for women to send it as a gift.

Tom Ford is an American brand after its founder in 2005. The genius designer Tom Ford works together with Estee Lauder to jointly established a makeup department. With the support of Estee Lauder, they began to get involved in the development of makeup and perfume products. In the following year, Tom Ford launched its first perfume, namely Black Orchid and it attracted wide attention after made its first debut. Nowadays, Tom Ford has launched dozens of perfumes and won multiple awards consecutively issued by the Perfume Foundation. Therefore, it has a good reputation in the perfume industry. Since the collabration with high-end salon is a good way to promote commercial perfume brands, so Tom Ford began to develop its Private Blend series in 2007. To our surprises, this collection integrates Tom Ford’s own creativity and he also attaches great importance to it. In this series, several new fragrances are launched every year. As a result, the fragrances of the Private Blend Series have become increasingly complex and the number far exceeds its conventional Signature series. 

If we compare the Private Blending Series with the Signature Series, the most direct difference is the price, the former are expensive; in terms of appearance, the Private Blend Series are square bottles, and the caps vary from its specifications. Both 50mL and 100mL are square caps, while the 250ml is a round cap. However, all of the signature series perfumes use vertical striped bottles, and the caps are the same.

Of the conventional series, the most well-known is Grey Vetiver, which integrates tobacco, oakmoss and woody scents into one. It gives a clam and restrained smell, and it’s not so flamboyant, so it’s an ideal choice for business men. Among the Private Blend Series, White Suede is a popular fragrance taking leather, soapy and musk as its key words, which leaves an refined and elegant scents.

Dior is a luxury brand with its own perfume factory in France and its perfumes are sold all over the world. Dior has continuously developed excellent perfumes after the first bottle of perfume Miss Dior was launched in 1947. We may say that Dior is a first-class brand in commercial perfumes. 

J’adore is Dior’s the most successful product in the perfume field, which can compete with Chanel N°5. In 2013, J’adore defeated Chanel N°5 and successfully won the sales champion in global perfume industry and was awarded a Hall of Fame by Perfume Foundation in 2015. It has been 20 years since J'adore was launched, but it’s still very popular among young and mature women. Its floral and fruity fragrance can well reflect femininity and it’s suitable for private occasions such as dating and parties. Besides, the scent is not too overwhelming, so can also be used in the office. Launched in 2005, Dior Homme was considered to be the masterpiece of fragrance for men in this century. This perfume has a deep yet soft scents. Compared with another more popular perfume Sauvage, its woody floral fragrance can be acceptable to most of the majority. However, the Sauvage is spicy and intense, which is more suitable for men with masculine appearance and sensual temperament.

Maison Chrstian Dior perfume series was used to be called La Collection Privee Collection Series, which is a high-end salon line started in 2004. Now it has more than 20 kinds of fragrance available, including 40ml, 125ml , 250ml and 450ml four specifications. In general, the Dior high-end salon lineup is exquisite and elegant, and it’s very suitable to wear at any occasions. Besides, this series of perfumes does not blindly follow the trend of freshness. Moreover, the fragrance last longer than most perfumes, so it’s worth buying.

Armani is a top-notch Italian luxury brand. However, L'Oréal Luxe is responsible for all of the development, production and distribution of its fragrance products. This cooperation continues from 1988 till now. In 2018, Armani Group and L'Oréal Group renews this agreement until 2050.

Among all the fragrances of Armani, the most important ones are the Acqua di Gio Series and SI Love Series. Acqua di Gio is a perfume that laid the foundation for the Armani perfume business. As the world's best-selling fragrance for men in the past, Acqua di Gio Series brought watery aquatic fragrances to the public vision and make it one of the most popular commercial fragrances. It’s suitable for men on many occasions.

The SI Eau de Parfum Series is flagship fragrance for women in recent years, which is positioned as its iconic product of Armani compared with Dior J’ adore and Chanel N°5.

The original SI Eau de Parfum was launched in 2013, which is EDP with transparent bottle and black cap. Later, SI Love launched a number of derivatives, such as SI Intense with black bottle and cap in 2014, Si Eau de Toilette with transparent bottle and naked pink cap in  2015 and SI Passione with red bottle and black cap in 2017. The common feature of this series of perfumes is that the plum flavor is prominent and long-lasting and the aroma is slightly sweet. It leaves warm feelings and help make you feel a little more feminine.

Armani is one of the first luxury brands to launch a high-end perfume lineup. At the begining, its Armani Prive Collection Perfumes were designed to match its Haute Couture Clothing Lineup under the same name. There are many subcategories in the private collection series, which can be divided into four sub-series from low to high level: Les Eaux, La Collection, La Collection Des Mille Et Une Nuit, and La Ccllection Des Terres Precieuses. The Les Eaux is an entry-level series and provides 4 kinds of garden-themed EDP perfumes. Of which, Suzhou Peony is the most popular one in China. In terms of the artistry of the design, the Armani Private Collection is impeccable. The design of hand-made square perfume bottle and pebble-like cap are similar to agate, amber, jade, gold and other precious materials, which is of great value of collection.

Burberry is a representative of British Luxury brand, which specializes fashion and accessories. During 1995-2013, the perfume manufacturer Inter parfums was responsible for its makeup and fragrance products. And as taken over by the beauty giant Coty Group in 2017.

Burberry’s perfumes retain its classic checkered design and became a widely-spread Brit Series. All of the perfumes are packed in checkered square bottles and the price is relatively competitive. The Brit series mainly includes two kinds of perfumes for both men and women, namely Brit and Brit Rhythm. In addition, Burberry also launched Brit Splash and Brit Sheer for men and women individually.

London for Men is a classic series, which is Burberry's best-selling hero product for many years. This perfume leaves warm and deep scents. The overall fragrance is soft and non-irritating. It’s very suitable to wear in the autumn and winter as well as various business occasions. On the whole, it’s an ideal perfume for daily use.

My Burberry and Mr. Burberry are high-end series created by famous perfumer Francis Kurkdjian in 2014. At that time, Burberry had just took the beauty business back and planned to launch a fragrance for women that could represent the brand image. So Francis Kurkdjian was invited as the house perfumer. The fragrance received good response as soon as it hit the market, so Burberry continued to cooperate with Francis Kurkdjian and launched a fragrance for men named as Mr. Burberry as well as two editions of EDP, namely, My Burberry Black and My Burberry Blush.

Bulgari is one of the world's largest jewellery brands from Italy and now it belongs to LVMH, an international renowned luxury goods group. Bulgari perfumes are affordable and applicable, and are especially suitable for beginners to buy. However, Bulgari does not pay much attention to the appearance of its perfumes as most of the fragrance bottles are made of plastic, which looks a little bit cheap.

Bulgari is famous for its tea fragrances. Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert is the first one created by perfume master Jean-Claude Ellena in 1992. This fragrance is very similar to the fresh smell of green tea and was originally given as a gift to distinguished clients who purchase jewelry. So Bulgari didn’t expect it to be a popular fragrance and become a source of inspiration for blending tea fragrance in the future.Since then, Bulgari's Eau Parfumée series has been expanded continuously, such as Thé Blanc, Thé Bleu, Thé Rouge and so on.

The Omnia Collection series is another fragrance product lineup for women and its exquisite bottle was inspired by the double-ring colored gemstones from the brand itself. Currently, there are Pink Sapphire, Amethyste, Coral, Crystalline, and Paraiba fragrances and they all blended with different styles of floral notes.

Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence, Italy in 1921, and is now one of the world's leading luxury brands. Guccio Gucci specializes in leather goods and has designed many classic luggage and accessories. The members of Gucci family push Gucci to a new level through adding perfumes to its business scope after his death. Gucci No.1 is the first perfume created by Guy Robert and later Gucci launched dozens of popular fragrances. However, the perfume business is no longer the centerpiece of Gucci as it’s under the control of the Coty Group.

Different from the typical sexy and bold style of Gucci fragrance, Bloom is the first fragrance for women designed and developed by Alessandro Michele alone. But the fragrance was blended by famous perfumer Alberto Morillas. Gucci Bloom offers a simple floral fragrance, which is extracted from natural essences of tuberose and jasmine. With rich scents, this perfume has slight variation of its three tones and it has excellent diffusion power and can last longer. Guilty Pour Homme is one of the most well-known commercial fragrances for men. Its top note has fresh citrus, spicy pepper scents and soothing lavender. The base note is patchouli, which is a favorite of many people.

In 2019, Gucci launched its first high-end perfume series, namely the Alchemist’s Garden. This series follows the style decided by Alessandro Michele for Gucci, which has vintage, exquisite and luxurious design on its appearance instead of the typical cold and metallic style. The Alchemist’s Garden Series is also created by Alessandro Michele and its fragrance was blended by Alberto Morillas.There are a total of 7 kinds of EDP, 3 kinds of acque profumates and 4 kinds of fragrance oils available and it’s pricey.

Chloe is a famous French fashion and luxury goods brand in 1950s. Chloe started its perfume business in the late 1975. Under the leadership of Karl Lagerfeld, Chloe launched its first perfume named under its brand, but the response is not so good. Until 2005, the Coty Group began to operate Chloe's perfume department and re-launched it again two years later. Since then, Chloe became one of the most popular perfume brands for women. Chloe only have limited fragrance products, and they only sell perfumes to women. Some once-popular perfumes have been stopped production.

The excellent sales performance of Chole EDP perfume directly contributed to the expansion of the EAU DE TOILETTE series. In the following years, Chloe launched a number of EAU DE TOILETTE perfumes and they are differentiated by ribbons of different colors on the neck of the bottle, such as L'Eau de Chloe (green ribbon), rose (pink belt), love story, etc. In order to match with Chloe’s brand image, the fragrances of the ribbon series perfumes are relatively sweet, leaving a tender sweetness.