Under Their Smell: MECCA's Top Scents of 2025
December 3 | 5 minute read
Words by Kerri Gordon
2025 in two words? Perfume boom.
For the years succeeding what rhymes with bovid, the fragrance category fast became beauty’s force for growth, with sales flourishing at a faster rate than that of makeup and skincare. The once-stuffy industry has been disrupted by new, ambitious creatives (we’re looking at you, David Moltz, Troye Sivan and Chriselle Lim) as well as cross-category opportunists (hi Go-To and Charlotte Tilbury), and world-class noses are more tapped into the consumer ever. New and long-coveted fumes are being enjoyed on mass, and it’s a joy to be part of the movement.
This year’s olfactory bestsellers paint a picture of two defining fragrance trends: subtle, close-to-the-skin scents that prove ‘clean girl’ isn’t just for makeup – and the credible edible, with notable perfumers serving jammy fruits, sugared florals and creamy vanillas on a silver platter. Scroll on.
The staple: Glossier You Eau de Parfum
The white tee of any fragrance wardrobe, and my go-to in even the briefest moments of decision paralysis. There’s a reason the MECCA community went through over 600 litres of Glossier You in 2025! Bright and peppery with a sweet but never cloying dry down, You is casual in composition yet also incredibly intimate, melting into your skin thanks to a base of plant-derived musk and ambergris alternatives known as ambrette and ambrox. It wears alone beautifully but truly shines when stacked with other scents. I love it beneath a true vanilla for a more modern twist on gourmand – like Diptyque’s Eau Duelle EDP or PHLUR’s Vanilla Skin EDP.
There’s one word that truly encapsulates the icon that is Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge 540, and that’s effervescent. It’s intangibly sparkly, delicately sweet and intriguingly transparent. Smells like almost none of the sum of its parts (jasmine, saffron, amber), but rather miraculously, its own unique entity. I’m not sure I’ll ever fully comprehend the olfactory magic that comes to life in this bottle. Light yet intoxicating, edible but not cloying, Baccarat Rouge 540 is the single most complimented scent at MECCA. Just ask anyone that’s ever worn it.
The viral sensation: Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 62™ Perfume Mist
It’s the mist that started a movement: a delightfully sticky concoction of pistachio and salted caramel that put fragrance mists (back) on the map. The scent (that was first introduced to our noses by way of the cult-coveted cream) quickly turned mists into beauty’s fastest growing category, introducing a new generation to the world of fine fragrance. Nosed by Jérôme Epinette (whose resume reads like a MECCA Perfumeria catalogue, inclusive of Byredo’s Bal d’Afrique, Vilhelm’s Morning Chess and Floral Street’s Wonderland Peony), Cheirosa 62 is as gourmand as it gets: sweet, nostalgic and addictive. After years spent fighting the urge to taste it, this year we enlisted the help of our friends at Messina to turn Cheirosa 62 into gelato!
The insider favourite: Maison Crivelli Hibiscus Mahajád Extrait de Parfum
Maison Crivelli is your favourite fragrance brand’s favourite fragrance brand. Original concoctions at high concentrations, waltzing the line between old-school perfumery and modern-day irreverence. Hibiscus Mahajád is quite literally their crown jewel – it opens with an edible hibiscus and rose note that feels ripe, jammy and glistening, in the way of a macerated berry. But then a spike of peppermint brings a welcomed freshness, which is brought back down to earth with leather and cinnamon. It’s a one-of-a-kind, wear-it-on-your-wedding-day type scent that, like many of the Maison’s extraits, reigns in the longevity department.
The new kid: PHLUR Vanilla Skin Hair And Body Mist
You can stop the search. This is the vanilla scent. My whole life I’ve searched for a vanilla perfume that’s not too sweet – nor too powdery. Not cloying, not juvenile, not overbaked; just… right. PHLUR cracked the code by building Vanilla Skin like the perfect cake. A benzoin-y base of enveloping vanilla and woods sits beneath a soft, creamy middle of lily, jasmine and cashmere – topped with a delectable layer of peppered pink apple and sugar. It’s the pepper and woods that elevates this otherwise true vanilla and really makes the scent sparkle. It’s the kind of fragrance you don’t just sniff, but rather, inhale.
The IYKYK: BYREDO Mojave Ghost EDP
BYREDO are masters of the blind-buy scent, crafting cross-family fragrances with universal appeal time and time again. Mojave Ghost, similar in its wardrobe staple status to Glossier You, is the type of scent you can wear day in and out, without ever getting sick of it – or offending whoever’s path you cross. Delicate florals and blonde woods keep this EDP light and airy, with a subtle sweetness. It’s not the kind of fragrance people know you’re wearing – it stays close to the skin to rather give the effect that you’ve just washed your hair, or pulled your crisp white shirt out of the dryer moments before wearing. A modern classic (and perfect gift).
Forget Modigliani’s paintings of Jeanne Hébuterne or Jean-Luc Godard’s films for Anna Karina; Frederic Malle’s Portrait of a Lady is by far the most flattering and remarkable depiction of woman in modern art history. Named after the 1881 novel by Henry James that centres a woman striving for independence, Frederic Malle’s rendition is bold, aphrodisiacal and unshakeably confident. Its rose-forward composition, muddled with heady spices and enveloping woods, is head-turning. Best paired with self-belief, sharp tailoring and your shoulders, back.
The hidden gem: Korres Midnight Dahlia Eau de Toilette
We double – nay, triple – checked when our 2025 data revealed that Korres’ Midnight Dahlia was at the very top of the year’s bestseller list. No TikTok virality, no global marketing push, no celebrity face. A quiet-achiever that lets the contents of the bottle speak for itself – with a community of fragrance lovers who, apparently, know how to keep a secret. Their dedication to this Greece-born scent is proven; it has double the repurchase rate of the next most popular fragrance. Candied fruits like lychee and raspberry make it a delight to spritz, drying down soft and creamy thanks to peony, cedarwood and amber. Opa!
The seasonal selection: Maison Margiela By The Fireplace EDT
By The Fireplace is winter perfumery personified and a total compliment magnet. Campfire, spiced baked goods, the cosy embrace of a cashmere knit. Smokiness brings a sense of mystery, followed by a smooth and nostalgic vanilla that really melts into your skin. A Fragrantica reviewer once described it as “the most interesting a vanilla can be made while still being extremely wearable,” to which I’d wholeheartedly agree. But how could I be surprised, when the nose behind it is queen of amber scents, Marie Salamagne of Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium?
The honourable mention: Tsu Lange Yor Sage’s Rose Eau de Parfum
If Rose 31 and Baccarat Rouge 540 had a skin-contact-and-small-plates date – and then a baby – it would be this gem of an EDP. It’s wonderful, in every sense of the word. There's this unique sugared rose note at the heart of the scent, but as if it’s been embalmed in resin, with a thin veil of spice that lingers in the most satisfying way. Perhaps how I’d imagine pink musk lollies might be served in a Michelin-starred restaurant. At launch, Sage’s Rose sold out immediately; trailing behind every it-girl across Australia and New Zealand shortly thereafter. Sweet but complex, dewy but creamy and unmatched in longevity, this TLY treasure gives new life to the traditional floral.
Now that you've peeped inside the MECCA community's fragrance wardrobe, hit rewind and discover your 2025 MECCA Moments by logging in to the MECCA app to view your personal beauty highlights.
