Freshly-Baked Fragrances Are Fall’s Biggest Perfume Trend

Every Saturday, my little family and I head over to the local patisserie to pick out a breakfast pastry. My son always chooses a classic croissant, and my husband and I choose our treat of the day based on our mood—a sugar-coated kougin amman, a fancy cronut filled with raspberry lemonade cream, or maybe a scone. 

The bakery obviously smells amazing, given that all manner of delicious pastries are baking while we browse—and now, a whole new fleet of fragrances wants to replicate that tempting “little treat” run, sans the sugar rush. Baked goods are having a moment in the fragrance world, so get your sweet tooth ready. Ahead, we unpack the trend, and share some of our favorite freshly-baked fragrances.

The Trend

After years of Santal 33 domination where it felt like every popular fragrance smelled leathery and smoky, things did a complete 180 and landed in Candy Land, so to speak. Vanilla reigned supreme on PerfumeTok, and a subset of unique gourmands and sweet scents like Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry, Baccarat Rouge 540, and DS & Durga’s Pistachio and Deep Dark Vanilla took over—not to mention the incredible popularity of Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian Bum Bum Cream with its pistachio, salted caramel, and vanilla aroma. Basically, everyone smelled good enough to eat.

And we still do! It’s only natural that pastry-inspired scents would begin to pop up as a reaction to the gourmand obsession. This doesn’t mean that we’re saying goodbye to vanilla, caramel, and their cohorts; they’re just hanging at the bakery instead of the ice cream shop! Macarons, madeleines, croissants, and cakes are on the menu. Even Auntie Anne’s, the pretzel queen of your local mall, got in on the action, releasing a limited-edition scent—er, eau de pretzel—called Knead. (And yes, it sold out.) 

The Scents

Maison Margiela Replica Afternoon Delight

Despite its name, Maison Margiela Replica’s Afternoon Delight isn’t a sexy, sensual fragrance alluding to a midday romp in a motel bed; it’s actually a sweet gourmand with notes of vanilla, sandalwood, and what the brand calls a “madeleine accord” to convey sensorial memories of eating a warm madeleine with someone you love. At the top, you’ll instantly recognize the soft, doughy scent of a baked good, and it develops into a light, wearable gourmand.

Snif Crumb Couture

Snif’s Crumb Couture, a scent from their “secret menu,” is perhaps the most surprisingly delightful pastry frag, a croissant-inspired scent that opens with the buttery, doughy scent of a fresh-from-the-oven croissant covered in berry jam. But don’t worry about smelling like straight-up bread all day; the scent dries down to a lovely, wearable woody vanilla base. (In case you were wondering, I ran it past the ultimate croissant expert, my three-year-old, and it passed his highly coveted approval test.)

Marissa Zappas Annabel’s Birthday Cake

If your tastes run more Marie Antoinette-style fancy little cakes instead of bread-based pastries, try Marissa Zappas’s lighthearted Annabel’s Birthday Cake, which smells like—you guessed it—a delicious, lemon-and-tuberose, pastel-frosted birthday cake with a hint of rubber party balloon.

Hilde Solani Buoinissimo

Perhaps the most literal on the list, this gourmand is inspired by walking into an Italian bakery on a chilly day. The heart of the fragrance captures the aroma of a flaky broiche, but there’s also notes of caramel, butter, and espresso.

DS & Durga Gateau Blackout

DS & Durga’s Gateau Blackout was inspired by a fond memory of a specific Black Forest Cake and is a warmer, richer, spicier take on the trend. You can go get a little treat while smelling like a little treat. There’s really nothing better than that.