The Best Fragrance Combos for Every Scent Profile
Create the best fragrance for your unique scent by adding these popular options together.
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Creating a unique scent at home is a fun and creative way to explore the vast and sometimes overwhelming world of fragrance. By combining scents — musky, gourmand, fruity, woody, and floral — you can craft a signature that’s all your own. The beauty of blending fragrances at home lies in the freedom to experiment and play around. Adjust the amount of each until you find something that truly speaks to you after you’ve worn it a few times.
Below are some of our favorite rich, layered combinations to get you started on your journey.
Musky
Use With:
Notes: pink pepper, iris, ambrette seeds, ambrox
Notes: bergamot, white magnolia, cassis, white sandalwood, white musk, rose musk
Musky scents are the chameleons of the fragrance world. Of all the scent families, musk seems to take to the body chemistry of the wearer especially well. While it’s true, to an extent, that the smell of a fragrance can read differently on different people because of how their body chemistry changes it, musks have a reputation for really adapting and transforming with the wearer. Phlur’s viral Missing Person scent is a great musky base to work with. Pair it with Glossier You for an everyday signature scent. If you want something really special (or you’re just feeling fancy) Initio’s Musk Therapy is a beautiful, universally appealing option that is complex but not intimidating.
Gourmand/Vanilla
Fragrance:
Brown Sugar Babe Creme de la Creme
Notes: vanilla orchid, jasmine, brown sugar, tonka bean, amberwood, musk, patchouli
Use With:
Notes: pink pepper, pink apple, sugar crystals, lily, jasmine petals, cashmere wood, benzoin, vanilla, sandalwood, agarwood
Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace
Notes: pink pepper, clove, orange flower, chestnut accord, guiac wood, cade, vanilla accord, cashmeran
Smell like a snack — a sweet one. Vanilla is one of the most popular kinds of scents, and it is anything but boring. It’s comforting, sensual, and at times sophisticated. Brown Sugar Babe’s line of scented body oils are an absolute must-try. Creme de la Creme is inspired by Kayali’s Vanilla 28 scent, and it’s rich and sugary without being cloying. This one is an absolute guaranteed compliment-getter, even if you wear it alone. Phlur’s Vanilla Skin gives that same sugary, comforting vibe that will make anyone who passes by you want to draw even closer. Bump up the combo by adding Replica By the Fireplace to give your vanilla base a delightful smoky chestnut vibe.
Fruity
Fragrance:
Canvas Beauty Pineapple Upside Down Body Glaze
Notes: tropical fruits, maraschino cherries, pineapple, sponge cake, cream of coconut, vanilla bean, brown sugar
Use With:
Notes: fig, bergamot, jasmine, cyclamen, vanilla
Notes: pineapple, apple, red berries, Bulgarian rose, Turkish rose, jasmine sambac, vanilla, amber, cedarwood
We love the smell of a tropical drink, both in the glass and on our bodies. Canvas Beauty’s Pineapple Upside Down Body Glaze smells exactly like the dessert, and is heavy on the pineapple without being overwhelming. Pair it with Ellis Brooklyn’s Sun Fruit, the perfect combo of sweet and tart. Add Kajal Lamar, a fruity and spicy scent that’s supersophisticated and leaves a beautiful scent trail.
Woody
Fragrance:
Notes: cocoa
Use With:
Henry Rose Queens & Monsters Eau de Parfum
Notes: violet leaf, neroli, petitgratin, freesia, jasmine, vanilla, coco musk, sandalwood
Notes: pear, frankincense, hazelnut, saffron, rose, jasmine sambac, osmanthus, cistus, sandalwood, akigalawood, ambergris, vanilla
Woody fragrances are earthy, mysterious, and magnetic. While you can go with a moisturizer that is on the woodier side, the nutty sweetness of some good old-fashioned Palmer’s Cocoa Butter serves as an excellent base for both of these scents. Henry Rose’s Queens & Monsters has a certain creamy darkness to it that’s really appealing. Amouage’s Guidance is sultry, alluring, and unique. It’s the type of scent that smells like witchcraft — the good kind. Its notes of hazelnut give it a spicy quality, while the woody base is creamy and feminine. The floral notes in this are well blended, too, so as not to overwhelm the other notes. What you get is an intoxicating scent that fills the space with a softness that doesn’t suffocate everyone around you.
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Floral
Fragrance:
Sol de Janiero Beija Flor Elasti-Cream
Notes: pink dragonfruit, lychee essence, brazilian jasmine, ocean air, hibiscus, sheer vanilla, sun musk
Use With:
Floral Street Wonderland Peony
Notes: blackcurrant, pink pepper, Sicilian lemon, pink berries, violet, peony accord, raspberry flower, vanilla bean, pink candy floss, cedarwood, vetiver
Parfums de Marly Delina
Notes: rhubarb, lychee, bergamot essence, Damascena rose, vanilla, cashmeran, musk, vetiver
Sol de Janiero makes some of the most popular skin scents and body sprays around. Its Beija Flor Elasti-Cream is the perfect base for florals, especially ones with a bit of sweetness in them. We like it with Floral Street’s Wonderland Peony, which starts off sweet but gives way to a petal scent once it dries down. And Parfums de Marly’s Delina is a floral masterpiece. It’s a sophisticated rose that is at once sweet and fresh. It’s a crowd-pleaser and a must-have in the collection of anyone who likes florals.
This article is for general informational purposes only.
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