Scents of Christmas: spices, resins and winter sweets

A perfume «smells like Christmas» when it has the holiday notes: cinnamon, cloves, orange, incense, pine and fir, cocoa, caramel. These are warm notes that come into their own in the cold and can be found in both perfumes to wear and candles for the home.

The notes of Christmas

• Spices: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger.
• Warm citrus: orange, often together with spices.
• Resins: incense and myrrh, the notes of midnight mass.
• Forest: pine and fir.
• Sweets: cocoa, caramel, vanilla.

To wear

902 Hazy Spice by Bon Parfumeur brings together orange, ginger, armagnac, cinnamon and cloves. Smoking' Gun by BORNTOSTANDOUT combines rum, juniper, whisky, pine, incense and cinnamon. Overture Woman by Amouage has myrrh, cinnamon and incense on a rose. For those who love gourmand fragrances, Diwan Gourmand by The Spirit of Dubai plays with cocoa, date and cinnamon.

For the home

Trudon's 2026 Christmas collection features Fir, with Siberian pine, fir and incense, and Galerie des Flammes, with cinnamon and burning wood. How to choose them and make them last is explained in candles and home fragrances.

Our advice

A Christmas perfume is lovely to wear for the holidays, but be careful not to overdo it: with heating and long lunches, one spray is enough. And if it's a gift, look at the ideas in Christmas fragrance gifts.

Frequently asked questions

Which notes make you think of Christmas?

Cinnamon, cloves, orange, incense, myrrh, pine, fir, cocoa and caramel. These are warm and spicy notes, linked to holiday memories.

Can you wear a Christmas perfume all winter long?

Yes: spicy and resinous notes go well with the cold, from November to February. Other warm fragrances are in winter fragrances.