Love in the Air: the UK’s most popular perfume scents

A new fragrance is a delight for many, and British shoppers are always on the lookout for a signature scent. They make for the perfect present for a special someone, a friend, or simply as a treat for yourself.

Whether choosing a fragrance for yourself or another, it can be tricky to decide which scent to pick with so many options available.

To help out indecisive shoppers, Lifestyle Packaging conducted a study to discover the most popular perfumes in the UK to guide your fragrance purchasing decisions.

Top 10 Most Popular Scents for Perfume

1. Oud

The clear but perhaps surprising winner crowned the UK’s favourite type of perfume scent is oud, with 14,800 monthly Google searches, on average per month.

Oud has become one of the most popular scents for perfume due to its rich, smoky, and woody scent profile, so it’s understandable that searches peaked in November 2023, with 22,200 average online searches as an autumn-winter fragrance.

One of the oldest and most expensive perfume ingredients, its use dates as far back as the third century and oud oil costs over £20,000 per kilogram. 
It has become a fast favourite thanks to platforms like TikTok, where #oud has over 1.2 billion views, and through cult classic fragrances like Tom Ford’s Oud Wood and Gucci’s Intense Oud.

2. Vanilla

To no one’s surprise, in second place is vanilla, with 8,100 average monthly searches. A staple scent for many, #vanillaperfume has over 508 million TikTok views as thousands of users share their favourite perfumes that remind them of milkshakes, cake, ice cream, and other treats.

Gourmand and sweet, we often associate vanilla with baking and sweets, and it is a nostalgic smell for many due to its association with childhood and happy memories.

Vanilla is an incredibly versatile type of perfume scent, as it can be layered with other fragrance notes to smell slightly different. For example, Maison Margiela’s By The Fireplace has a smoky vanilla scent, while Vanilla Vibes from Juliette Has a Gun has a fresher vanilla smell, and Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre combines vanilla with floral notes.

3. Coconut

Another fragrance favourite, coconut is the third most popular scent for perfume, receiving 3,600 monthly searches on average.

Tropical coconut has an exotic olfactory profile that often reminds us of summer and holidays abroad, and like oud and vanilla, it’s also a TikTok favourite with over 66.9 million views.

Naturally, searches for coconut perfume peaked during June and July, with 4,400 monthly Google searches, and popular options include Maison Margiela’s Beach Walk, Guerlain’s Coconut Fizz, and The 7 Virtues’ Coconut Sun.

4 & 5. Musk and Rose

In fourth and fifth position are musk and rose, with these types of perfume scents each having 2,900 average monthly searches per month.

Musk is often used as a fragrance base note and can smell rich and leathery or clean and fresh, depending on the other notes it is mixed with, and it has seen an 83 percent increase in search volume in the last three months.

Meanwhile, searches for ‘floral rose’ have increased by 52 percent in the last three months, with searches bizarrely peaking in November last year, despite its spring-like scent.

Runners Up

Completing the top ten most popular scents for perfume are amber, jasmine, and patchouli (1,900 average monthly searches each), sandalwood (1,600 average monthly searches), and bergamot (1,300 average monthly searches).

How to Choose From the Most Popular Perfumes

Now that you know which types of perfume scents are most popular, here are some tips to help you pick the right one:

1. Choose the Right Notes

If you’re selecting a scent for someone else, find out what fragrance family they usually gravitate towards.

For example, if they wear sweeter scents, vanilla and coconut fragrances will likely be most suitable, but if they prefer earthy and musky scents, oud and musk-based perfumes will work better.

2. Match the Scent with Personality

Perfume preferences can often reflect personalities, so they take your recipient’s traits into consideration.

Introverted personalities that wear light fragrances may not like rich and musky scents, so bearing this in mind will help to point you in the right direction.

3. Take Inspiration From a Memory

Perfumes can be easily associated with memories, and if you have a favourite one in mind, choosing a scent inspired by it can add a personal touch and an additional layer of thought.

4. Make Your Own Fragrance

Can’t quite find what you’re looking for? Try making your own perfume with the help of professionals, or gift a custom perfume experience to the recipient.

This can provide a unique opportunity to make a perfume you can’t find anywhere else.

Elegant Perfume Packaging at Lifestyle

Want to make your own perfume after reading all about the country’s favourite types of perfume scents? We have a diverse range of quality perfume packaging in our range, with options that both enhance the look of your fragrance and provide protection and longevity.

If you’re interested in a more personalised bottle, we provide a custom packaging design service where you can work with our team to produce a product that best matches your vision. We can also customise your bottle with our glass bottle labelling with eye-catching finishes that stand out.

If you’d like to know more about our range of packaging products or have any questions about our range of services, get in touch today!