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Fancy a little wander through the garden? The harvest is here, and you can fill your basket—well, your perfume vanity, anyway—with its bounty: juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, maybe even an earthy beet or potato straight out of the soil, because the best vegetal perfumes are like an aromatic, evocative trip to the farmers market.
Vegetal perfumes are fragrances built around lifelike vegetable and plant notes, as well as the surrounding environment—like a tomato fresh from the vine, where you can smell not only the plump, orange-red veggie (fruit if you’re being technical, but I digress) itself, but also its fragrant stem and the dirt it grew from, or an herbal scent that smells like a handful of freshly harvested basil or mint leaves.
“What makes [vegetal scents] unique is their realism and texture,” explains Patty Hidalgo, vice president perfumer at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). “They bring a sense of vitality and authenticity to fragrance, creating the impression of being in a garden, greenhouse, or natural landscape rather than simply smelling a decorative floral bouquet.” Hidalgo says that while vegetal scents are often considered part of the “green” fragrance family, they’ve evolved to become their own special category. “These vegetal notes are appearing across many fragrance categories, from fresh and aromatic compositions to florals, woods, and even niche artistic creations. Tomatoes are a good example of a vegetal scent that has gained a lot of popularity and is very on trend.”
If it feels like everyone you know is burning tomato candles or using tomato-scented hand soap, it’s because they are. Brands as diverse as Bath & Body Works and Loewe, Flamingo Estate and Le Monde Gourmand have experimented with tomato-scented perfumes, hand washes, and candles, and Kevin Keller, founder of Fulton & Roark, told Allure that the evolution from more traditional fragrances and TK gourmands to vegetal scents makes, well, sense. “You start to get away from the simple white, starchy foods and wanting desserts when you're a little kid, to discovering the bitters, the greens, the things that are a little bit more complex,” he explained.“I think we're seeing that very same arc as people expand their horizons with fragrance.”
Hidalgo agrees. “Vegetal notes often feel fresh, modern, and emotionally connected to nature,” she says. “Consumers are increasingly looking for authenticity, wellness, and a stronger connection to nature, especially when the world feels tense and chaotic. Vegetal scents offer a more immersive and realistic interpretation of the natural world and draw people into nature through the olfactive experience.”
The best vegetal perfumes capture the energy of living plants and satisfy your craving for something unique and creative. Ahead, scroll through our top picks for the best of the best, including rhubarb, beet, and green pepper scents, as well as eau de parfums and body mist formulas.
Our Top Vegetal Perfumes
- Best Tomato: Maison Margiela From the Garden Eau de Toilette, $170
- Best Carrot: Heretic Parfum Fourteen Carrots Eau de Parfum, $65
- Best Cucumber: Officine Universelle Buly Eau Triple Indian Cucumber and Syrian Mint, $195
- Best Rhubarb: Prada Infusion d’Rhubarbe Eau de Parfum, $190
- Best Herbaceous: Dries Van Noten Crazy Basil Eau de Parfum, $330
- Best Beet: Jo Malone Scarlet Beetroot Eau de Parfum, $92
- Best Green Pepper: D.S. & Durga Bistro Waters Eau de Parfum, $210
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Best Tomato: Maison Margiela From the Garden Eau de Parfum
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Maison Margiela
From the Garden Eau de Parfum
Sephora
Why it's worth it: Maison Margiela’s wildly popular fragrances are all inspired by singular experiences: a night at the jazz club, a walk on the beach, a funfair evening in summertime. This tomato-based scent captures the feeling of tending to the garden and harvesting the fruits of your labor on a sunny summer day, with tomato playing the starring role and imparting a unique green quality that makes the fragrance feel juicy and ripe but still light and fresh. Citrusy notes, including green mandarin and grapefruit, provide lift and represent the bright rays of sunshine, while geranium and patchouli add earthy spiciness. Imagine how good From the Garden would feel on a gloomy January day; it’s almost as good as biting into the first ripe tomato of the season. (Almost.)
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- Key notes: tomato leaf, green mandarin, grapefruit, geranium, patchouli
- Sizes: 1 oz, 3.4 oz
Best Carrot: Heretic Parfum Fourteen Carrots
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Heretic
Parfum Fourteen Carrots
Nordstrom
Why it's worth it: Carrot is a unique note in perfumery because the veggie itself doesn’t have a ton of its own fragrance; it’s a teeny bit sweet and a teeny bit earthy, but not as strong as tomatoes or herbs. But the act of harvesting carrots—digging into the soil, pulling up the root, brushing off the dirt, and biting into the orange vegetable—is a deliciously sensorial experience, which Heretic’s Fourteen Carrots captures in this dusky golden scent. Both carrot seed and carrot absolute are present in the formulation, surrounded by velvety notes of plum, clove, and vetiver. This is not a cheerful cartoon carrot scent; this is a sexy carrot scent.
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- Key notes: carrot seed, carrot absolute, clove, plum, vetiver, eucalyptus
- Sizes: 0.5 oz
Best Cucumber: Officine Universelle Buly Eau Triple Indian Cucumber and Syrian Mint Eau de Parfum
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Officine Universelle Buly
Eau Triple Indian Cucumber and Syrian Mint Eau de Parfum
Officine Universelle Buly
Why it's worth it: Cucumbers, whether you eat them straight, chop them into a salad, or pickle them, simply smell and taste cool. The green veggie adds a round, watery flavor to your culinary creations, and it does the same in perfumery. It plays particularly well with mint, as you’ll notice at first sniff of this cool, crisp, breezy fragrance in a minty-fresh bottle. It’s absolutely the scent you’ll reach for when you’re craving a cooldown or a quick refresh, as the mint and cucumber combo is invigorating and cleansing, enhanced by light musk for a bit of creamy warmth.
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- Key notes: cucumber, mint, musk
- Sizes: 2.5 oz
Best Beet: Jo Malone Scarlet Beetroot Eau de Parfum
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Jo Malone
Scarlet Beetroot Eau de Parfum
Nordstrom
Why it's worth it: Many years ago, I had a beet Cosmopolitan cocktail at a now-closed restaurant and I’ve never stopped thinking about it. Beet red (though it’s really magenta) is one of my favorite colors and I live for a fresh beet salad, so Jo Malone’s Scarlet Beetroot is an absolute essential in my rotation. Even the bottle is beet colored. Grounding, rich beetroot pairs with juicy blackcurrant top notes and a base of earthy, spicy patchouli for a scent that reminds me of sipping that long-lost beet Cosmopolitan in a dimly lit restaurant on a cool fall night.
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- Key notes: beetroot, blackcurrant, patchouli
- Sizes: 1 oz
Best Herbaceous: Dries Van Noten Crazy Basil Eau de Parfum
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Dries Van Noten
Crazy Basil Eau de Parfum
Nordstrom
Why it's worth it: There’s nothing more intoxicatingly aromatic than the smell of fresh basil, whether you’re picking it from the herb garden, chopping it up for dinner, or eating it on a caprese salad. Dries Van Noten harnessed that zesty, sparkling fragrance in their Crazy Basil scent, which—as you might expect—smells a whole lot like basil. It practically bursts out of the bottle with bold basil notes elevated by green, citrusy bergamot and mandarin, and as it fades, it relaxes (somewhat) into mid- and base notes of geranium, rosemary, and cedarwood. Plus, the sleek, minimalist two-tone green bottle is beyond sophisticated.
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- Key notes: basil absolute, bergamot, mandarin, geranium, rosemary, cedarwood
- Sizes: 3.4 oz
Best Rhubarb: Prada Infusion de Rhubarbe Eau de Parfum
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Prada
Infusion de Rhubarbe Eau de Parfum
Nordstrom
Ulta Beauty
Sephora
Why it's worth it: I have a rhubarb patch in my backyard and love nothing more than plucking a batch of the tart, tangy red stalks, stripping them of their giant leaves, and chopping them up into bits for a rhubarb crisp or slush. The entire experience is an aromatic journey: the soft soil from which it grows, the green of the leaves, the fruity snap of the produce, and the simple but delightful sweetness when you sprinkle it with sugar. Prada beautifully captured this feeling with their Infusion de Rhubarb Eau de Parfum. The fruity, citrusy juice is pink, and the scent matches that mood perfectly. Wear Infusion de Rhubarbe when you want to feel like joy personified.
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- Key notes: green mandarin, rhubarb, rose, white musk
- Sizes: 0.34 oz, 3.4 oz
Best for Layering: Tsu Lange Yor The Garden Eau de Parfum Set
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Tsu Lange Yor
The Garden Eau de Parfum Set
Nordstrom
Why it's worth it: Be your own gardener with this set inspired by, well, the garden. (Sometimes the simplest names are the best.) It includes three easy-to-wear, easy-to-layer fragrances: Fig, Orange Grove, and Tomato, which can be worn solo as a singular scent or mixed and matched together for a creation all your own. The Garden Eau de Parfum Set gives you permission to play in the garden, so to speak; try Fig as the base with Tomato on top, or Orange Grove and Tomato mixed. Have fun with it!
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- Key notes: citrus, rose, oakmoss
- Sizes: set of 3 0.34 oz scentè
Best Green Pepper: D.S. & Durga Bistro Waters
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D.S. & Durga
Bistro Waters
Neiman Marcus
Saks Fifth Avenue
Why it's worth it: When creating this fragrance, the folks at D.S. & Durga were inspired by restaurant culture of the ’90s, namely “when vegetables got fancy” and bistros were all the rage. True to its adorable name, this watery, herbal vegetal perfume does smell a lot like a corner bistro circa 1997—you know, the ones everyone is nostalgic for on TikTok? Bistro Waters opens with coriander, pear, and a twist of lime flower, and at the heart is a green bell pepper note for that “fancy vegetable” element. Basil, which floats atop a mossy base, adds even more herbal energy to the recipe, enhanced by a sprinkle of nutmeg. Gift it to your friend who dreams of being a chef, not a corporate girlie.
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- Key notes: lime flower, pear, bell pepper, pea flower, basil
- Sizes: 1.6 oz, 3.3 oz
Best Potato: Bohoboco Polish Potatoes
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Bohoboco
Polish Potatoes
Bohoboco
Why it's worth it: We know what you’re thinking: a potato perfume? Sounds weird, right? Well, Bohoboco’s Polish Potatoes is a little weird, but that’s part of its charm. It was inspired by the perfumer’s childhood memories of Polish markets and is an ode to the creamy, earthy, mild potato note. The scent opens with wheat and beetroot notes, and patchouli, soil and earth notes, and honey add to the hyper-realistic but still fantastical interpretation of a morning at the market.
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- Key notes: wheat, beetroot, pine, Polish potatoes, rose, patchouli, soil, honey
- Sizes: 1.7 oz
Best Citrusy Vegetal: Hermès Un Jardin Sur le Nil Eau de Cologne
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Hermés
Un Jardin Sur Le Nil
Nordstrom
Sephora
Why it's worth it: There’s an entire book written about the creation of this beloved fresh, citrusy fragrance, The Perfect Scent by Chandler Burr, and I highly recommend you read it. But even if you haven’t, you’ll find so much to love about Un Jardin Sur le Nil, created by legendary perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena as an ode to Egypt. Though grapefruit, mango, and lotusnotes are definitely the standout stars here, there’s a lovely tomato leaf note added for depth and dimension, making this the perfect pick (pun intended) for someone who likes the idea of vegetal scents but isn’t quite ready to smell like a full-on tomato.
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- Key notes: grapefruit, mango, tomato leaf, lotus, sycamore
- Sizes: 1.6 oz, 3.3 oz
Best Skin Scent Vegetal Perfume: Frederic Malle Heaven Can Wait Eau de Parfum
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Frédéric Malle
Heaven Can Wait Eau de Parfum
Nordstrom
Why it's worth it: If your idea of heaven is a day in the garden, meet your new favorite fragrance. Beloved luxury perfume house Frederic Malle’s take on vegetal perfume centers on carrot, which lends a lovely light, golden sweetness to a sensual blend of iris, clove, plum, and musk. Heaven Can Wait doesn’t smell like the garden; instead, it smells like your lover’s skin on your sheets: musky and spicy, with a lingering warmth you can wrap yourself up in.
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- Key notes: clove, iris, vetiver, vanilla, musk, carrot
- Sizes: 1.7 oz
Best Vegetal Body Mist: Boy Smells Cuc Body Mist
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Boy Smells
Cuc Body Mist
Amazon
Nordstrom
Sephora
Why it's worth it: Picture this: it’s a sweltering hot day. You just left the crowded, humid subway and emerged onto the equally steamy street. You pull this adorable body mist from your bag, spritz it on, and say “Ahh…” just like you’re in a spa commercial. Cucumber can do that to a (sweaty) person! The scent is basically spa water in sprayable body mist form, with notes of cucumber (duh), mint, and musk that float across your skin.
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- Key notes: cucumber, mint, musk
- Sizes: 3 oz, 8 oz
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