Best Perfumes to Wear in Winter 2026, From Soft-Spoken, “Second-Skin” Picks to Unexpected Takes on the Gourmand Trend

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, WWD may receive an affiliate commission. A week into 2026, we can now say that fragrance truly outperformed makeup and skin care in 2025 when considering the beauty industry at large, as measured by a year-over-year increase in sales, searches, and new launches. What this means? All the relevant predictions — like a 2024 McKinsey report stating that “each category [of the global beauty market is] projected to experience increased retail sales by 2028,” with fragrance being “forecasted to lead this growth” — came full circle. The perfume industry is as ripe as ever, and whatever people’s motivations are for diving headfirst into the world of scents (some experts believe fragrance has usurped lipstick’s spot as our generation’s newest recession indicator), the proof is in the data-pudding — a younger slice of society is interested in perfume ownership; people now own more extensive perfume collections (or what are called “fragrance wardrobes”) than in years prior; and buyers are increasingly drawn to the kinds of scent profiles that cause them to feel something, making this beauty category nothing if not emotionally salient. But, when push comes to shove, what fragrances

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