Consider the pear. It’s a beautiful fruit, subject of many priceless pieces of artwork. It’s delicious paired with fancy cheese, thinly sliced atop a salad, or eaten solo when perfectly ripe. But you know where pears are even more delicious? In your perfume!
If strawberry and cherry were the go-to fruit notes of spring and summer 2024, it looks like 2025 is going to be all about the anything-but-humble pear. Pear is everywhere right now, popping up as a delicate top note or the heart of vibrant, summery scents that brighten up your entire vibe in just a few spritzes. And if you haven’t experienced it yet, we have a feeling you’ll be begging for a bite soon.
Ahead, everything you need to know about the note, plus our favorite pear perfumes.
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Behind the Note
Pear scents were popular in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, when popular fragrances were flirty, fruity, and fizzy. (A certain beauty writer who shall not be named—um, me—stockpiled Victoria’s Secret Pear Glacé lotion and body spray just in case they discontinue it again.) This made a ton of sense, since pear is a versatile note that can smell light, fresh, and vegetal; super sweet and syrupy; or squeaky clean, almost like shampoo. (There’s a reason Jo Malone’s English Pear & Freesia perfume is a forever favorite; it’s pretty, versatile, and easy to wear.) Just like pear sings in a salad, it can also add crisp texture or a rounded depth to a scent and plays well with a variety of notes, from greens to florals.
Pear didn’t completely disappear from perfumery, but it took a break from the spotlight in favor of the woody, smoky tobacco perfumes that were so beloved in the late 2010s. However, as the 2020s began, sweet and gourmand scents began to creep back into our palate, leading the way for an eventual shift to fruit-forward fragrances and setting the stage for pear’s triumphant comeback.
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The Best Pear Fragrances
More and more pear scents are popping up on shelves just in time for warmer weather, and even if you’re not super into fruity fragrances, you may find something that delights your senses. Pear plays well with a variety of notes, so satisfy your pear cravings and experience the many facets of this humble fruit.
In the midst of a spring romance? Kayali’s brand new Fleur Majesty Rose Royale is a swoony floral enhanced by sweet, creamy, sink-your-teeth-into-it pear. Like we said above, pear is a wonderful companion to so many different fragrance notes, and here it sings next to rose and the equally sweet peach. The 7 Virtues’ Lotus Pear combines the fruit with lotus flower and gardenia for a lovely floral blend; pear and gardenia also appear as a duo in LoveShackFancy’s Forever in Love. Pear also pops up in Kylie Jenner’s new Cosmic 2.0 fragrance, a sister scent to her massively popular initial fragrance Cosmic. Here, it’s combined with pink pepper top notes to brighten things up before Cosmic 2.0 develops into a voluptuous, warm amber floral, perfect for a sultry date night.
Nette’s Pear Jam is a vivid take on the fruit, combining it with raspberry, rose, jasmine, and patchouli for an extremely cheerful combo. (The brand says Pear Jam actually increases feelings of joy and positivity.) Juliette Has a Gun’s Pear Inc. is similar, with a fresh brightness that is easy to spritz on all day, every day. Likewise, By Rosie Jane’s Leila Lou is pear to the extreme. The pear notes are almost overwhelmingly juicy, with jasmine and fresh-cut grass notes helping pull it down to earth. This is the kind of scent you wear on a sunny weekend morning where you have no plans; it doesn’t take itself too seriously and just wants to have fun. And honestly, it’s hard not to have fun when you’re wearing it, because the joy of a crisp, juicy pear is contagious.
For a much subtler take on pear, reach for Merit’s Retrospect, where pear plays a supporting role opposite aldehydes and musk. Here, pear is used in tandem with bergamot right at the top, so Retrospect opens with a pop of sparkle before settling down into a close-to-the-skin finish. Liis’s Studied, an ode to Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, is a quiet, contemplative fragrance with pear and ambrette top notes that envelop your senses in a warm embrace—just like eating a ripe pear in a pool of springtime sunshine.