If you have a bottle of Chanel No 5, Guerlain Shalimar or Miss Dior somewhere, turns out you’re trending because classic fragrances like these are having a major moment on TikTok right now.
But they haven’t gone viral for being iconic, like you might think. No, it turns out they’ve been filed by Gen Z under the hashtag “grandmacore” and dubbed “old-lady scents”. Yes, I too was outraged to discover that a couple of fragrances in my own collection (Opium by YSL and Lancôme’s Trésor) actually place me firmly in the grandma-core camp, too.
Quite the wake-up call because, like many of us, hearing the term “old lady scents” evokes childhood memories of the powdery, floral, spicy or aldehyde-driven fragrances worn by our own grandmothers or mothers – think Yardley, L’Air du Temps by Nina Ricci or Estée Lauder’s Youth-Dew – which are all still bestsellers today. So by wearing classic fragrances now, does that mean that we are unwittingly veering into “granny” territory too?
© ChanelNot so, according to fragrance experts, because the majority of “grandmacore” fragrances actually centre around classic perfumery accords, and it’s these accords, rather than simply the fragrances themselves, that are having a moment right now.
“Many iconic fragrances are based around time-honoured notes like patchouli, rose, ylang-ylang or jasmine, or woodier, grounding notes like oud and sandalwood,” explains Linda Pilkington, the founder of the British perfume house Ormonde Jayne. “These accords hark from popular perfumes from our grandmothers’ era, so of course they exude that nostalgic familiarity and comfort when we smell them today.”
Yet it seems reductive that the heritage scents are now categorised as “grandma perfumes”, because they were all groundbreaking fragrances when they first launched. Case in point, the V&A museum is currently holding an exhibition dedicated to the fashion and fragrance house Schiaparelli, with an entire display centred around the house’s heritage scents like Shocking, which, although discontinued (unless you hit up eBay), is a true legacy perfume. First released in 1937, Shocking was renowned for leaving a lasting trail of the scent of vintage lipsticks, aldehydes and honey in its wake, and quickly became a bestseller at the time.
Linda thinks that, far from simply falling into the “grandma” camp, classic fragrance profiles like this are suddenly becoming cool again because there's a hankering for nostalgia, when it seemed that life was simpler – not to mention a growing desire for more refined and elegant fragrances amongst the raft of vanilla-driven, sugar-bomb gourmands that seem to be everywhere right now.
It seems the perfume industry has caught on too, because more new fragrance launches than ever have their roots in classic perfumery right now – yes, they might have the old-school notes of traditional ylang-ylang, rose, oud, sandalwood or lavender, but they’re anything but old-fashioned.
“Many classic perfumery notes, when combined with more contemporary fragrance profiles, make these new scents incredibly fresh, modern and wearable, while still feeling timeless,” Linda explains. “So while your olfactory system experiences something completely new and you’re catapulted into the present moment where the perfume feels relevant to today, you still experience the sensory benefit of that lasting memory of a grandmother’s perfume too.”
I put this theory to the test and tried six new-generation fragrances that all have scent profiles that originate from the classic “granny” camp, but have been combined with more contemporary accords to make them edgier, modern and not in the least bit fusty.
Top "Granny Scents" That Feel New
Phlur Honey Moon
© PhlurThis lavender-based fragrance is softened at the edges by manuka honey and orange blossom, but there’s still a little spice in here to make it very addictive, and anything but granny-ish.
Diptyque Orphéon
© DiptyqueThis fragrance is inspired by the powdery scent of 1960s vintage cosmetics, although it opens with a traditional jasmine-heavy scent profile. Added tonka, tobacco and juniper berries keep it enticing – like sipping a cocktail in a beautiful jazz club.
Maison Noir Rosaeterna 163
© Maison NoirThis niche scent opens as a classic rose, but it’s very quickly toughened up with added notes of leather in the dry down to make it sexy, sultry and sophisticated.
Ormonde Jayne Oud Liaisons
© Ormonde JayneOud has been used in fragrance for centuries and has a reputation for being overpowering, but this fragrance gives it barely a whisper before it’s softened by a fresh and thought-provoking blend of lemon, liquorice, pink pepper and suede.
Frédéric Malle Contre-Jour
© Frédéric MalleThere’s nothing old-fashioned about this floral fragrance; it’s an aromatic, earthy blend of sun-warmed everlasting flowers, with a punky touch of rose to make it just a little feisty, disruptive and very now.
Miller Harris Peau Santal
© Miller HarrisTraditional notes of sandalwood and frankincense are given a contemporary edge in this subtle skin scent, with an uplifting top note of bergamot followed by cosy cashmere woods in the dry down.
