Scents for cold days: vanilla, tobacco and spice

Cold air changes the way a perfume behaves. In the cold, scent spreads more slowly and stays closer to the skin, so what felt like “too much” in August becomes just right in December. Vanilla, tobacco, cinnamon, incense and oud are notes that smother you in summer and keep you warm in winter. That's why it's worth having at least one scent saved for this time of year.

Sweet and warm: vanilla, cocoa, cognac

If you're after one winter scent that's hard not to love, it's Kilian Angels' Share. It opens with cognac and cinnamon, then settles into praline, tonka and vanilla with a touch of oak, like a warm cake next to a glass of something stronger. It's sweet, but lavish rather than childish. For a far more affordable sweet winter, Lattafa Asad Bourbon pairs lavender and mirabelle plum with cocoa and vanilla on amber; it's ideal for nights out when it's below zero.

And if that still isn't enough, French Avenue Cocoa Morado is a proper winter dessert: cinnamon, cardamom and saffron up top, caramel and dates in the heart, and a deep base of cocoa, vanilla, oud and leather. If this is your kind of scent, read our piece on Liquid Brun from the same house.

Tobacco: fireplaces and leather armchairs

Tobacco in perfume doesn't smell like an ashtray; it smells like the dried leaf: sweet, slightly honeyed, warm. Parfums de Marly Herod is the classic of the style: cinnamon and pepper up top, then sweet tobacco and vanilla, with incense and cedar underneath. It's refined and calm, made for a coat and scarf. Al Haramain Amber Oud Tobacco Edition takes a different route: lots of spice (cinnamon, clove, star anise) over a sweet base of vanilla, cocoa and dried fruit, like a house where holiday biscuits are baking.

For anyone who wants tobacco with a darker edge, Montale Oud Tobacco adds oud and incense, while tonka and orange blossom keep it sweet and wearable.

A winter scent shouldn't reach across the room; it should be there when someone comes close enough.

Spice and wood: for those who don't like sweet

Not every winter is made of sugar. Montale Wood & Spices is dry, smoky and spicy: oud and vetiver, cardamom and incense over sandalwood. It smells like a forest after a fire, serious and masculine. Rosendo Mateu Nº 4 sits somewhere in between: saffron and oud give it depth, iris softens it, and vanilla wraps the whole thing in something warm and smooth.

How to wear heavy scents

These are strong fragrances, so less is more: two or three sprays are usually plenty. Spray onto skin, at the neck and under your collar where your clothes keep you warm, because body heat helps the scent open up. A scarf will hold the scent longer, but be careful with light fabrics. And don't rub your wrists together; let the perfume dry on its own.

Best of all, you don't have to guess your winter scent blind. Get two or three 5 ml decants, wear each for a few days and see which one feels best under your coat. Put at least three 5 ml decants in your cart and the site automatically takes 10% off.