Looking for a Violet Perfume? Check these out!

Violet can smell like candy, crushed leaves, vintage lipstick, toasted sesame, or a rain-soaked garden. For the longer history of the note — including some beautiful violets that have sadly disappeared — start with this 2013 comprehensive guide. 

That 2013 roundup still holds up as a map of the category:  Après l’Ondée’s joyful melancholy, Insolence’s candied rush, Lipstick Rose, Love in Black, Equistrius, and the darker outliers. It also memorializes bottles that are now hard or impossible to find, including Tom Ford Black Violet, Tom Ford Violet Blonde, Serge Lutens Bois de Violette, Guerlain Attrape-Cœur, and the original Caron Violette Précieuse. Those absences are pretty painful to violet lovers, but there are also a lot of really great new violet perfumes to love!

Browse the current violet lineup at Surrender to Chance here.

Budget Violet Fragrances

• Le Monde Gourmand / Urban Outfitters Violet Sucré — Raspberry puree, candied violets, and sugar crystals. Playful, powdery, and very “Parma Violet candy.”
• Kenzo Flower — Soft violet with rose and vanilla. Comforting, wearable, and still one of the easiest entry points into the note.
• Yves Saint Laurent Paris EDT — The classic rose-violet. Romantic, a little retro, and still a strong value when you can find it (also noted as a classic).

Designer Violet Fragrances

• Jo Malone Violet & Amber Absolu — Violet petals and leaves wrapped around amber, oud, and white musk. Darker and more mysterious than most Jo Malones.
• Dior J’Adore — A polished floral with violet woven through orchids and the house’s signature golden bouquet.

Classic Violets

If you want the note in its most historically important form, start with Guerlain. These two were already central in that 2013 guide, and they still are.

• Guerlain Après l’Ondée — The poetic one. A delicate, rainy violet-iris with a faint anise chill. Soft, melancholy, and elegant.
• Guerlain Insolence — The opposite mood: raspberry, orange blossom, and a huge candy-powder violet. Vintage makeup and frosted berries. 
• Yves Saint Laurent Paris EDT — The classic rose-violet. Romantic, a little retro, and still a strong value when you can find it.
• Also worth sampling from the same classic lane: Caron Aimez Moi.

Indie Violet Fragrances

• Alkemia Crown of Violets — Royal purple violets with orris, iris, lavender, vetiver, and cedar. Regal without feeling dusty.
• Andromeda’s Curse Darkest Violet — Violet, tomato leaf, blackberry wine, sandalwood, incense, and amber. Green, gothic, and a little witchy.
• Alkemia Lilacs Along the Winding Drive – lilacs, yes, but surrounded by beautiful violets!

Niche Violet Fragrances

• Byredo Mojave Ghost — Magnolia, violet, and ambrette. 
• Kintsugi Luna — Cotton candy and orange blossom over a heart of violet, tonka, and ambergris, then oakmoss and vetiver. Sweet at first, then unexpectedly grounded. This helps a little bit with the loss of Caron Violette Precieux and Serge Lutens Bois de Violette
• Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose — The legendary rosy-violet that smells like opening a vintage lipstick compact.
• Creed Love in Black — A darker, more modern violet with a little bite.
• Parfum d’Empire Equistrius — Violet, iris, and a surprising chocolate-leather warmth.
• Le Labo Violette 30 — A 2026 entry into the violet field.  A beautiful woody violet.
• Annick Goutal La Violette — One of the most straightforward candied-violet soliflores.
• Régime des Fleurs Himetsu Violets — Beautiful, whimsical, litttle bit of suede, just perfect. 

Luxury Violet Perfumes

• Dries Van Noten Velvet Violet — The one to try right now. Violet leaf, pink pepper, and clary sage over toasted sesame, roasted barley, tonka, benzoin, and vetiver. Not candied. Warm, nutty, green, and very modern.  And can we just point out again that barley note?  Perfect.
• Parfums de Marly Palatine — Citrus and pear opening into a velvety violet petal, then sandalwood and musk. Elegant and current.
• Gucci The Virgin Violet — A perfect parma violet fragrance.
• Hermès Hermessence Violette Volynka — French violet, violet leaf, and leather. Cool, transparent, and quietly expensive.
• Pierre Guillaume Staelios — Pepper, davana, dark woods, violet, and Russian leather. A fiery, incandescent woody violet for people who loved that “violet in the forest” style.

Violet can be grandmother’s dressing table, a lipstick makeup bag or something completely new and modern. Some of the great ones are gone. Plenty of excellent ones are not.