I Thought Fig Was a Summer Scent—Then I Tried These Perfumes

Amid a sea of constant fragrance launches and steady cult favorites, I've been turning to Chloé's Atelier des Fleurs Plage du Figuier Eau de Parfum lately for its freshness, which, even on the chillest fall days we've had so far, transports me back to a summer studying abroad in Sicily so many years ago. I remember my host mother's tiled apartment, the blood orange juice she had in the fridge, the balcony doors we would leave open to combat the heat, rocky beaches that would leave noticeable imprints on the soles of my feet, long bus rides to vineyards, and the freshest fruit I've ever tasted—and I owe it all to the black fig accord and the way it plays with and elevates the bergamot, eucalyptus, and cypress notes.

Figs have long been a staple in fragrance and culture, so you've likely used a fragrance with the note without realizing it. This season, though, fig is getting the attention it deserves, appearing in product names and being shouted out as a hero ingredient—the heavy lifter and star of the show. The note recalls sun-drenched summer days and evokes dreams of Mediterranean coastal hills, while offering a natural warmth, depth, sensuality, and freshness we crave as the weather cools. "Its natural richness creates an enveloping effect without becoming overly sweet, capturing the transition from the warmth of summer to the intimacy of cooler days. I think people are drawn to fig because it feels both comforting and sophisticated. In autumn, we tend to gravitate toward fragrances that feel warmer and more enveloping while still retaining a sense of lightness," Chloé perfumer Ane Ayo says. "The richness makes fig particularly well suited to autumn, as its fruity, enveloping facets evoke both the abundance of ripe fruit and the softness of cooler days. It offers a sensual and comforting scent, rooted in nature and rich in nostalgia."

Because of the note's versatility, you don't have to worry about investing in a fig perfume only to put it on the back burner once winter, spring, and summer roll around. Every part of the fig tree tells a different olfactory story: the leaves offer a freshness, the stem gives a creamy, milky scent, and the fruit itself, often recreated by perfumers, is juicy—the part of the fig used is fully dependent on the story the fragrance tells and whether green, woody, floral, creamy, or even gourmand-leaning notes are suitable. "Fig can be pushed and pulled in many different directions, depending on how the perfumer uses it. It can be sweet, juicy, and nectary, like in Sidia’s Midas, or soft and powdery, like Non Fiction’s Santal Cream, or even bright, green, and pungent, like in D.S. & Durga’s Debaser," beauty writer, fragrance expert, and co-host of the Smell Ya Later podcast Tynan Sinks says. "It’s a real shape-shifter, which is what’s so great about it. Fig is so exciting because you never quite know what it’ll give you. Fig connects us and becomes a shared experience, even if only in an abstract sense. We may like different notes and fragrances, but fig is a throughline that creates commonality even in the most different scents."

In terms of my relationship with my new, beloved Chloé fragrance, I plan on wearing it far beyond fall, for the sake of bringing the smell of fresh juicy fruit and nostalgia of warmer Mediterranean days along with me when the painfully cold winter weather strikes—and I plan on stocking up on more fragrances with fig notes.