My latest post on Now Smell This reviews three fragrances that spin vanilla notes in more interesting directions than “marshmallow fluff” or “funfetti cake.” I love an actual dessert as much as anyone. However, I’ve wearied of the ongoing gourmand-mania that’s been dominating nouveau niche perfumery for the past year and more. So many of these fragrances are just SO sweet, and SO loud in their sweetness, that I feel olfactory fatigue even when I’m just near someone who’s wearing the latest caramelliccino creamberry extrait.

But when my aromasphere pal Tracey Wan (who goes as @theinvisiblestories on Instagram) recently declared this autumn a moment for “gentle gourmands,” I found myself nodding and scanning my desktop for something that would fit that description—with the emphasis on gentle.

Here are five recommendations for gourmand or gourmand-adjacent perfumes that go beyond sweetness, with quietly surprising results.

Anood Sunny 7 (2025, Gustavo Romero). Did you succumb to the pistachio-perfume-mania that emerged around 2022 and seemed to hit its apex earlier this year? The Bahrain-to-New-York house of Anood Scents does something a little different with Sunny 7, by swirling a pistachio note into a radiant fleurmand composition of white florals (tuberose, ylang ylang), sandalwood, tonka bean, and musk notes. This is a proper perfume that happens to include pistachio, rather than a pistachio fragrance oil pretending to be a full-fledged fragrance.

Kuoca Grapefruit Brûlée with Fresh Coconut (2026). When I’m feeling a little sluggish (perhaps from the recent time change!), I often turn to a fragrance with a prominent citrus note. Kuoca, a new brand founded in Seoul, South Korea, takes its olfactory inspirations from desserts and beverages. This one smells like grapefruit pudding (rather than the freshly cut fruit) topped with whipped cream and shredded coconut, like a memory of summer served up in a scallop-edged china dish. (Disclosure: I received this fragrance as a press gift.)

Mitti Parfum Rani Pink (Neerav Thakkar, 2026). As Mitti tells us, “Rani (रानी) means queen in Hindi. Rani Pink is the color of royalty reimagined: not the heavy gold of tradition, but the bright, joyful pink of someone who knows who she is.” This scent’s sweet-and-tart composition opens with a whimsical note of pink bubblegum, followed by tangy red berries, clove, and a softly woody vanilla. It’s cleverly indefinable, yet very comfortable to wear, and probably my favorite fragrance from Mitti.

MASQUE Dolceacqua (Delphine Thierry, 2020). It’s not officially categorized as a gourmand: the listed notes for Dolceacqua include “coastal breeze accord” and lily of the valley and rose and various other florals and light woods and sheer musks. For me, though, the mimosa (with its almond-flour effect) and custard-y ylang ylang flower notes dominate. On my skin, Dolceacqua smells simultaneously powdery and bright, like an almond macaron sitting in a ray of sunlight.

Snif Gentle Reminder (Patricia Choux, 2025). I lucked out when I received this fragrance in a “secret Santa”-type gathering last year. The “reminder” here is that we are all (as influencer/collaborator Alex Elle says) “worthy of ease, joy, and love.” I’m already a fan of real-life ube, and this fragrance really captures its smell and flavor, which I’d describe as “starchy coconut-sugar potato.” This gourmand scent has a personality of its own yet doesn’t dominate the room. That’s part of what makes it “gentle,” for me.

Do you have any favorite “gentle gourmands” to recommend? Let us know in the comments!

Top image: Carducius Plantagenet Ream, Dessert No. 4, chromolithograph published by L. Prant & Co., via Wikimedia Commons and Boston Public Library