10 grown-up fruity perfumes that smell truly delicious for spring

The best fruity perfume will lighten your mood, slice through Monday morning brain fog and transport your mind to sunny climes (even when it's anything but outside) 

If you’re anything like us, your first foray into fragrance probably began with a juicy little number. Like most 90s teens, a dousing in sickly-sweet Impulse was succeeded by fruity perfumes whose ingredient list read like the menu of a smoothie bar. Like hair mascara and Tamagotchis, most of us outgrow this phase, moving on to the best perfumes for women with headier aromatics and crisp unisex fragrance, so it's no surprise many of us see fruity fragrances as young.

"Fruity notes explode at the start of a fragrance, so for a young person who wants a powerful hit of fragrance, they are very attractive," agrees Master perfumer Ruth Mastenbroek. But newer iterations are not all sickly-sweet. "I personally love using fruity notes as they’re so versatile. I’m seeing them used more in high-end fragrances. It’s about how these notes are combined that creates the actual fragrance and tells the story," she adds. 

How we chose the fruity perfume in this guide

As we say in all of our fragrance guides, perfume shopping is incredibly subjective. There aren't definitive measurements by which you can smell a scent and put it into the 'good' or 'bad' camps, so instead we have chosen these fruity perfumes based on a wide range of tastes and preferences across the beauty team, as well as assessing a few factors that might influence whether you, our reader, might enjoy them. These were: 

• Fragrance style and family
• Occasion the scent might suit
• Strength and longevity
• Packaging and shelf appeal
• Value for money 

Of the countless scents we tried, every fragrance featured in this guide came out on top for a particular type of buyer, mood or scent preference. We update this edit regularly with any of the latest fruity perfume launches that make the grade, as well as keeping our long-term tried-and-true favorites in the permanent collection. 

10 fruity perfumes, chosen by our beauty team

Jimmy Choo fragrances basically redifined the fruity-floral category at launch back in 2011, offering sensual and grown-up perfumes that also dared to be – whisper it – fun. This scent, which launched for spring '23, very much follows in that grand tradition, blending flowers with lots of delicious fruity things to create a scent that's quite addictive. 

The first thing that'll hit you when you spray this on is definitely the coconut top note – it's sexy and sunscreen-y in the way only that particular fruit knows how to be. Once that dissipates, a sophisticated white flower blend is what remains on the skin, with a skinlike and sensual hit of warm woods and vanilla. This lasts for a long time, is great value and incredibly moreish. Unsurprisingly given it's warmth, this would also make an excellent scent for summer, so you could invest now and wear it right the way through. 

Proof that you don’t need to remortgage your house to enjoy a beautiful scent that is complex and long-lasting. This is part of a new perfume range from M&S, with clearly defined olfactory categories, from citrus to chypre and of course, fruity. 

The first spritz opens with a juicy burst of mandarin and sweet passion fruit. Lovely rose perfume notes comes through next, which sits really nicely with the passion fruit and gives it a creamy aroma that lasts for hours. It really is a beautiful, warm and elegant scent, but perhaps less outwardly fruity than others on the list. I love the jade green opaque bottle (although might not be to everyone’s taste) Overall, this is a great everyday fragrance. 

Jo Loves is a failsafe place to look for distinctive perfumes that go the distance, and this little number is no different. Inspired by the sticky fruits and smoky spices of perfumer Jo Malone's travels to the Middle East, this scent is a real departure from the crisp styles we typically see from this brand, and we are in love.

The simple list of notes belies a complex perfume, that is at once mouthwatering and a bit mysterious. Using dates as a base note to already syrupy blackcurrant cassis really shouldn't work as well as it does, but the huge hit of wood on top really keeps things from being overly sweet (and ensures this would make one of best men's colognes, too) As a fragrance layering pioneer, Jo Malone CBE advises using scented body buys to give this an extra kick, saying "I always layer products. Using a bath and shower gel, body lotion, and a fragrance in the same scent will help it last longer."

Feeling a bit, well, bleurgh? Try this sherbert-y scent with a citrus twist. The grapefruit punches in first, then after a few seconds it’s the lemon that comes to the fore, creating a crisp and fresh element. 

This cult fragrance was created in 2007, and the idea behind it was to evoke the sweet and addictive essence of sugar. It’s definitely sweet, but the zing that comes with the citrus notes means it avoids saccharine territory. This is a real mood-booster scent. Citrus notes cut through the air like a knife, so when you’re feeling tired, stagnant and a bit run down, this will certainly lift your spirits.

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to find a perfectly ripe pear? The ideal eating window between gum-shreddingly hard and baby-food mush seems to be about three hours long, but at least Salvatore Ferragamo has captured that juicy just-ripe pear deliciousness in this perfume. 

It's crisp yet sweet and mouthwatering at first, but then the stone fruit top dries down into a very elegant floral accord with classic rose and zippy neroli. The whole effect is extremely spring-like, fresh and uplifting – as is the yellow bottle with its sweet little bow. Aside from those who hate sweeter scents, who probably won't like this, Signora Libera feels like a real crowdpleaser. Plus, with its beautiful bottle it's an ideal contender for gifting, if you can bear to give it away. 

If you prefer your fragrances to be less fruit salad, more fruit consommé, this is your gal. This soft, understated interpretation of an English orchard is such a hit it pipped the likes of Pomegranate Noir and Lime, Basil, and Mandarin to the number one spot in our list of the best Jo Malone fragrances, as voted for by customers. 

The first impression is all juicy pears, fresh and faintly sweet, trailed by white freesias and woody patchouli. We love this because, for a fruity fragrance, it’s not at all loud and overbearing. Everything about it is subtle, which makes it a great day-to-day scent. 

A pretty bottle to hold a pretty juice! This is a very likable, extremely wearable fruity-floral fragrance. It’s the sort of perfume you could blindly buy for someone and be fairly confident it would be gratefully received. 

Italian bergamot and passion fruit give the fragrance its initial frothy sweetness but it’s subtle and over in a flash. This is where the floral notes kick in. Lily and rose are the key players and are underpinned by a backdrop of soft musks and sandalwood, which give the fragrance impressive longevity. I misted it on first thing and could still smell it on my skin by the evening. 

This is a real rollercoaster of a fragrance, and it’s certainly not your run-of-the-mill fruity scent. The different layers are distinct and clearly marked - the sharp burst of mandarin and pineapple softens into orange blossom essence after a few seconds, before mellowing into its warm, woody (but still fruity) base. 

Despite both having fruity accords, Daisy Ever So Fresh is bolder and more full-bodied than the original Daisy. Think of the two as distant cousins rather than tight-knit sisters. By the dry down, there are definitely soft and sweet similarities between the two. In Daisy Ever So Fresh, the juicy citrus notes left me feeling energized and ready to face the day, but if softer, more delicate scents are your bag, this might be a little bit too punchy.  

This makes me crave an ice-cold glass of rosé in the garden. It’s soft, delicate, and easy to love, with a fruity freshness that comes from green pear, enhanced by the translucent pistachio-green juice in the bottle. 

As the fragrance wears on, you’ll get a hint of rose and then a lingering woody base. But this really is all about the pear. It stays present throughout, from the first spritz to the lingering dry down. For me, it’s a scent for summer, no question. But that’s not to say that spraying this in the depths of a miserable winter wouldn’t bring joy or perk up the senses. In fact, that might be rather lovely. 

While many perfumes that fall under the fruity umbrella have made a concerted effort to shed those adolescent connotations, Zarkoperfume’s Youth leans into it. The idea is that the light, effervescent notes take your mind back to your youth. The first spritz fizzes with sweet peach and apple, and it definitely sparked something nostalgic in me. It brings to mind brightly-colored bubble bath or those little bath pearls you’d receive from an auntie at Christmas – in a really good way. 

This is a molecular scent, which means it’s formulated in a way that works with your natural body chemistry, so it will smell different from person to person. On me, the peach lingered for hours, with a subtle trail of jasmine and vanilla. The more I sprayed this, the more I grew to love it. If you tend to choose fruity flavors of hand wash and body lotion or your best shampoo and conditioner are fruitily fragranced, chances are you will love this vivacious, uplifting scent.

How to choose your perfect fruity perfume

This all comes down to personal preference. But if you’re in the market for a new fruity fragrance, whether you're hitting the department store or want to learn how to buy fragrance online, our experts have some great advice:

• Fruity doesn't always mean sweet: "Just because a fragrance says it has strawberry in it, doesn’t necessarily mean the fragrance will smell of strawberries," explains Mastenbroek. "It may be using the qualities and characteristics of strawberries to add a dose of green freshness and mouth-watering sweetness."
• Give it time: "Fruity notes don’t often last long, so if you’re choosing a new fragrance, I would always suggest wearing it for an hour or so to make sure you still like it once the top notes have faded," says Mastenbroek.
• Choose the right notes: "Fruity notes can be off-putting as we get older because when combined with sweet notes like vanilla, they can feel childish or unsophisticated," admits Mastenbroek. "Some elegant fruity notes are citrus, especially grapefruit, combined with floral notes like orange blossom, or as part of a cologne. These combinations can provide a good balance to the comfort and freshness that fruity notes offer."
• Have fun: "Be creative and remember to have fun," says Malone. "Fragrance can be taken seriously but picking your scent for the day should be joyful - and fruity fragrances are the perfect way to embrace spring and summer too."