24 long-lasting perfumes whose luxe and distinctive notes linger all day

Our beauty team have selected their top long-lasting perfumes for every budget - to earn you a good-smelling reputation...

A selection of the best long-lasting perfumes in this guide, including Gucci The Alchemist A Floral Verse, Maison Francis Kurkjian's Baccarat Rouge and Jo Malone Silver Birch and Lavender/ in a cream, marble-effect template
(Image credit: Gucci, Maison Francis Kurkjian and Jo Malone)

To be deemed a "long-lasting" perfume worthy of your money and wear, a scent must first pass several tests, the most important being how well it lingers on the skin throughout the day. This is something the woman&home beauty team takes very seriously and thus, have trialed 24 iconic fragrances...

After all the best perfume for women can be one of the priciest buys in our beauty arsenal, so it pays to have all the intel on which notes and brands in general, are known to go the distance. That being said though, testing a scent out for a full day before purchasing it isn't always feasible but thankfully, there are a few tricks and tells to look out for when selecting a lingering signature.

One way is to think of perfume as a pyramid, consisting of top, heart and base notes, the latter of which, Karen Harris, Head of Marketing at The Perfume Shop says, "form the foundation of the fragrance." Harris explains that these base notes, "come into force around 30 minutes after integrating with the middle notes, and typically last six hours." So, with that in mind, our team have shared their vetted long-lasting picks, with aromas to suit every preference - and all formulated with enduring base notes that you can count on...

24 long-lasting perfumes for women, chosen by our beauty team

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Whether you're a lover of warm and decadent vanilla perfumes or fresh, hypnotizing perfumes with jasmine, discover our picks of the best long-lasting fragrances - from iconic brands like Chanel and Issey Miyake as well as more niche and budget-friendly finds...

Best floral long-lasting perfumes

Best woody long lasting perfumes

Best spicy long-lasting perfumes

Best fresh & clean long-lasting perfumes

Best fruity long-lasting perfumes

Best gourmand long-lasting perfumes

How we tested the best long-lasting perfumes

A small selection of the perfumes we tried for this guide

A small selection of the perfumes we tried for this guide

(Image credit: Fiona McKim)

As we say in all of our fragrance guides, perfume is a very subjective thing but luckily, one universal metric we can assess scents by is their lasting power.

We tested dozens of perfumes, from best-sellers to our own personal favourites, in order to determine which perfume lasts longest. To do this, we gave each scent at least a full day's wear and tested many of them in different weather conditions and environments. As well as checking how long each perfume lasted, we also considered factors like price, packaging, composition, and potency in order to decide which long-lasting fragrances are truly worth the investment. 

TESTED BY
Stephanie Maylor
TESTED BY
Stephanie Maylor

Woman&home's Beauty Editor, Stephanie Maylor has almost 15 years of industry experience, with expertise on everything from skincare to perfumes, the latter of which she has afforded to this guide. "My fragrance wardrobe is quite eclectic," Stephanie says, adding: "I've got fresh, almost-aquatic aromas I favour in the warmer months, then headier, ambery scents saved for evening. My summer go-to will forever be Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess." 

To get the most out of your signature scent, Stephanie recommends layering it with the coordinating hair perfume (if it has one), naming Byredo's Gypsy Water as her go-to.

TESTED BY
Sarah Joan Ross editor writer stylist
TESTED BY
Sarah Ross

Sarah Ross is the Editor-In-Chief at woman&home with over 20 years of experience as an editor, consultant, digital writer and stylist, working across the globe - from New York City to Milan. And, much like the rest of our team, Sarah knows a thing or two about perfume.

Her scent collection boasts iconic names like Gucci and Burberry, whilst her tastes vary from gourmand and rich vanilla notes to elegant, spicy florals. 

TESTED BY
Amelia Yeomans headshot
TESTED BY
Amelia Yeomans

Senior Writer at woman&home, Amelia Yeomans specialises in fashion and beauty content, covering everything from fragrance and nail art trends to reporting on fashion weeks. Perfume-wise, Amelia is of the firm belief that no compliment beats being told you smell good. "I want every perfume I wear to be appealing yet distinctive," Amelia explains, before adding, "I tend to gravitate towards fresh, floral, and peppery fragrances for the daytime. For evening, I stick to floral top notes but with sweeter base notes like blackcurrant or vanilla. YSL Libre has been my staple for years." 

As for making her scents linger, "I always put a couple of spritzes on the top of my head and the back of my neck. It sticks to my hair for hours and those around you will inevitably get wafts of it."

TESTED BY
A picture of woman&home's Digital Beauty Writer, Naomi Jamieson
TESTED BY
Naomi Jamieson

Naomi Jamieson is a Digital Beauty Writer at woman&home, where she shares her expertise on makeup, skincare, nail trends and fragrance. When it comes to her own perfume preferences, Naomi is a lover of warm and woody aromas, with hints of floral. She favours skin-scents above all others - with Le Labo's Santal 33 being among her all-time favourites - and looks for formulas that really melt into the skin to recreate a lingering sense of comfort. 

To ensure her fragrances last all day, Naomi says: "I never rub my wrists after spraying them, instead I let my perfume dry down fully. And when I wear knit jumpers, I always mist the neckline a little, as I find scent really clings to the fibres - though be mindful of staining."

How to pick a long-lasting perfume

Wondering how to choose a perfume so it lasts? We've rounded up a few key points to consider, from the concentration and bottle size to the notes themselves:

  • Concentration: "The perfume concentrate is the blend of scented raw materials - namely oils, molecules, absolutes," explains Harris. "The higher the percentage of concentrate, the more persistent the perfume." An Eau de Cologne will last around two to three hours, an Eau de toilette between four and seven, while an Eau de parfum can stick around for up to eight hours.  
  • Notes: If you want your perfume to last, look for spicy, woodsy, and rich blends with enduring notes such as sandalwood, perfumes with patchouli, amber, vanilla, and cedarwood. The best oud perfumes, for example, are highly prized for their lasting power and typically linger on the skin longer than citrus, green, and fruity perfume notes. 
  • Try it on: The best way to be assured of a perfume’s staying power is to test it. If you’re heading to the high street to seek out the best Zara perfume, or the fragrance counter for designer brands, be sure to test the perfume on your skin, rather than a blotter, to check how well it plays with your body chemistry, then leave it for 24 hours to see how it dries down.

The molecules and scent type must also factor into your decision-making: "If you take something light and airy, such as neroli, it’s a 'butterfly' extract, which basically means it’s very pretty much flutters off quite quickly," says fragrance expert and journalist Alice du Parcq

"Unless the brand can afford to add copious amounts of it into their scent, those lightweight citrusy and floral perfumes will only last a couple of hours on the skin, regardless of price. However, a larger molecule such as vanilla, tuberose, some wood extracts and lots of beautiful synthetic musks take longer to evaporate from the skin. If you want a perfume that’s going to last, aim for those richer aromas that cling on for longer."

The bottle size is also something to consider, as often it can be worth spending a little more for the larger option, so that you can enjoy the aroma for longer - especially if it's a scent you wear every day. 

How to make your perfume last longer

  • Layer it: "Wherever I go, I am always asked 'how do you make a fragrance last longer?'", says doyenne of scent, Jo Malone CBE of Jo Loves. "Fragrance layering by using a bath and shower gel, body lotion, and a fragrance in the same scent will help it last longer. Layering your products in this way will help lock in your scent making it last much longer on your skin."
  • Apply to pulse points: If you want your perfume to last, where you spray it makes a huge impact. Apply perfume to your pulse points, like the inner wrist, the base of the throat, inner elbows, and behind the ears. The arteries pump closer to the surface of the skin here and this extra warmth helps the fragrance to develop faster.
  • Dab, don't rub: Don’t rub your wrists together after spraying. "Rubbing actually hampers the fragrance’s top notes from developing fully," warns Karen Harris. The friction causes heat, which can affect the integrity of the fragrance. Simply spritz each spot then let it sink in.  
  • Store it correctly: Perfumes don’t like direct sunlight, heat, or steam. The best place to store your perfume, and protect the longevity of the fragrance, is in its original box at room temperature.
  • Don't forget to moisturise: "Apply your perfume to moisturised skin after showering," suggests Harris. "The moisture locks the perfume in and gives it the base it needs to boost the fragrance and optimise its staying power."

Tips for long-lasting perfumes

Are expensive perfumes long-lasting?

This is a good question and one that’s not entirely straightforward to answer. When we put it to Jo Fairley, perfume expert and Editor of the digital fragrance magazine The Scented Letter, her response was "yes and no." Often you will pay a premium for a scent that goes the distance, but that doesn’t mean you need to splash out way beyond your budget. “It’s not related to the brand, necessarily, but to the concentration of the scented oils in the bottle,” continues Fairley. "An eau de toilette contains a larger dose of fragrant oils than a cologne. An eau de parfum is stronger still, in terms of concentration. And the highest level of the all-important fragrant oils is in a parfum or elixir – these can often still be detected on skin 24 hours after applying. Although they’re always the most expensive version of a fragrance, I think they offer the best value in terms of staying power." By this logic, you could purchase an eau de parfum from a cheaper brand and still enjoy just as much longevity as an eau de parfum from a fine fragrance would offer. "There are plenty of ace affordable brands who do excellent long-lasting perfumes," adds du Parcq. "Have a look at M&S Discovery Intense, Floral Street, Nuxe, L'Occitane and Beauty Pie."

Why does my perfume fade so quickly?

Frustrated to find that your perfume has seemingly disappeared mere moments after you’ve spritzed it on? It could be down to a lack of moisture, and more specifically oil, in your skin. "This very often happens when your skin is dry," explains Fairley. "Perfume likes to cling to oil, so if you find that your scent is fading fast, either layer it over a “matching” body product like an oil, cream or body butter, or an unscented body treat, applied to the neck and wrists." Regularly exfoliating with one of the best body scrubs to remove old, no-longer-need cells that absorb scent but don’t retain it will help too. "You can also try spraying your clothes," adds Fairley, "as fabric holds fragrance very well. Just be sure to do a 'stain test' first, spritzing a tissue to make sure there’s no mark."

If you’re confident that your skin is nice and nourished, but still can’t smell your signature scent, it could simply be that you’ve become too accustomed to it. "We tend to become conditioned to a smell if we’re around it all the time," says du Parcq. "It’s like when you walk into a kitchen and there’s a bowl of bananas – our brain recognises that smell instantly and it’s really potent, but after about 10 minutes you can’t detect it any more. So, if you’re spraying a tonne of perfume and you’re barely noticing it, then trust me other people around you will smell it absolutely fine. Perhaps have a little break from that scent, put it into storage somewhere dark and cool so as not to 'age' it for a few months, and try something new. When you come back to that scent, your nose will be more responsive to it." It’s one reason why so many perfume pros will have a fragrance wardrobe filled with a rotation of smells, rather than just one signature scent. 

Stephanie Maylor

Stephanie Maylor is a Beauty Editor working across five national magazine titles, with almost 15 years' experience in the industry.  She has written for many brands, including woman&home, Grazia, Now, More!, Fabulous, NW, Woman, Woman's Own, Woman's Weekly, Essentials, Best, Chat, and OK! online. 


In 2010 she launched her own beauty blog, which was shortlisted for Best Beauty Blog in the 2011 and 2012 Johnson & Johnson Beauty Journalism Awards. She has interviewed many high profile industry experts and celebrities including Alesha Dixon, Twiggy and Christina Hendricks. 

With contributions from