These perfumes from The Body Shop smell far more expensive than they are: Here are the ones we're retiring our designer scents for

These Body Shop perfumes are just as sophisticated as our trusty designer perfumes, and are quickly becoming our new favourites to have on rotation. With a variety of options from fruity to musky, there’s something for everyone in this affordable vegan range.

Some of the best perfumes for women can set you back hundreds of pounds, but there are lots of inexpensive fragrances from high-street brands that are every bit as fresh and long-lasting as the most coveted designer ones. Like the best M&S perfumes and the best Zara perfumes, these Body Shop scents won’t break the bank, and each one is vegan and cruelty-free, so they’re kind to the planet, too.

We know scents are subjective, and different people prefer different notes. So we’ve tested a selection of eau de parfums and eau de toilette sprays from across The Body Shop’s offering, so if you’re unsure how to choose a perfume, you’ll find a variety of different scent families below. We also considered how long the fragrance lasted, along with other factors that make these Body Shop options, in our opinion, some of the best cheap perfumes out there.

The best fragrances from The Body Shop, tested by us

White Musk was first released in 1981, when it pioneered the use of cruelty-free musk. It’s now also certified vegan, and remains the bestselling fragrance from The Body Shop - and we can see why. On testing this EDP, I loved the sophisticated, musky scent, which reminded me of a slightly less floral version of a much more expensive, designer perfume: Dolce and Gabbana’s The One Eau de Parfum.

With notes of jasmine and lily of the valley, this is a fresh, clean scent, but the aldehydes and musk give it a mature warmth that I think makes this one of the best unisex perfumes. While the strength of the scent mellowed out throughout the day and we found that by the evening, it was definitely less detectable, but lingered in a subtle way, making this a great day-to-night perfume that’s not too overpowering.

As part of the new Full Flowers collection, this was one of my favourite floral fragrances from The Body Shop. Like the best rose perfumes, this versatile scent can be taken from day to night and has a sophisticated depth to it whilst still being undeniably crisp, with notes of geranium leaf and cardamom alongside the rose absolute. In fact, I found this to be a very similar fragrance to the high-end floral perfume, Miss Dior eau de parfum.

I also found that the rose scent stuck around for longer than the other eau de parfums I tried in the Full Flowers range; the scent was much cleaner and stripped back than the more intense fragrances I tried, too. If you want a no-frills, simple rose perfume to add to your collection, I couldn’t recommend this more.

Despite being a fairly unique fragrance to me, I think this is the easiest and most versatile scent to wear everyday: smoky notes of cedarwood bring depth to the light, floral body of the perfume, making it ideal for day-to-night wear. It also lasted a long time when testing, and evolved into a luxurious, rich scent that was floral enough to be a great scent for summer but mature and woody enough for colder months.

Like Full Rose, this wasn’t a super overwhelming or complex scent, though I felt it had a bit more going on than the rose fragrance. This makes it all the more wearable, though, and there’s still a depth to the scent which will turn heads - I got several compliments on the fragrance when I wore this (and had been wearing it for hours).

We chose this perfume as one of our favourite scents for summer, but I think I’ve actually found my new staple autumnal fragrance. Sure, there’s a fresh, summery collection of top notes coming from the ylang ylang and vanilla, but as this scent matures, the heart notes of black pepper rear their head and make for a smoky, warm and comforting fragrance.

I immediately thought of crisp weather and cosy, autumnal vibes with this long-lasting perfume. Plus, the fact that it’s an eau de parfum rather than an eau de toilette means that the perfume has a more intense, concentrated fragrance, making it perfect for the new season. However, if you know you find EDPs a little too overwhelming in general, this one is a bit of an acquired taste. While it’s a great date night perfume, it does have a high concentration that could be overpowering for some.

Having already tested this perfume during my search for the best Chanel No 5 dupe, I already knew this was going to be one of my favourites from The Body Shop. Formerly named Indian Night Jasmine, this heady perfume is a solid dupe for the coveted designer scent, though I do think it’s less intense and long-lasting than the Chanel option. However, with the best Chanel perfume being around triple the price, I think we can make an exception.

Notes of jasmine (obviously), violet leaf and white iris make for a fresh fragrance that impressively mimics the jasmine and iris found in Chanel No 5. Of course, as an eau de toilette rather than an eau de parfum, the scent is lighter than something like White Musk, but it really sticks to the skin and keeps going throughout the day. The smaller bottle is much easier to transport, too, but I do slightly wish there was a 75ml or 100ml option. Having said that, the fragrance is vegan and cruelty-free (like the rest of the Body Shop fragrances I tested), and the slim bottle is made with 42% recycled glass, so it’s a great sustainable beauty buy that I don’t mind re-stocking.

If you’re looking for a well-priced, summery scent, this refreshing scent is the one for you. The slim bottle means this is really easy to take with you anywhere, and while its scent isn’t as long-lasting as other fragrances I tried, especially the muskier EDPs, I was still impressed with this sweet, floral spray. Lacking the woody or musky notes of options like Blue Musk or White Musk, and less intense than Wild Jasmine, this was a really nice fragrance to keep with me on warm days and feel instantly refreshed and uplifted.

With such an emphasis on the floral notes, this isn’t one for those who like their perfumes darker or more sensual. It’s 100% a very floral fragrance - I felt myself transported back to the first-ever perfume sprays I tried out as a teenager, gravitating towards these botanic notes - but if that’s what you like, you can’t go wrong with Glowing Cherry Blossom. I do feel that this is more one for warmer weather, but if a floral fragrance is your signature smell, who’s to stop you from spritzing this all year round?

If you know you like your perfume with a fresh, fruity scent, Full Orange Blossom is for you. I’ll admit I was a little worried about this fragrance: I like a hint of fruity notes, but I don’t want it to be too overpowering or only feel appropriate for warmer weather. Because this eau de parfum uses orange flower buds combined with notes of neroli and bergamot, you really detect a blend of citrus and floral, resulting in a fresh, zesty fragrance that we couldn’t get enough of.

The more woody, mature notes of vetiver also give Full Orange Blossom a depth that stops it from being too summery, and we found that the spritz we applied in the morning lasted all day, naturally evolving into a mature, subtle scent. Some reviews noted that using this reminded them of standing in a Mediterranean garden full of flowers whilst on holiday. And I agree; this is one of the best grown-up fruity perfumes I’ve tried.

A spin-off of the iconic White Musk, Blue Musk also now has its own sister fragrance, Blue Musk Zest and having tried both perfumes, I decided I much preferred the scent of the more elegant, rich Blue Musk EDT. The bottle is very similar to that of White Musk, but the scent differs in its take on the musk that the former is known for. With deeper notes of lavender, geranium and sandalwood as well as woody vetiver, this is a mature, sensual fragrance that’s really unique.

I found that in terms of long-lasting effects, the scent probably stuck around about the same length of time as when I tested White Musk, and as it’s such a heady perfume, you really don’t need to spritz a lot. I can definitely see this becoming a regular option for me in autumn and winter, but for certain events, it could definitely be a scent for summer, too. Both the cap and the bottle are recyclable, and the musk is, again, sourced in a cruelty-free way.

How we tested the best Body Shop perfumes

Scent is subjective, but there were a few factors we kept in mind when testing these fragrances:

• How long the scent lasted: Unless you opt for a high-end, high-price fragrance, you’ll often find that your chosen scent doesn’t last for days on end. However, we thought a good length of time was at least the whole working day, and we found that plenty of these perfumes lasted well into the evening too.
• Packaging: If your fragrance is going to sit on your bedside table or chest of drawers like ours does, you want the bottle to make for a nice addition to your perfume collection. We also considered how easy the bottle was to hold and spritz.
• RRP: These fragrances vary in price between eau de parfums and eau de toilette sprays, but we considered how much we felt the bottle was worth the money and whether we would purchase again.
• The blend of the notes: It sounds obvious, but it was important that the notes featured worked well together, without providing an overpowering or unpleasant scent.

Margherita Bonetti

Margherita is responsible for The Body Shop's product efficacy strategy across all categories including skincare, body care, haircare, and fragrance. She ensures that The Body Shop’s iconic products and innovation are all informed by data-driven and science-backed claims. She was responsible for the formula renovations of the brand’s celebrated Vitamin E, Tea Tree and Vitamin C skincare ranges.

Margherita has a Masters in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology with a Cosmetic Science specialisation, and a PhD in Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences and Industrial Innovation, where she was awarded a scholarship to explore the science of cosmetics.