A lot of fig has been coming across our desk at the Esquire office. Not on charcuterie boards or in jams, but in perfume bottles. Fig is having a little moment as one of fragrance’s more interesting and versatile notes due to the variety of scents different parts of the fruit provide.
Green fig leaf smells fresh, herbal, crisp, and dewy; its milky sap can feel creamy and velvety, almost like coconut milk; and the ripe fruit brings a warm, jammy sweetness. Even fig wood and bark get in on the action, lending scents an earthy, dry, grounding quality. That range makes fig a great scent for any season.
Blended with citrus and aromatic herbs, it’s bright and refreshing enough for spring and summer. Paired with sandalwood, amber, vanilla, and other warm gourmand or woody notes, it becomes cozy enough for fall and winter. In other words, there’s a fig cologne for nearly every taste, season, and occasion.
To help you find the right one, we rounded up eight of our favorites. Philosykos is one of our all-time favorite Diptyque fragrances, and it’s also our favorite fig fragrance in existence. It doesn’t just use one part of the fig; it emphasizes the fruit’s leaves, sap, and tree wood, creating an alluring blend of green, herbal, sweet, and woody notes.
No other fragrance truly captures the essence of the fig tree like this one. There’s a Tom Ford fragrance for pretty much any mood, occasion, or scent note you can think of, so it only makes sense that the designer has a great fig cologne. Figue Érotique captures the green freshness of fig leaves accented by citrusy bergamot and mandarin before leaning into the juicy, fruity side of fig and its nectar.
At its base, it’s a true gourmand with sweet notes of brown sugar and licorice, but it never feels artificially sweet or syrupy. If you prefer something a little lighter, fresher, and a bit floral, Maison Louie Marie makes a beautiful fragrance that focuses on lily-of-the-valley and bright lemon before moving into a heart of creamy Tuscan fig, which brings a bit of richness to an otherwise fresh fragrance. Though fig isn’t the main character here, it definitely plays an important part and blends beautifully with a sweet base of tonka bean, agave, and amber.
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