We have reviewed the best lily perfumes of today. In our top list you’ll find 12 great lily scents for every budget, occasion and season.
Lily is a white flower that has grown very popular in the fashion industry. Its sweet and waxy scent is perfect for perfumes!
Unfortunately, like with many other aromas, there are a lot of synthetic lily scents out there. Scents that will make others shy away from you.
To combat this, we have vacuumed the perfume market to find the best lily perfumes, for any type of occasion and budget.
12 Best Lily Perfumes
Initially, we wanted to make a top 10 list of the best smelling lily fragrances.
However, we found two more, that we just couldn’t throw out. They are too good to be missed!
Below you can find every perfume carefully categorized, so that you quick and easy can find the type of lily perfume that suits you.
1. Cartier Baiser Vole
Time: Day
Season: Spring
Signatures: White floral, green, soft spicy
Keywords: Innocent, beautiful, simple, pure
The famous luxury brand launched Baiser Vole in 2011. The name sounds as luxurious as the brand itself, meaning “Stolen Kiss” in French.
This fragrance is meant to be sophisticated and to play on the emotions of anticipation and excitement. It is meant to be uber feminine and exotic.
Lily is easily the star of this fragrance’s formulation, showing up once in each of the tiers of its composition. It is paired with citruses in the top notes and green lily by green notes at the base. The middle lily sits on its own.
The light formulation means that this is a relatively simple fragrance, yet sometimes less is more. It absolutely nails the lily which is how it can get away with it. It is such a pure, potent, and natural note. It smells like it was pulled fresh from a garden. The sweetness is amazing.
This perfume shows innocence but there is mystery behind it all. Thankfully, it all comes together with solid performance. This fragrance can be used for pretty much any occasion, but we’d say formal events work better.
2. Donna Karan Gold
Time: Day, night
Season: Fall, spring, winter
Signatures: White floral, warm spicy, amber, soft spicy
Keywords: Luxurious, powerful, special, exquisite
The cap of Donna Karan Gold is plain black and works as a worthy accent to the striking gold body. It might be leaning towards the garish side for some, but they can’t deny that it is eye-catching.
This fragrance is meant to capture the essence of gold: an element that is beautiful yet powerful.
The formulation consists of seven notes with no insight on the composition. Lily is the dominating presence, with black locust following. Amber, clove, jasmine, patchouli, and violet leaf close off the show.
For those who adore lily, this is one of the fragrances that puts it to the best use. This is pretty much on par with a real lily with a bit of kick in the background thanks to the clove and patchouli.
This fragrance achieves what it set out to do, demonstrating the luxury and strength of gold through its aroma alone. It is the type of perfume that you reserve for those special occasions. It’s just that special.
You’ll catch notes of it hours down the line and it doesn’t shy away from projecting more than an arm’s length from you at its very best.
3. Van Cleef & Arpels First
Time: Day, night
Season: Fall, winter, spring
Signatures: Floral, green, aldehydic, white floral
Keywords: Elegant, luxurious, expensive, feminine
Van Cleef & Arpels is a high-end jewellery brand so it’s only natural that they know how to achieve classy design. They nailed it with the bottle for First. It looks elegant. The fragrance was first launched back in 1976.
First might be one of the most complex formulations that we have ever had the pleasure to review. There are an entire 25 different notes which make up this perfume. Some of them will go unnoticed, as they do in even simpler scents, but they all do their part to make this what it is.
The prime note in this perfume are the aldehydes in the top. The other notes here are fruits including raspberry, peach, blackcurrant, and mandarin. They have less of an influence though.
In the middle, there are ten notes of which nine are floral. Narcissus, hyacinth, jasmine, and lily-of-the-valley play relatively strong roles. Orris root is the only non-floral.
At the base, civet and oakmoss lead the way, with honey, sandal wood, amber, and others chiming in too.
This is an elegant fragrance but that is to be expected based on the brand that produced it. It smells excellent and this luxurious perfume performs equally amazing.
4. Estee Lauder Sensuous
Time: Day
Season: Fall, winter
Signatures: Woody, honey, amber, warm spicy
Keywords: Simple, soft, stunning, sensual
Sensuous arrives in a bottle that has a profile which is almost round. The font on the front is thin and dignified, giving the impression of a high street fragrance. One that is not only sold with a steep tag, but worn by those who shop at such places.
Sensuous opens directly with white florals. Lily, jasmine, and magnolia are the components in the top notes. Interestingly enough, while they are present, they merely add some flavor. None of them leads the show.
Woodsy notes in the middle are very prominent. It is mixed together with ylang-ylang and amber. At the base of the fragrance, sandalwood, white honey, pepper, and mandarin close off proceedings. It’s an interesting sight as most of these aren’t the usual culprits among base notes.
This fragrance is quite the stunner and fits perfectly into the fall fashion season with its sweet tone.
If you want a lily-based perfume that will last the workday and more, then this one works. It’ll project well for the first two or three hours and remain there for eight hours more.
5. Cacharel Anais Anais
Time: Day
Season: Spring
Signatures: White floral, floral, green, woody
Keywords: Classic, timeless, feminine, clean
Lily is a note that has been adored and utilized in perfumes for the longest time. That’s why it’s no surprise to see relatively old perfumes showing up on this list, such as Anais Anais which launched in 1978.
This fragrance is intended to be ‘ultra-feminine’ and romantic. Similar to the Van Cleef & Arpels fragrance, this one goes a step further. There are a total of 26 unique notes in the formulation of this fragrance. That’s one of the densest note lists we’ve ever seen.
The entire fragrance projects lily, the most dominant note, which is in both the top and middle of the perfume. The top is joined by a number of flowers, including hyacinth, honeysuckle, and lavender. Bergamot and lemon are present too.
The middle, besides lily, has lily-of-the-valley, Moroccan jasmine, carnation, and several other flowers as well. Honeysuckle makes another appearance.
Among the base notes are incense, oakmoss, leather, and vetiver.
As desired, Anais Anais reeks femininity. It is what some might refer to as a classic scent. It’s vintage and masterfully made with how well the florals all balance together. No matter the kind of woman you are, you should have no issue pulling this one off.
6. Dior Diorissimo
Time: Day
Season: Spring
Signatures: White floral, fresh, green, floral
Keywords: Vintage, masterpiece, feminine, natural
The oldest fragrance on our list, Diorissimo by Christian Dior is one of those fragrances that manages to shatter our concepts of how long a perfume should be relevant for. This was made in 1956 after all.
For a romantic fragrance that has come nearly 70 years into the future, you can think of this as serving like a time machine. This is what romance was meant to smell like in the 50s and knowing that there is that experience in this classic scent is beautiful.
The top notes are simply green leaves and bergamot. They aren’t the biggest players though. Lily-of-the-valley dominates the scent, with some input from lilac, jasmine, and lily. At the base, civet and sandalwood make a minor impression.
Diorissimo is a refreshing spring fragrance. The flowers in it smell so convincingly natural that they might as well be right there. The lilac, the lily, the lily-of-the valley, the jasmine. Everything smells so real.
This isn’t just a time machine but a teleporter. It takes you to the perfect spring day in such a masterful manner. There’s nothing quite like it.
7. Intimately Beckham for Women
Time: Day
Season: Spring
Signatures: White floral, animalic, tuberose, powdery
Keywords: Feminine, pure, natural, safe
If you hear Beckham associated with a women’s fragrance, you wouldn’t be faulted for thinking it’s Victoria. That’s not the case though. This David Beckham perfume comes in a stubby bottle and is made for the ladies.
The smell of white flowers pushes through this fragrance, straight from the opening. It is joined by the scents of rose and bergamot. In the middle, the white florals of tuberose, Casablanca lily, and orange blossom come out to play.
At the base, the sweetness of vanilla is evident. It is joined by musk and sandalwood which help to flatten the profile away from being excessively sweet.
This scent is lovely and it smells like a perfume that is punching way above its weight class. The white florals are done exceptionally well and as it dries down, that sweet vanilla comes in with a comforting hug.
It’s not the best performing fragrance but it’ll do the job lasting about six hours at a go.
8. Jennifer Lopez My Glow
Time: Day
Season: Spring
Signatures: Floral, lavender, powdery, fresh
Keywords: Feminine, gentle, relaxing, soapy
Back to celebrity perfumes, My Glow by Jennifer Lopez comes in a shiny vase-like bottle with a crystalline angel perched on top, acting as the cap.
Launched in 2009, a look at the notes shows a lot of flowers showing up. The top notes are lavender, water lily, and freesia. They all show up straight from the start and dominate the fragrance.
In the middle, there’s lily, peony, rose, and green notes. Heliotrope is the last flower, showing up in the base, joined by musk, sandalwood, and woodsy notes. This is a mostly natural smelling fragrance.
My Glow is one of those fragrances that smells so clean that it is referred to as being ‘soapy’. It smells like a very costly soap with the way it balances all those sweet flowers that it carries. The softness to it makes it a relaxing fragrance option.
This makes for a good option for a blind buy. It’s not the most exciting scent you’ll find but the clean white florals make it a choice that pretty much any woman would take.
9. Carolina Herrera 212 for Women
Time: Day
Season: Spring, summer
Signatures: White floral, floral, citrus, powdery
Keywords: Modern, charismatic, fresh, energetic
212 comes in what looks like a futuristic capsule. It is even more impressive when you realize that that capsule merely holds the actual bottle which is spherical.
This fragrance is extremely popular, and it is meant to capture the energy of New York for the youthful woman who wears it.
The top notes are orange blossom, mandarin, bergamot, and the rare choice of cactus flower. The middle is exclusively white (lily, freesia, white camelia, gardenia, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley) and pink florals (rose, peony). At the base are musk and sandalwood alone.
For another soapy, fresh scent, 212 is not going to be the one to disappoint you. All those white florals come together to build the character of this scent and they do it well.
This perfume will last you up to eight hours and the sillage is pretty good too.
10. Maison Margiela Replica Lazy Sunday Morning
Time: Day
Season: Spring, summer
Signatures: Musky, rose, fresh, powdery
Keywords: Relaxing, dreamy, warm, soft
With labelling like a lab sample, Lazy Sunday Morning was created as part of Maison Margiela’s Replica line in order to capture the authenticity of that moment. The real fragrance of any lazy Sunday morning.
How well does it nail that? Well, you’ll see.
Launched in 2013, it is relatively laidback with the notes. The top notes are aldehydes, lily-of-the-valley, and pear. In the middle, floral elements are strong thanks to rose, iris, and orange blossom.
The base uses white musk, ambrette, and Indonesian patchouli leaf.
Now, back to the question. Does it nail the smell of a lazy Sunday morning? That’s going to be a yes for us. There’s a calm comfortability to it. It is soft and warm, like the hug of a blanket in the morning of a day with no obligations.
It’s a relaxing fragrance that is let down by its performance. It’ll last nothing more than four hours on skin. That’s the unfortunate part.
11. Estee Lauder Beautiful Sheer
Time: Day
Season: Spring
Signatures: Floral, yellow floral, white floral, green
Keywords: Clear, fresh, inoffensive, bright
This is the second fragrance on this list by the house. Beautiful Sheer is a floral arrangement in a bottle, with most of the notes being flowers, followed by fruits.
Straight from the get-go, the tone of lily, mimosa, and magnolia push through. Pear contributes here with the rest. In the middle, rose, jasmine, and lime blossom make up the floral constituents. Green notes and peach are the only other two left in the middle.
At the base, the smell of a boxwood, a very unusual choice, and woody notes round off the perfume. The white florals come in a very classy manner.
This is a unique scent. It’ll be hard to find someone else wearing this, especially seeing as it has been around since 2003.
It’s a great choice for any woman that you know. This fragrance doesn’t shy away from a challenge so don’t be too worried about that.
12. Tocca Stella
Time: Day
Season: Summer, spring
Signatures: Citrus, floral, white floral, powdery
Keywords: Airy, mature, calming, safe
Tocca Stella comes in a tiny spherical bottle with a beautifully carved bottle cap. The bronze colors make it one good-looking Stella.
There’s nothing complicated going on here. There’s blood orange and bitter orange satisfying the citrus gang outside the gates. The top notes are joined by watery notes.
In the middle, lily, freesia, and wild orchid coalesce to form an entirely floral set of notes. At the base of Stella is just sandalwood and musk.
Longevity is just okay as the perfume lasts about six hours at a go. But for the scent we get, it’s a worthy trade-off.. The citrus elements at the top sit well-perched on the florals in the center.
It’s a shame that such a beautiful scent had to be ruined by the curse of poor performance.
