Liberty Belle's all budget perfume guide

Whatever the season, you can't go wrong with a gourmand fragrance; vanilla, fruits and berries, sweets, coffee, and chocolate. They all have the perfect intensity for any season, but particularly the cold we’re experiencing right now.

Scents if you’re looking to splurge

One of my personal, more expensive favourites has to be Angel by Mugler. It is recognised as one of the earliest gourmand fragrances. The blend includes berries, candyfloss, dark chocolate, vanilla and caramel, all sweet and sugary but balanced out by a patchouli note –making the fragrance deeper and darker.

Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent is another of the most popular gourmand fragrances for a good reason. It's a beautiful blend of vanilla, notes of black coffee, patchouli, and orange blossom. The balanced tones make it a perfect choice. You can find it here.

Bonbon by Viktor and Rolf is another scent with jasmine and orange blossom undertones, which make the fragrance long lasting. Its other fruity top notes include mandarin, caramel and blackcurrant.

La Vie est Belle, one of my personal fragrances, is a sugary and light gourmand smell. Its top notes are bergamot and citrus, and its base note is patchouli essence. The perfume’s heart notes include orange blossom and jasmine.

Saver’s recommendations

I’m a firm believer that you can smell just as amazing without having to splurge! When it comes to gourmand fragrances, Ariana Grande’s line of perfumes excel in intensity and longevity.

I’m most familiar with her third scent, Sweet Like Candy; it's a beautiful blend of vanilla, berries and candies. Sweet like marshmallows and with sugar-frosted blackberries as a top note, I couldn’t recommend this gourmand fragrance enough. 100ml of the scent is priced, on average, under £40 and the perfume gift sets are a bargain with the lotion or a smaller sized scent to accompany the full bottle.

Britney Spears’ perfume line is known for how strong the scents are, and her second fragrance, Fantasy, is very popular. It’s both sweet and sensual for a floral scent – including jasmine petals, red lychee and white chocolate orchard. Cheaper than Sweet Like Candy, the 100ml bottle can be bought from Superdrug for £20.

Choco Musk by Al-Rehab is an even cheaper gourmand scent that I’ve tried and loved from Amazon. It became popular by recommendations on TikTok, and just like the name, it stays true to an intense chocolate smell – with other notes including white music, amber, and myrrh.

The Perfume People on Amazon have great reviews for duplicating fragrances into perfume oils for under £6. It's the perfect place to look if you’re desperate for a fragrance that doesn’t have full-sized, cheap dupes.

When choosing your next scent, it's important to keep longevity in mind. Eau de parfums, with a 20 per cent oil concentration, can last up to eight hours. Eau de toilettes, however, only have an eight to 10 per cent oil concentration, meaning you will have to spritz on more throughout the day to uphold the fresh perfume smell.

Spraying directly on pulse points can help scents last longer due to your body heat. Using a body oil on your neck and wrists before application can also help it remain for longer.

Edited by Tia Xiourouppas