If you like
Colonia
Acqua di Parma · 1916
The classic Italian citrus cologne people mean when they ask for something clean and old fashioned.
5 indie picks
Undernotes
Comparisons
19 comparisonsOne featured each day
One mainstream fragrance at a time, described in our own words, answered with independent alternatives that share its notes. No dupes, no affiliate links: just small houses working the same accord.
If you like
Opium
Yves Saint Laurent · 1977
The spiced amber people mean when they ask for an old-school oriental that smells nothing like modern ambers.
5 indie picksIf you like
Terre d'Hermès
Hermès · 2006
The reference point for a mineral, earthy vetiver that still smells fresh.
5 indie picksIf you like
Flowerbomb
Viktor & Rolf · 2005
The explosive sweet floral people mean when they say a perfume smells like a bouquet dipped in sugar.
5 indie picksIf you like
Shalimar
Guerlain · 1925
Reached for by people who want an old-school powdery amber that still reads unmistakably like perfume.
5 indie picksIf you like
Coco Mademoiselle
Chanel · 2001
The rosy, patchouli-forward floral people describe as smelling expensive without being sweet.
5 indie picksIf you like
Angel
Thierry Mugler · 1992
The patchouli-and-chocolate scent people can smell coming from another room.
4 indie picksIf you like
Santal 33
Le Labo · 2011
The coffee-shop-and-hotel-lobby wood note everyone can place but not name.
5 indie picksIf you like
Light Blue
Dolce & Gabbana · 2001
The Mediterranean-summer scent that never left department store shelves.
5 indie picksIf you like
Tobacco Vanille
Tom Ford · 2007
The spiced-tobacco-and-vanilla scent that made 'cozy' its own fragrance category.
5 indie picksIf you like
Aventus
Creed · 2010
The pineapple-and-smoke scent that launched a wave of 'success' fragrances and dupes.
4 indie picksIf you like
Baccarat Rouge 540
Maison Francis Kurkdjian · 2015
The scent people can identify from across a room and the most cloned fragrance of the last decade.
5 indie picksIf you like
La Vie Est Belle
Lancôme · 2012
The pink-bottle floral-gourmand that made iris smell like dessert.
5 indie picksIf you like
No. 5
Chanel · 1921
The fragrance a non-fragrance person can still name off the top of their head.
5 indie picksIf you like
Le Male
Jean Paul Gaultier · 1995
The barbershop lavender-and-vanilla scent that defined a generation of men's fragrance.
5 indie picksIf you like
Black Opium
Yves Saint Laurent · 2014
The coffee-and-vanilla scent people reach for on nights out.
4 indie picksIf you like
Sauvage
Dior · 2015
The default 'clean guy' fragrance and a perennial best-seller.
4 indie picks
About these comparisons
Well-known fragrances are named here for one reason: they are the shared vocabulary most people have for a smell. We describe the accord in our own words, then point at independent houses working the same territory. There are no logos, no bottle photographs and no affiliate links, and Undernotes is not affiliated with any house named on these pages.