Perfume Notes:
New Releases
Perfume launches move fast — every season brings dozens of new bottles, each claiming to be the one you need now. At Currant, we don’t list everything. We curate. This page is our living guide to new perfume releases, updated throughout the year with the scents that actually matter. Divided by season, it’s where you’ll find the fragrances we’re wearing, testing, and thinking about. Consider this your shortcut through the noise — a running record of the perfumes worth adding to your radar.
In this editorial:
Valentino Donna Born in Roma Ivory
Armani/Privé Cuir Nu
Dries van Noten Havana Gold
Byredo Alto Astral
Hermès Barénia Intense
Valentino Donna Born in Roma Ivory:
a Luminous Reinterpretation
With Ivory, the house of Valentino takes one of its signature narratives—Youth, Romance, Roma—and gives it a softer, cleaner finish: less gilded night, more dawn-lit moment. The iconic rock-stud bottle turns ivory, luxuriously chic. And the scent inside shifts from high glamour to subtle luminosity.
The Olfactory Story
The opening greets you with a fresh spark of green mandarin that dissolves almost immediately into a heart of orange blossom and a subtle marshmallow accord. What follows is a warm base of Madagascar vanilla and musk that brings softness without surrendering character. It’s not a dessert gourmand—it’s a refined, luminous gourmand: airy, clean, and comforting rather than sticky or overwhelming.
Why We Love It
Ivory is a sophisticated reinterpretation of the Born in Roma DNA—with gentler notes. In an era where fragrance often shouts for attention, this one leans into presence and precision. The palette of citrus brightness and soft gourmand warmth makes it ideal for both day and evening wear, especially as the season turns. It’s crafted with the kind of finish we expect from Valentino: impeccable, considered, and just a little rebellious.
Inspiration
The Rendez-Vous Ivory edition draws on an atmosphere of Studio 54-era inclusivity, light, and the clean canvas of ivory.
Mood
Soft iconoclasm. Glamour that whispers rather than roars.
Release
2025
For
Women
Notes
Top Notes
Green Mandarin
Heart Notes
Orange Blossom Accord, Marshmallow Accord
Base Notes
Madagascar Vanilla, Musk
You’ll like this if you like
Burberry Goddess
Kayali Yum Boujee Marshmallow 81
Prada Paradoxe
By Kilian Love Don’t Be Shy
Lancôme La Vie Est Belle Vanilla Nude
Details
Published
28 October 2025
Visuals
Art work by Igrien
Courtesy of Valentino beauty
Armani/Privé Cuir Nu:
Leather in the Silence of Skin
In a world where leather accords often roar, Cuir Nu listens instead. With this newest addition to the Armani/Privé “Les Mille et Une Nuits” line, the house channels Italian craftsmanship and Eastern mystique into a scent that doesn’t shout luxury — it unveils it slowly. The name Cuir Nu translates to “naked leather” — and that is exactly what it conjures: rich material against bare skin, bold but intimate.
The Olfactory Story
Created by perfumer Delphine Lebeau, Cuir Nu opens with a spiced surge of coffee and cardamom — dark, clean, and unexpectedly architectural. This early contrast sets the stage for what follows: a vivid heart of Damask rose entwined with a refined leather accord, smooth and tactile rather than raw. In the base, warm labdanum, toasted tonka bean and amber wrap the fragrance in quiet luxury. The overall feel: leather that doesn’t dominate but drapes; spice that doesn’t shock but invites.
Why We Love It
We’re in a moment when novelty often equals noise — but this scent rejects urgency. It honours legacy and makes it alive. Armani/Privé has taken the leather theme and made it more subtle and demure — less brash biker jacket, more tailored riding glove. In its restraint lies its power. And for those of us who smell many things, that feels like a luxury.
Perfumer
Delphine Lebeau, whose vision for Cuir Nu was “to interpret the contrasting duality of naked skin, I imagined a musky suede leather revealed by a full-bodied and roasted sensuality.”
Inspiration
Venetian tanneries and Italian leather craft, viewed through an Eastern lens.
Mood
Sophisticated, confident, unhurried — a scent that wears like time well kept.
Release
2025
For
Men and women
Notes
Top Notes
Coffee, cardamom — decisive, cool spice.
Heart Notes
Leather accord, Damask rose — durability and elegance.
Base Notes
Amber, labdanum, tonka bean — warmth that lingers.
You’ll like this if you like
Kilian Angels’ Share
Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur
Xerjoff XJ 1861 Naxos
Armani/Privé Oud Royal
Dior Homme
Published
22 October 2025
Visuals
Art work by Igrien
Courtesy of Armani Privé
Details
Dries Van Noten Havana Gold:
A Portrait in Sun and Smoke
Dries Van Noten has always approached fragrance like fashion — with layers, textures, and a quiet rebellion against convention. With Havana Gold, he takes us somewhere warmer, heavier, and more sensual. It’s not a literal journey to Cuba, but a reimagining of its mood: sunlight caught in amber glass, tobacco smoke curling through linen, gold dust settling on skin.
The name says it all — Havana Gold — a color, a scent, and a temperature.
But what makes it special is how Dries and perfumer Nicolas Bonneville manage to evoke that golden warmth without cliché. There’s no rum, no sugar, no caricature of heat. Instead, they distill atmosphere: the tension between shadow and glow, between opulence and ease.
The Olfactory Story
The fragrance opens on a soft shimmer of bergamot and pink pepper — a spark of daylight before the richness arrives. Quickly, the tobacco unfurls, warm and honeyed, but never heavy. There’s tonka bean and vetiver here, too — grounding, smooth, and distinctly Dries in its restraint. What lingers is this interplay of sweet and smoky, polished and raw, like a velvet jacket worn over bare skin.
In the drydown, Havana Gold lives up to its name. The amber radiates with quiet strength, balanced by the earthy pulse of cedar and the faintest trace of dried hay. You feel the sunlight and the shadow together — warmth wrapped in calm.
Why We Love It
Havana Gold stands apart because it doesn’t chase nostalgia; it invents memory. In a fragrance landscape dominated by transparent woods and sterile musks, Dries Van Noten has made something unabashedly tactile. It’s not about cleanliness or freshness — it’s about presence.
This perfume has texture. You can almost feel the grain of the tobacco, the soft crackle of sunlight through dust, the quiet richness of something worn, not new. It’s the scent of golden hour made permanent.
What’s striking, too, is its genderless warmth. While the tobacco and amber nod to tradition, the balance of citrus and soft spice makes it universal — confident but never loud. It’s for those who like their fragrances like their clothes: complex, slow to reveal, quietly powerful.
This is the kind of perfume that feels like being dressed up, even if you’re not. There’s a richness here that’s unmistakably Dries — that thread of decadence running through his fragrances — but it never tips into cloying. It’s addictive, spicy, elegant. It makes you want to wear your favorite black silk outfit and spray this over every pulse point.
Unisex, slightly masculine-leaning, but effortlessly wearable. The kind of scent you reach for when you want to feel composed, maybe even magnetic. One of the best from the Dries Van Noten line — and yes, worth every penny.
Editor’s Note Igrien
Perfumer
Nicolas Bonneville, who also composed Dries Van Noten’s Raving Rose and Rock the Myrrh. Here, he captures the duality of light and density — a hallmark of Dries’ universe.
Top Notes
Bergamot, pink pepper, a whisper of citrus zest — brightness without glare.
Heart Notes
Tobacco leaf, tonka bean, vetiver — warmth in motion.
Base Notes
Amber, cedarwood, dried hay — grounding and sensual.
Release
2025
For
Men and women
Notes
The Idea
Dries describes Havana Gold as “the color of the afternoon,” that moment between day and dusk when everything glows softer and truer.
Design
The bottle — lacquered in amber glass with a golden cap — mirrors the scent itself: sun-touched, elegant, and just a little decadent.
The Mood
Imagine late summer fading into fall. Linen shirts unbuttoned, records playing, a room bathed in gold light. It’s the scent of quiet confidence — warm, slow, and enduring.
You’ll like this if you like
Dries van Noten Soie Malaquias
Dries van Noten Camomille Satin
Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille
Nishane Ani
Amouage Guidance
Details
Published
15 October 2025
Visuals
Art work by Igrien
Courtesy of Dries van Noten
Byredo Alto Astral:
A Solar Chapter in Scent
Byredo Alto Astral: A Lived-In Light
Byredo has long been a house that translates emotion into scent — not through nostalgia, but through atmosphere. With Alto Astral, the brand turns its gaze outward, toward collective energy: Brazil’s light, rhythm, and joy. The name — alto astral — means “high spirit” or “good energy” in Portuguese, and the perfume lives up to it. This is optimism made wearable.
Yet for all its radiance, it isn’t carefree. Alto Astral hums rather than sparkles — a fragrance with pulse and depth, like sunlight that lingers on the skin long after the day ends.
The Olfactory Story
Crafted by Jérôme Epinette, Alto Astral opens with coconut water and crisp aldehydes — a combination that feels fluid, clean, and light-drenched rather than sweet. In the heart, jasmine petals and incense ripple through soft milky musks, giving it warmth without weight. The base settles into sandalwood, cushy cashmere woods, and a salted amber note that calls back to the mineral air of Brazilian coasts.
The scent moves like the day: it begins bright, glows slow, and fades into something human — lived-in, soft, and steady.
Why We Love It
In 2025, releasing a coconut-forward fragrance feels almost defiant. But Byredo doesn’t chase tropics; it redefines them. Alto Astral takes a note we thought we knew and refines it into something architectural — luminous, sensual, but never loud. It’s a fragrance about optimism, but the quiet kind — less laughter under the sun, more stillness after it sets.
It also deepens Byredo’s ongoing dialogue between scent and place. Brazil isn’t a backdrop here; it’s a state of being. The salt, the warmth, the trace of jasmine and incense — they don’t describe a location, they evoke belonging. In an era where most perfumes perform happiness, Alto Astral simply embodies it.
What I love most is how modern and clean it feels without losing warmth. Those airy aldehydes cut through with a kind of brilliance — think New Look by Dior, but with a saltier, more grounded attitude. There’s something almost mineral in the drydown, a soft blend of sweet and salty that never tips into gourmand territory. Coconut is there, yes, but it’s more the scent of dry coconut flakes — sun-bleached, refined, never sticky. After a few hours, it settles into this addictive skin scent: slightly sweet, slightly salty, musky in a clean, quiet way. It reminds me a bit of Amouage Guidance — but less dramatic, more tropical, more wearable.
It’s definitely a bold composition — aldehydes meeting coconut and amber woods in a way I’ve never quite smelled before. The juxtaposition feels almost musical: bright and warm, ethereal and sultry. You can tell it’s crafted with care. For me, it’s exciting, wearable, and quietly seductive.
Editor’s Note Igrien
Perfumer
Jérôme Epinette — the longtime Byredo collaborator known for translating memory into texture rather than sweetness. His hand here is unmistakable: soft contrasts, clean edges, an elegance that resists excess.
Inspiration
The phrase “alto astral” in Portuguese captures a kind of emotional altitude — good energy, warmth, clarity. It’s more than optimism; it’s an attitude toward life. Byredo’s founder, Ben Gorham, described it as “a scent about light as a feeling, not an element.”
Release
2025
For
Women and men
Notes
Structure
Built like sunlight — bright top, warm heart, grounding base. The coconut and aldehydes shimmer without tipping into sugar; the incense and jasmine lend gravity. It’s a lesson in restraint — how to build radiance without noise.
The Mood
To wear Alto Astral is to feel suspended — somewhere between day and night, earth and air. It’s a perfume not for moments of escape, but for moments of return: when you want to smell like clarity itself.
You’ll like this if you like
Byredo Bal d’Afrique
Byredo Mojave Ghost
Maison Margiela By the Fireplace
By Kilian Angels’ Share
Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540
Details
Published
15 October 2025
Visuals
Art work by Igrien
Courtesy of Byredo
Hermès Barénia Intense: A New Leather Classic
When Hermès releases a perfume, the world pays attention. With Barénia Intense, perfumer Christine Nagel takes the house’s classic chypre structure and reimagines it for today — warmer, more enigmatic, and steeped in Hermès’ leather heritage. It’s not just a fragrance; it’s an object of design, a philosophy of restraint, and, for us, one of the most exciting new perfume releases of the year.
What are the notes in Hermès Barénia Intense?
Barenia Intense is built around the chypre accord, with a balance of light and shadow:
Butterfly lily adds a soft floral lift.
Oakwood deepens the composition with woody richness.
Patchouli absolute provides sensual texture.
Leathery Barenia accord, tied to Hermès saddlery craft, anchors the fragrance.
The result is warm, sensual, and mysterious — a leather perfume that feels refined rather than overpowering.
How is Barénia Intense different from the original Barénia?
The original Barénia eau de parfum was supple and understated, almost pliant in its softness. Barénia Intense adds more structure and depth. The leather note is stronger upfront, but it’s elegantly blended with woods and florals so it never feels harsh. Midway, the floral-fruity tones become more prominent, giving it a pastel, almost honeyed quality. Where Barénia was smooth, Intense is more expressive, layered, and powerful.
What does the Hermès Barénia Intense bottle look like?
Designed by Philippe Mouquet, the bottle takes inspiration from Hermès’ Collier de Chien bracelet.
It features:
An amber gradient glass that reflects the perfume’s depth.
Pyramidal studs softened into domes for a balance of strength and elegance.
A hidden stud at the base — a quiet Hermès detail.
It feels less like packaging and more like a collectible design object.
Is Hermès Barénia Intense long-lasting?
Yes — the longevity is striking. In testing, a single spray lingered for over 12 hours, with strong sillage that subtly filled the room. It’s the kind of fragrance you’ll continue to notice hours later, making it ideal for evenings and occasions where presence matters.
Why we love Hermès Barenia Intense
For us, this is what modern luxury perfumery should be: a fragrance that evolves through the day, never shouts, but always lingers. It’s not about trend or spectacle; it’s about mastery.
I wore the original Barenia as my signature scent all last year, so I was curious — and a little protective — about this new version. Intense surprised me. It opens more leathery, but never in an abrasive way. The leather here is smooth, elegant, beautifully tempered by woods and that same luminous ginger lily note. Midway, the floral side reveals itself more strongly, adding softness and even a honeyed warmth I can’t quite explain from the listed notes.
What impressed me most was the sillage. When I first tested it, I sprayed a strip and slipped it into my pocket. Hours later, I kept catching whiffs of something wonderful. By evening, the fragrance still filled the room. The next morning, it lingered. Barenia Intense doesn’t just last — it stays with you like a presence, refined but unforgettable.
Editor’s Notes Igrien
Olfactory family
Modern chypre — a structure of contrast made contemporary.
Perfumer
Christine Nagel, Hermès’ in-house perfumer.
Key notes
Butterfly lily, oakwood, patchouli absolute, Barenia leather accord.
Bottle design
By Philippe Mouquet, inspired by the Collier de Chien bracelet; amber gradient, domed studs, hidden base detail.
Release
2025
For
Women
TLDR
Sizes & refills
30 ml, 60 ml, 100 ml bottles, all refillable with a 125 ml refill.
Sillage & longevity
Impressive — one spray lasts for over 12 hours with a trail that lingers in the air.
Best for
Evenings, milestones, and those who prefer mystery and depth over fleeting sweetness.
Why it’s a Currant favorite
Because it redefines leather not as memory, but as presence — elegant, enduring, and quietly powerful.
You’ll like this if you like
Hermès Barénia
Mugler Angel
Hermès Un Jardin Sur Le Nil
Guerlain Mon Guerlain
Tom Ford Black Orchid
Published
Fall 2025
Visuals
Courtesy of Hermés