One of my favorite things to experience as a beauty editor is the feeling of falling in love with an epically elegant fragrance. From holding a perfume in my hands for the first time to wearing every last drop, I’m always so excited to try entire libraries of perfumes from brands I’m enamored by. Over the past few years, I’ve found myself drawn to one particular heritage brand with hundreds of years in the world of perfumery: Trudon. Not only has it continued to deliver chic scents, but it also draws directly from French royal history.
To learn more about one of my top perfume brands, I reached out to Trudon’s marketing director to learn about the scents that always end up on my vanity. Keep scrolling for the intel on Trudon’s newest perfume launches and its classic fragrance library and to shop my top picks from the fragrance house.
Trudon Entwined With History
To learn more about the French heritage house’s past, present, and future, I reached out to Marketing Director Mathilde Corbin. The history of the house extends back to 1643, and it was further defined by its popularity among monarchs and courtesans starting in 1719. “Trudon helped illuminate the Château de Versailles as early as the reign of Louis XIV, who introduced la royale there,” she begins. “Thanks to Trudon, this quickly became the official manufacturer to the French royal court.” The brand’s emblem, inspired by a bas-relief found at the old royal wax manufacture that used to belong to the Trudon family, still displays the coats of arms of Louis XIV with a motto, written in Latin, saying the bees work for god and the king.
Later, Napoleon Bonaparte gave one of its pillar candles to his wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, upon the birth of their first son. “It is important to note that, despite political and industrial revolutions, the Trudon house has endured,” Corbin adds. Today, the brand is celebrated for its extensive collection of candles (which are handmade in Normandy, France), perfumes, home fragrances, and bodycare. The perfumes, in particular, stand out to me for their beautifully layered compositions, drawing from influential moments and individuals in French history and beyond. “Each Trudon fragrance allows perfume lovers to have a well-defined trail with a unique and high-quality creation,” Corbin tells me.
Trudon’s Library of Scents
Trudon perfumes are unisex, crafted with high-quality ingredients, and designed to be worn on their own. Recently, the brand launched the Nuit Rouge collection featuring unique and memorable olfactory blends. Corbin describes them as “bolder, more distinctive,” and the brand is using raw materials and revisiting essential notes in perfumery: vanilla, iris, woods, and leather. According to Corbin, each fragrance is reimagined with Trudon’s signature style as an ode to opulence and sensuality. “The collection unfurls powerful yet elegant trails, enveloping the wearer in a luminous aura of excess tempered by refinement,” she explains.
Among Trudon’s best-selling perfumes are Midnight Omen and Vixi, and the Ernesto, Cire, and Cyrnos candles are all created by French perfumer Émilie Bouge. Trudon also works with other perfumers such as Yann Vasnier, the creator of 45°, Mortel, and Médie. The future of the house looks bright under the direction of Hugo Ferroux, Trudon’s new creative director, who plans to return Trudon to its roots by drawing from historical references with a modern approach. What’s next? Corbin tells me we can look forward to projects to enrich existing offerings as well as the introduction of entirely new products.
The Best Trudon Fragrances, Listed
(Image credit: Courtesy of Maya Thomas)
Trudon
Mystique Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Woody spices | Notes: Cedarwood, leather, saffron, papyrus, sandalwood, agarwood, amber, patchouli, ebony wood
As a lover of hauntingly beautiful fragrances with an dry, earthy touch, my infatuation with Trudon’s Mystique is unmatched. Refined and mysterious, this eau de parfum taps into a mystical allure with notes of smoke and leather enhanced with glowing oud, smooth amber, and sun-bleached papyrus. This one immediately transports me to a forgotten library untouched by time and filled with untold stories.
Customer Review: “It starts to get a little earthy and woody, with the cedar, patchouli and papyrus. And then after a couple of hours, a beautiful creamy sandalwood note really comes through. It’s a masterfully executed and complex scent that actually gives you an experience of every note. And the performance is very impressive—I got a good eight hours of a few sprays.”
Trudon
45° Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Amber gourmand | Notes: Bergamot, honey accord, vanilla absolute, georgywood, Madagascar CO2 vanilla, benzoin resin, natural vanillin
In my opinion, honey is one of the most underrated grounding gourmand notes, and it’s interpreted beautifully in Trudon’s 45° Eau de Parfum. Created by Vasnier, this amber-vanilla scent offers a flirty take on vanilla with the mouthwatering stickiness of honey accord paired with bright bergamot, airy Madagascar CO2 vanilla, and softy sweet benzoin resin.
Customer Review: “This fragrance is an absolute masterpiece. The honey note gave me pause, but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. Every note is incredibly well-blended, creating a smooth, rich composition that feels both refined and indulgent. It’s truly a luxurious vanilla. It’s warm, elegant, and utterly sophisticated. There is absolutely nothing cheap or synthetic about this scent. It wears beautifully, with impressive longevity and amazing sillage that leaves a lasting impression without being overpowering.”
Trudon
Midnight Omen Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Warm woods | Notes: Iris, mandarin, peonies, saffron, leather, sandalwood, violet, cashmeran, moss, musks, patchouli
Trudon is no stranger to creating enchanting, woody blends, and one of its newest additions—Midnight Omen—continues that legacy with a mysterious composition of heady amber woods ushered in by a bright burst of mandarin. At this perfume’s heart is a somewhat powdery blend of iris and violet warmed by a suede-like leather and rare Nepalese sandalwood.
Customer Review: “Saffron and violet are the central notes. And cashmere. This trio brings to mind Byredo’s violet-based fragrances. Bibliothèque and Unnamed flit through my mind, but this has more of a leather nuance than those. Their discontinued Midnight Candy also comes to mind.”
Trudon
Apéhlie Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Green fougère | Notes: Rose essence, green ivy, black currant bud, moss, sandalwood, tonka beans
This is the Trudon fragrance that comes to mind when I think of a garden just after a storm with dew-tipped grass and velvet blooms. Drawing its inspiration from an aphelion (the orbital point at which a celestial object is furthest from the sun), this perfume blends nature with romanticism by combining a delicate rose essence with green ivy and black currant bud against a base of dry moss, smooth wood, and a splash of creamy tonka bean.
Customer Review: “This is such a beautiful fragrance. The sandalwood is blended perfectly with the cassis and ivy to create a woody green perfume that is rich and complex but not heavy. The oakmoss grounds it with a lovely earthy character. It smells like walking into an old wooden church with ivy climbing up the walls and moss on the ground. It’s woody, green, fresh, and earthy. Great performance and definitely unisex.”
Trudon
Mortel Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Cool spices | Notes: Pimento, black pepper, Somalian frankincense, mystikal, benzoin resin, pure cistus, myrrh
Smoky incense serves as the glowing heart of this scent rooted in cool spices. It opens with bright and unexpected pimento, then shifts into a unique olfactory experience set alight by frankincense, benzoin resin, pure cistus, and myrrh. There’s something utterly mysterious about this Trudon scent… Perhaps it’s how beautifully it wears on the skin or the fact that it possesses something cold and woody.
Customer Review: “A lovely incense centered perfume carefully constructed and very evocative. The incense here is blended with myrrh, benzoin and a hint of labdanum and woods. The resulting juice is mystical and takes you straight to an ancient church. Moderate in sillage and projection, the unisex scent has good longevity on skin. A must try for incense lovers. Enjoy!”
Trudon
Bruma Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Aromatic floral | Notes: Galbanum, lavender, iris, violet, leather, labdanum
If half-written love letters being left out in the summer sun could have a fragrance, it would be Trudon’s gorgeous Bruma Eau de Parfum. It’s magnetic and sensual with the green sharpness of galbanum that gives way to a heart of warm, powdery blooms against a leathery labdanum base. I’ve seen this perfume be described by customers as cold, romantic, and floral, and I’d like to add another word to the list: transcendental.
Customer Review: “Buttery iris-violet, pepper and peachy peony—icy and abstract. The opening is almost vegetal before the iris fades and the top becomes a diaphanous floral bouquet tinged slightly green. Bruma becomes gently warm as it evolves; vetiver’s ever evolving dusty and smoky characteristics move to the fore before tonka bean lends a hay-like sweetness. There is an elegant powdery-ness too, clean and pale.”
Trudon
II Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Woody aromatic | Notes: Green leaves, bitter orange, juniper, pine, cedarwood, incense
This year, I’ve been enchanted by grounding green notes sweetened with citrus, and this perfume perfectly captures all the enchanted forest vibes. Inspired by new beginnings, II takes everything you love about dry, woody notes and pairs it with bitter orange and bright juniper before lacing it with the smokiness and warmth of incense. While it does certainly smell like freshly cut leaves and damp bark, I like to think of this one as a deconstructed woody perfume.
Customer Review: “II is a verdant take on the eau de [parfum] genre—green, peppery, coniferous, and citrusy. The top of bitter orange, fresh cut leaves, and pepper tickles the nose with its cool, dusty composition; the result is, as others have mentioned, very reminiscent of fig leaf. Green all the way through its evolution, pine and juniper mingle with tendrils of slightly smoky incense and soft cashmeran in the calmative dry down.”
Trudon
Elae Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: White floral | Notes: Moroccan neroli, apple, Egyptian jasmine, ylang-ylang, Laotian benzoin, Australian sandalwood
Trudon’s Elae feels warm, inviting, and familiar in a way that I have yet to see any other perfume do, which is why it’s my favorite of the house’s perfume offerings. It boasts a bouquet of bright and delicate florals balanced by crisp apple, smooth resin, and cozy sandalwood. It smells exactly how the transition from spring to summer feels: sunny, romantic, and full of possibility. It also happens to be one of the house’s fragrances that earns me endless compliments.
Customer Review: “Sweet jasmine, neroli and ylang-ylang are all noticed in the opening in a well blended balance behind a green, light floral tuberose. The dry down is where this fragrance shines. A light brush of benzoin creates a smooth, almost-vanilla-woody base with just a whisper of sharp but subtle Australian sandalwood to add depth, while the pretty top florals settle in a perfect harmony of yellow and white, slightly sweet yet very natural. This fragrance will dance on your skin all day to create an aura of feminine beauty.”
Trudon
Révolution Eau de Parfum
Scent Type: Aromatic woods | Notes: Elemi, angelica, wild juniper, cedarwood, papyrus
Révolution Eau de Parfum is designed to permeate the skin with a sensual smokiness that “leaves an air of mystery and intrigue around the body.” Deliciously spicy and smoldering, this woody perfume is my favorite bold and elevated take on cedarwood because it’s being softened with dry papyrus and given edge with angelica, wild juniper, and elemi resin.
Customer Review: “A smoky, skin-warming seduction built on elemi resin, papyrus, juniper, angelica, and dry cedarwood. It opens like a spark in the dark—sharp, spicy, slightly metallic—then melts into a smoldering, woody haze that clings to skin like heat after a kiss. Minimalist notes, but the effect is feral, intimate, and irresistibly sexy. A quiet rebellion with incredible presence.”
Discover More Trudon Favorites
Trudon
Abd El Kader Diffuser
Scent Type: Aromatic floral | Notes: Black currant bud, lemon, ginger, clove, spearmint apple, jasmine, vanilla
Trudon
Joséphine Diffuser
Scent Type: Floral woods | Notes: Bergamot, Kaffir lime, spices, Chinese camellia, Egyptian jasmine, Turkish rose, iris, white musks, Indonesian sandalwood
Trudon
Joséphine Candle
Scent Type: Floral woods | Notes: Bergamot, Kaffir lime, spices, Chinese camellia, Egyptian jasmine, Turkish rose, iris, white musks, Indonesian sandalwood
Trudon
Cyrnos Candle
Scent Type: Aromatic citrus | Notes: Lemon, myrtle, thyme, cedarwood, black fig, lavender, pine, cashmere wood, musk, patchouli
