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- What Do Sunflowers Actually Smell Like?
- Sunflower Scent in Perfume
- What Makes It the Best Sunflower Perfume?
- My Top Pick: Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers EDT
- Best Sunflower Perfumes: The Seven Alternatives for Smiles and Sunshine
- Bvlgari Petits Et Mamans EDT
- Bath & Body Works Golden Sunflower 2020 Limited Edition EDP
- Marc Jacobs Rain EDT
- Abercombie & Fitch Fierce for Women EDP
- Heidi Klum Summer Shine EDT
- Hanae Mori Collection No. 3 EDT
- Etienne Aigner Debut EDP
- Choosing Your Sunflower Perfume
- Tips to Make Your Sunshine Last
- Making Your Own Sunflower Perfume
- FAQs
- Recommended Alternatives for Sunflower Perfumes
The best sunflower perfume guide should show you which current perfumes are still making waves with this beautifully feminine note. It’s about seeing what works for you, what they smell like, how you can choose the best one, and what can deter you from selecting each perfume.
For me, the best sunflower perfumes are about looking for currently available options, scents that last at least six hours and looking at how much approval they receive on the world’s largest marketplace: Amazon. Sunflower perfumes are rare, but they’re as fabulous as any floral note.
They smell feminine and soothing, capable of taking your mind to a wondrous realm. However, you can best match them to the sweetest notes in other perfumes or oils if you want a bit of sunshine in your day. Elizabeth Arden wins my approval for the best sunflower perfume.
Let’s help you find your favorite, and if you don’t, I’ll teach you a few tricks about sunflower oils. Nothing’s impossible when it comes to my eccentric nose and imaginative mind.
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What Do Sunflowers Actually Smell Like?
Sunflowers have a warm, honey-like scent that is earthy with a hint of floral. Sunflowers typically have a soft and slightly sweet aroma, with a small amount of spice. The aroma of sunflowers can be found in various perfumes and fragrances such as sweet orange, jasmine, lavender, and a touch of woody notes.
Sunflower Scent in Perfume
You’re pretty limited with perfumes if you love the smell of sunflowers. Honestly, you don’t smell much from sunflowers, and it’s more of a resin smell than floral, but the note can elevate other ingredients like sweet, fruity, and florals to create an enhanced fragrance.
Sunflowers are a wild hybrid that doesn’t smell good on their own. Blended with the right oils, you have a fragrance that smells fresh, inviting, and all-consuming for the senses. The beauty of sunflowers goes beyond how it makes other notes bolder, fresher, and more balanced.
Sunflowers symbolize adoration, loyalty, vitality, good luck, long life, and optimism. You can’t avoid smiling when those gorgeous flowers stretch over fields to meet your eyes when they follow the rising sun. I think of a sunflower as a sunshine flower.
Perfumes are a beautiful blend of oils extracted from plants, and sunflower oil has benefits beyond the happiness trigger. It’s a non-comedogenic oil, meaning it’s more absorbent than other perfume oils, and that’s how it makes your scents last longer.
Sunflower oil also has linoleic acid, which is a skin-protecting agent that helps your wrists keep moisture for longer, another way to make your perfume more fabulous. The flower might not smell like anything, but enhancing your scent is the pivotal purpose of it.
I’m not sure many perfumers know about the exceptional qualities sunflowers can add to their scents, but some perfumers have used those qualities to create magical fragrances.
What Makes It the Best Sunflower Perfume?
With so few to choose from, I still narrowed my top picks down based on three factors. Firstly, the perfume must have a sunflower note in the first or heart layers, which allows the ingredient to do what it needs to with the other notes.
Secondly, this is a perfume guide, meaning I’m only going to share the best sunflower perfumes with you. I won’t add body mists because they don’t last as long. All my picks are Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum, which last six hours or longer.
Finally, I love reading feedback from consumers when I choose a new perfume. I want to know how much people love it. I won’t be too picky about feedback, but I expect an Amazon approval rating of 65% or more. After all, I think Amazon is becoming our global e-commerce market.
If the perfumes meet all three of my standards, you’ll read about them now.
My Top Pick: Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers EDT
Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers is an ode to the smiling flower, created in 1993; it’s everything you want from a sunflower perfume. It’s also a popular perfume because it’s by the famous Elizabeth Arden. This perfume began a range of sunflower-inspired scents by the brand.
The smell is something otherworldly, starting with fruity twists of melon, peach, and oranges blended into rosewood for a summery freshness like no other. It evolves into a gorgeously floral heart where sunflower notes dance with jasmine and rose before it ends in a sweet finale.
A celebration of summer's simplicity and joy, this fragrance opens with sparkling fresh fruits that gradually unfold into rich florals at full bloom.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Fruity, floral, citrus, fresh, aquatic, woody, white floral, powdery, ozonic, and sweet
- First Notes: Melon, orange blossom, peach, Mandarin orange, bergamot, Brazilian rosewood, and lemon
- Heart Notes: Rose, jasmine, osmanthus, sunflower, cyclamen, and orris root
- Ground Notes: Sandalwood, cedarwood, amber, oakmoss, and musk
- Intensity: Medium for 6 to 8 hours
- Seasons: Summer and spring
- Age Range: 20s to 50s (versatile on every level)
- Best Personality Matches: New-age feminine, au natural, romantic, refreshing, and happy
- Similar Perfumes: Escape by Calvin Klein and Summer Time by Kate Moss
- Amazon Approval Rating: 100% (20+ reviews)
Very sensual and romantic, this blend is complex and exciting. The chamomile note at the top is undeniable but as time goes on it settles in with the other notes to put a little magic in your day or evening.
Kate Summer Time opens with gentle, floral aromas of neroli, with luminous accords of orange, wild blackberry and galbanum.
Cons:
- I can’t find fault with this perfume unless you consider how the woody notes surface before the floral ones, but it’s beautiful on any women’s skin!
Interesting Fact: This perfume inspired a range that includes Morning Gardens, Sunlight Kiss, Summer Air, Sunrise, and Summer Bloom, but sadly, the inspired range comes and goes because they’re limited edition. I’m only adding perfumes you can still find on Amazon.
I won’t be able to share how much people love a perfume if I can’t give you feedback on the approval rating, meaning I’ll have to dismiss the range inspired by Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers. It’s such a pity, but you can’t find them anymore, so I don’t want to get your hopes up for nothing.
Best Sunflower Perfumes: The Seven Alternatives for Smiles and Sunshine
I wish Elizabeth Arden extended her range long-term, but I’ll give you more beautiful sunflower perfumes from which to choose. Each one has a gorgeous blend of notes elevated by the sunflower oil in the first or heart layer. The accords show you how the smell evolves.
I’ve added the intensity for you to understand how strong the fragrance smells, and the personalities are a great way to choose your favorite one. As a bonus, I’ll add two alternatives for each perfume so you can try the other brand or know how the sunflower scent smells.
Bvlgari Petits Et Mamans EDT
Bvlgari Petits Et Mamans is a beautiful 1997 floral fragrance with sunflowers. It has a creamy, powdery start that feels feminine before it dries into a floral and herbal heart where vanilla takes charge of sweetening the intense florals. You also get a whiff of chamomile, soothing to the core.
The fresh, citrusy beginning is followed by the unusual floral heart composed of chamomile, sunflower and rose. Natural peach, vanilla and iris extracts make for a pure and tender childlike moment. It was created in 1997.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Powdery, floral, herbal, vanilla, iris, and sweet
- First Notes: Sicilian orange, Brazilian rosewood, and bergamot
- Heart Notes: Rose, chamomile, and sunflower
- Ground Notes: Iris, vanilla, powdery notes, and white peach
- Intensity: Intimate for 6 to 8 hours
- Seasons: Summer, fall, spring, and winter
- Age Range: mid-20s to mid-40s
- Best Personality Matches: Calm, collected, optimistic, feminine, and lady-like
- Similar Perfumes: La Vie Est Belle by Lancome and Pour Femme by Bvlgari
- Amazon Approval Rating: 85% (800+ reviews)
La Vie Est Belle has fragrance notes of iris spring flowers and the intoxicating earthiness of patchouli. These are layered alongside perfume notes of delicious spun sugar and sensual warm vanilla. Plus, like a bright blooming bouquet, it also has other flowery hints of exotic Arabian jasmine sambac and sparkling Tunisian orange blossom. 
The delicate floral bouquet opens with bergamot, violet leaves and orange blossom. In the heart dwells luminous jasmine Sambac picked at dawn, when its scent is romantically soft. 
Cons:
- It’s a beautifully feminine fragrance, but not everyone loves such intense florals with powdery accents
Bath & Body Works Golden Sunflower 2020 Limited Edition EDP
Bath & Body Works Golden Sunflower is a limited edition, but it’s still widely available in 2021. It has simple notes that evolve in wondrous ways. It starts with a sweetness from the orange flower while the vanilla base surfaces before you smell the floral love of sunflowers.
Warm. Radiant. Sun-kissed. Be inspired by a field of beautiful golden sunflowers & feel the warmth of the sun’s kiss on your skin.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Sweet, vanilla, floral, white floral, herbal, powdery, and citrus
- First Notes: African orange flower
- Heart Notes: Sunflower
- Ground Notes: Vanilla
- Intensity: Medium for about 6 hours
- Seasons: Summer, spring, and fall
- Age Range: 20s to 40s
- Best Personality Matches: Radiant, smiling, vibrant, ambitious, and feminine
- Similar Perfumes: Honey by Marc Jacobs and Orchid Soleil by Tom Ford
- Amazon Approval Rating: 81% (300+ reviews)
The fragrance opens with a fresh fruity hook of mandarin and orange, then melts into a beautiful floral honey heart for a long-lasting and sunny signature scent, captured in its gold polka dot bottle.
Cons:
- It barely lasts six hours, and it has a unique evolution some women might find too sweet
Marc Jacobs Rain EDT
Marc Jacobs Rain EDT is a gorgeous sunflower perfume from 2006. It starts with a splash of sweet florals that smell like the sun kissing sunflowers and passionflowers, while the strawberries soften the woody undertones before getting to a fruity, aromatic, and fresh finale.
Top notes: wet cut grass, wild strawberry, clementine, cypress Heart: tropical rain, passion flower, sunflower, white orchid Base: amber, moss, teak, musk.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Floral, sweet, woody, fruity, aromatic, citrus, mossy, powdery, musky, and fresh spicy
- First Notes: Clementine, cypress, and strawberry
- Heart Notes: Orchid, passionflower, and sunflower
- Ground Notes: Amber, oakmoss, musk, and teak wood
- Intensity: Intimate for about 6 hours
- Seasons: Summer and spring
- Age Range: 20s to mid-30s
- Best Personality Matches: Optimistic, innocent, sweet, romantic, and harmonious
- Similar Perfumes: Ciao by Vince Camuto and Wild Bluebell by Jo Malone
- Amazon Approval Rating: 79% (100+ reviews)
The intoxicating scent reveals floral and citrus notes with a rich dry down of glowing amber and vanilla. The fruity floral fragrance is contagious and unforgettable.
This floral green fragrance has bellflower, clove, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, rose hip, musk, and amber.
Cons:
- It has a solid youthful feel that isn’t suited to older women
Abercombie & Fitch Fierce for Women EDP
Abercombie & Fitch Fierce for Women is a beautiful sunflower perfume, but it’s a limited edition. It has an unusual start with soft florals elevated by woody undertones and a tropical attitude before you dry down to a feminine but fresh undertone sweetened with spicy and floral notes.
Top notes are Fir, Lemon, Orange, Cardamom, Petitgrain and Sea Notes; middle notes are Rosemary, Lily-of-the-Valley, Jasmine, Rose and Sage; base notes are Musk, Vetiver, Oakmoss, Brazilian Rosewood and Sandalwood.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Floral, woody, coconut, green, powdery, sweet, citrus, warm spicy, aromatic, and white floral
- First Notes: Cactus, agave, and sunflower
- Heart Notes: Plumeria, coconut, and orange blossom
- Ground Notes: Sandalwood, moss, and vetiver
- Intensity: Intimate to medium for 6 to 8 hours
- Seasons: Fall, spring, and summer
- Age Range: 30s to 40s
- Best Personality Matches: Confident, unique, calm, alluring, and somewhat mysterious
- Similar Perfumes: Crystal Noir by Versace and Wood Sage & Sea Salt by Jo Malone
- Amazon Approval Rating: 75% (20+ reviews – not the best feedback, but it’s a fabulous perfume)
Top notes are Violet, black fig and Black Currant; middle notes are Jasmine, Tuberose and Frangipani; base notes are Sandalwood, Cashmeran, Vanilla and Heliotrope.
Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne was created with the intention to evoke the feeling of pleasure, freedom and escape into nature, inspired by the unique character and quality of British beaches. 
Cons:
- The perfume name doesn’t match the smell (it’s not as fierce as you’d think)
- It’s a limited edition, meaning it might not be available much longer
- It smells a little odd on young ladies
- It doesn’t have many reviews yet (but it’s new and limited, so it’s expected)
Heidi Klum Summer Shine EDT
Heidi Klum Summer Shine is a beautiful perfume that has many of my favorite notes. I love how the sweetness unfolds fresh and feminine notes before fruity and citrus hearts explode. You begin your journey into floral notes in the heart before fresh and woody undertones rise.
This exotic and sparkling composition opens with citrus notes of lemon, bergamot and orange. Citrus fruits lead the way to warm and sunny notes of sunflower, pear, passion fruit and white heliotrope. Sensual and powdery trail is formed by the base of sandalwood, iris and musk.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Sweet, powdery, fruity, citrus, floral, tropical, fresh, iris, musky, and woody
- First Notes: Amalfi lemon, bergamot, and orange blossom
- Heart Notes: Passionfruit, pear, heliotrope, and sunflower
- Ground Notes: Sandalwood, iris, and musk
- Intensity: Medium to strong for 6 to 8 hours
- Seasons: Summer, spring, and fall
- Age Range: 20s to early-40s
- Best Personality Matches: Untamed, bold, eclectic, fun-loving, and modern-feminine
- Similar Perfumes: Shine by Heidi Klum and Bright Crystal by Versace
- Amazon Approval Rating: 100% (it has less than 10 reviews – making this an objective favorite again)
The fragrance opens with notes of mandarin, pink pepper and pear. Its heart contains mimosa absolut, lily of the valley and sunflower. The base is composed of vanilla, tonka beans from Venezuela and Cosmone musk.
Cons:
- The personalities don’t match the secrets of sunflowers, but the other notes elevate the vibrancy of the perfume, making it less of a harmonious blend
- It won’t smell good on mature women who want that floral foundation
- It has too few reviews to have an accurate or subjective approval rating
Hanae Mori Collection No. 3 EDT
Hanae Mori Collection No. 3 is an underrated perfume. It’s not well-known, but it has a unique drydown. It begins with fruity and floral notes combining before blending into the base of vanilla. The citrus notes bite your senses before you enter a sweet, woody undertone and end in florals.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Fruity, floral, vanilla, citrus, sweet, woody, powdery, soft spicy, white floral, and fresh
- First Notes: Blackcurrant, bitter orange, and sunflower
- Heart Notes: Jasmine, raspberry, and freesia
- Ground Notes: Sandalwood, vanilla, and musk
- Intensity: Medium to strong for about 6 hours
- Seasons: Fall, summer, and spring
- Age Range: late teens to 20s
- Best Personality Matches: Cheeky, contemporary, vibrant, youthful, and unpredictable
- Similar Perfumes: Sensi by Giorgio Armani and Siren by Paris Hilton
- Amazon Approval Rating: 66% (only 10+reviews – making it an objective choice)
Cons:
- This perfume makes my cut for the approval ratings, but it’s a bit of an acquired taste because the notes unfold in an unusual way (it doesn’t mean it’s not a fabulous sunflower perfume)
- This perfume is also undoubtedly reserved for the younger generation (Gen Z)
Etienne Aigner Debut EDP
Etienne Aigner Debut is a unique fragrance with a spicy attitude. Sunflowers are harmonious, but this isn’t the most delicate perfume. It begins with fresh citrus before entering the heart of florals and drying into a woody accent. It takes on a spicy demeanor before ending fresh and sweet.
Top notes of Aigner Debut accentuate fresh fruity aromas of bergamot, mandarin, grapefruit and green apple additionally cooled down with petitgrain. The heart incorporates luminous orange blossom, water lily, jasmine and sunflower seed, on a deep, warm and cuddly base of patchouli, cedar, vanilla, white musk and oak moss.
Key Features:
- Rising Accords: Citrus, white floral, floral, woody, fresh spicy, patchouli, aromatic, fresh, green, and sweet
- First Notes: Petitgrain, Mandarin orange, green apple, bergamot, and grapefruit
- Heart Notes: Jasmine, sunflower, water lily, and orange blossom
- Ground Notes: White musk, oakmoss, vanilla, cedarwood, and patchouli
- Intensity: Medium to strong for 8 to 10 hours
- Seasons: Summer, fall, and spring
- Age Range: 30s to 40s
- Best Personality Matches: Passionate, feminine, confident, peace-maker, and desirable
- Similar Perfumes: Romantica Exotica by Anna Sui and Le Parfum by Elie Saab
- Amazon Approval Rating: 100% (but take note that there’s only 1 review)
The perfume opens with notes of orange blossom. Jasmine is in the heart, including both Grandiflorum and Sambac, whereas the base consists of cedar, patchouli and rose honey accord.
Cons:
- The smell evolutions are stranger than most sunflower perfumes, and it won’t suit young ladies well
- I’ve moved this perfume to the last spot because it can’t have a genuine 100% approval rating with only one review
Choosing Your Sunflower Perfume
The rule of choosing your best sunflower perfume is to pick one with other notes you love. Remember, you can’t smell sunflowers. You’re choosing one based on the ingredients you want sunflowers to enhance. Consider the notes and age range of each perfume first.
Once you have a smell you love, you can pinpoint your signature sunflower fragrance by determining which personalities suit yours. Choose one with a sassy attitude if you feel cheeky, or pick one with a feminine and alluring quality if you want to smell like seduction on the move.
Tips to Make Your Sunshine Last
Enhancing your sunflower enhancer is a next-level pro tactic when it comes to making your perfume last forever. Which woman wouldn’t want her perfume lasting all day long? I have a massive collection, and I use any secrets to make sure every scent is a bold statement.
The simplest trick to elevate your sunflower note is to add a second one using the same structure. If your perfume choice was sweet, use a lotion on your skin with the same sunflower and sweet dance. If your perfume is fruity with sunflowers, look for a similar lotion.
These products work with most sunflower perfumes:
- Bath & Body Works Golden Sunflower moisturizing lotion
- Andalou Naturals body lotion with sunflower and citrus notes
- Mustela Hydrating body lotion with sunflower, aloe vera, and olive oil (versatile enough for all sunflower perfumes)
Putting lotion on your skin first is how you help perfume absorb better into your pores, which is already happening with any sunflower product, but more can be better in some cases. Should you still want the perfume to last longer, you can also try spraying it into your hair.
Making Your Own Sunflower Perfume
As promised, I’ll teach you to add sunflower perfume oil to any scent for lasting benefits. Before you do anything, get a premium sunflower fragrance oil and do a patch test on your skin. Dab some onto your wrist and leave it for 48 hours to ensure you do not react.
Do a patch test for any perfume oil you intend to use because they’re raw, organic, and a lot stronger than what you find in regular perfumes. Once you finish your patch tests on different parts of your body, you can get these ingredients to add to your sunflower perfume oil:
- One woody perfume oil (sandalwood, cedarwood, or cashmere wood)
- One musky perfume oil
- Two floral perfume oils (rose, lilies, jasmine, or iris)
- Three sweet perfume oils (orange blossom, blackcurrant, vanilla, tropical notes, or any sweet ingredients you love, even candy floss)
- Vodka with a high concentration of alcohol (40% or more)
- Distilled water
- Glycerine
- A pretty bottle to store your perfume
- A piece of aluminum foil
Follow these steps to make a perfume at home. Remember that you may change your perfume oils to suit your tastes, but I’d write down any recipe as I go along to make sure I have it handy when I realize how gorgeous it smells. The steps are:
- Sterilize your perfume bottle and make sure it has a cap that seals.
- Pour a quarter cup of vodka into the perfume bottle.
- Divide your chosen essential oils into a glass mixing bowl. They should total about 25 drops among them all. You might want to use more sweet oils drops if your perfume should smell sweet. Don’t use more than three drops of sunflower or woody oils.
- Mix the oils gently with a wooden spoon. Don’t overmix them. You should always be gentle with perfume oils because harsh handling can change how they smell.
- Use a funnel to pour the oil mixture into your bottled vodka and store it between 48 hours and a month to mature. The longer it develops, the stronger it will smell.
- You need to dilute the mature fragrance now with two tablespoons of distilled water, and you can add another tablespoon if you want to use a spray bottle.
- Add five tablespoons of glycerine to your perfume to preserve the ingredients.
- Finally, wrap your bottle in aluminum foil to prevent it from going bad. Light and temperature changes can make it hard for glycerine to do its job.
Don’t forget to write your recipe down, even if it comes out bad. You don’t want to make the same mistake twice anyway, and you want to remember the perfect perfume you made last time.
FAQs
Question: Are Sunflower Perfumes a Rare Gem?
Answer:Â There aren’t many sunflower perfumes on the market, which alone makes them rare gems. The sunflower perfume oil has no smell, and that’s why so few perfumers use it. Still, the ingredient has positive effects on other fragrance notes, including being a non-comedogenic oil.
Question: Which is the Most Popular Sunflower Perfume?
Answer:Â There aren’t many sunflower perfumes available, but I use Amazon for reliable feedback from people who use the scents daily. Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers is the favorite on Amazon because it maintains an 84% approval rating after nearly 400 reviews.
Question: Where Can I Find Sunflower Perfumes?
Answer:Â Thanks to the criteria I used to choose the best sunflower perfumes, I’d say Amazon is the first choice for sourcing all your sunflower needs. However, you can also purchase some perfumes at Walmart, Target, Fragrance X, and Fragrance Net, especially Elizabeth Arden’s scent.
Recommended Alternatives for Sunflower Perfumes
The rarity of sunflower perfumes is unfortunate, but there are other ingredients perfumers love using if the recommended alternatives under each fragrance aren’t grabbing your attention. Maybe you love floral notes. If so, these two common perfume ingredients will do the trick:
- Jasmine is a versatile floral note with unisex possibilities
- Lavender is an iconic floral note with unisex opportunities
If you’re looking for something less floral but sweet, try vanilla as a foundational ingredient. If you’re brave enough to traverse the woody undertones, you can even look into another iconic note, sandalwood. Strong woody base notes are more masculine, but they’re sometimes gentle.
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