Easy, cheap and cheerful perfume brands for basic days

Perfume prices have gone mad and we're all burnt out. Here's what to spritz without feeling financially nauseous or mentally drained.

When Belle turned 2, we’d laid all her lovingly-wrapped presents in a pile on the kitchen table the night before - ready and waiting for her the next morning with a helium heart balloon attached to her high chair.

We’d bought her a brilliantly garish, bright, glossy, snazzy, shiny plastic ice-cream cart, a cuddly sheep and some books, all enrobé in simple pale yellow paper.

What did she play with for two solid hours that morning?

The paper.

Sometimes, the simple things are all that our brains can handle. The things that demand no decision-making, no fuss, no work, no overthinking. Just easy.

I think that’s often what we need in our perfume arsenal, too. Something that requires no strategic thought process or complex consideration. Something easy.

Sometimes, we don’t have the headspace for shiny, glitzy bottles with worthy intentions and whimsical back-stories. Can we perhaps, just once in a while, be okay with a bottle that doesn’t have grand, self-righteous sustainability claims of saving the world and using “the highest quality ingredients KNOWN TO MAN!!!”? A perfume that isn’t necessarily crafted by a leading nose, or backed by game-changing neuroscience, or laced with unicorn tears milked by the hands of mute virgins in Tahiti. Of course there is a place for these special scents - and we love them - but Christ on a bike life is hard enough and, sometimes, we just. need. easy.

And by easy, I also mean inexpensive. There is a whole other Substack I’m plotting about the current (and flabbergasting) prices of new perfume launches, which generally most people in my friendship circles and DMs struggle to accept and afford. Most designer or niche perfumes cost over £120, so if you do save up for one there is often a feeling of guilt and acute awareness of spritzing precious £££ symbols on a mundane day of school runs / office humdrum / supermarket chores.

And thus for those days, the ones when you’re feeling a bit frazzled and broke, I’ve got your back with a list of brands that deliver ‘easy’ in buckets. They’re so easy that you barely need to even think about what you’re spraying. They’re for days when you just want to smell nice - full stop. Not days when you want to feel glamorous or confident or mob-wife or shaggable or intellectual. Just nice. They’re also very easy to find, as most are in high street shops and quick to locate. They hit the spot like the perfume equivalent to popping out on your lunch break and grabbing a pair of hoop earrings, sunglasses, lip balm or any random bits lurking on the plinths whilst you’re queuing for the till and a bit bored. Basic, simple and brainwork-free.

Who cares if they’re not designer or luxury? Yes, I know that investing in one fantastic quality item, rather than multiple fast and cheapo pieces, is better for the environment and ultimately your bank balance. But FFS not everything has to be fancypants or sensible.

If you’re with me, if you’re not 24/7 angelically perfect and you want to indulge in an occasional harmless pleasure, then trust these following high street hot-spots for a pleasing hit of, well, easy.

&OtherStories

From £28 for 50ml; TAP TO SHOP

&OtherStories is a masterclass in high street fragrance creation. The perfumes are fairly priced with plenty of scent profiles to choose from, they’re all unigender and made by a credible perfumer; plus it’s an all-round good, ethical brand. There’s a cool-factor that also makes it one of my most recommended brands for anyone looking for an inexpensive fragrance for a tricky teenage kid, whatever their gender.

My summer hit is Solar Essay Eau de Toilette (£29), which smells like sun cream without too much sickly coconut (it’s also available as a nifty rollerball oil for £15)

PS: the candles are fantastic too!

Mango

Only sold in-store, not online

From £12.99 for 50ml, TAP TO FIND YOUR NEAREST STORE

Unlike Zara’s shitshow migraine perfume displays, Mango’s seems a little more orderly and calm. Most of their scents are made by Jerome di Marino - and I know where not focusing on those details but I think that’s pretty cool. Alas, like Zara, the collection change every five seconds but do pop in and have a little play with what’s on offer and let me know what you find!

The Body Shop

From £12 for 100ml Body Mists, TAP TO SHOP

Despite administration woes, The Body Shop boutiques are still open and within them are some fab scents worth trying. I recommend the Full Flowers Collection if you like a single floral note, and the body mists are lovely too:

Bluebell, at £12, is the newest and it’s nowhere near as childish as it sounds. It’s calm and cool with a watery floral linger.

Roger & Gallet

From £20 for 50ml, TAP TO SHOP

I know, I know, I’m always going on about R&G but I am evangelical about their gorgeous scents - which, as it happens, are made by incredible noses such as Francis Kurkdjian, Dominique Ropion and Alberto Morillas. They’re not perfumes mind you, they’re Wellbeing Fragrances, so don’t expect these to stay on skin beyond a couple of hours. However, if you layer with the matching shower gel and body milk they have much better grip. To be honest all of the scents in the collection are dreamy, but for something neutral, incredibly refreshing and elegant, try this:

Jean Marie Farina Eau de Cologne (£20 for 30ml) is in the realms of 4711 and all those wonderful splashy colognes you find in gallon-sized tanks on the bottom shelves of French village pharmacies. It’s a classic blend of lemon, orange, petit grain, lavender, thyme and rosemary and suits all ages and genders, from teens to grandparents.

Naturelle by Elle

£24 for 100ml; TAP TO SHOP

You’ll find these in Superdrug or The Perfume Shop and there are three very pretty, easy breezy floral Eau de Parfums to choose from. I know we’re not focusing on purpose here but these have impressive Fairtrade credentials. To be honest, they all smell the same, so have a spritz and see which name appeals most.

Marks & Spencer Discover Collection

From £7.50 for 30mls; TAP TO SHOP

A brilliant family of simple scents to splash on whenever. They’re in most bigger M&S stores but they’re cheap enough to blind buy online without panicking. Depending on stock availability there is usually a good selection on offer. They don’t last on skin for very long but at that price it’s expected.

I really like Sea Salt & Neroli (£12.50 for 100ml), which I first mentioned yonks ago in lockdown and so many people have since told me it’s a solid part of their perfume collection now. It’s a cool, seashell-marine scent with a bit of zest and botanical herbs, with an overall tranquil and crystalline aura. It’s not a dupe of Jo Malone London’s Wood Sage & Sea Salt, but it’s definitely a close cousin. The Coconut one is fab too, but it’s always out of stock. I’ve just called in the brand new Discover Sunrise and Discover Sunset from the press office and I shall report back tout de suite!

Pure & Co

£6.50 for 50ml; TAP TO SHOP

I was in a big Boots store recently and stood in front of their perfume cabinets. What a sad place it was. Everything is under lock and key (and behind grubby plasticky panels), as if assuming every customer is a potential criminal. I mean, sure, they’d probably have a ton of stock swiped regularly if all the designer bottles were on display, but for the love of GOD make your fragrance offering a bit more fun and welcoming, yeah? Anyhoo, I spotted a little collection called Pure & Co, tucked amongst the body mists, which looked insanely affordable and not at all shite. There are five in the range and they’re all relatively samey, but they smelt really, really nice.

I especially liked Cedrat and Orange Blossom, which had that white cotton dress effect of crisp, sparkling lemon zest and airy delicate petals. Not too sweet, not too silly. It lasted about an hour on my skin, to be expected, and I didn’t want to immediately scrub it off. I’m now quite pissed off I didn’t buy it actually. *Adds to cart*

Bon Parfumeur

From £40 for 30ml; TAP TO SHOP

Anthropologie has a fun, if a little bit pricey, selection of fragrances and candles, and amongst them is Bon Parfumeur. Whilst they don’t stock the full collection, there are several to choose from and the idea is that you should choose the one you’re most drawn to by the colour of the label. The brown one is earthy and spicy… The yellow one is sunny and happy… etc etc. There are three star ingredients in each one, which are written on the front so it’s very easy to navigate. Easy. EASY!

The green one, 601 Vetiver, Cedar and Bergamot, is my favourite. It’s quite grassy and a bit woody, with fresh leaves, sweet twigs, dry bark and vegetal roots, as if an entire tree has been scrunched up into a bottle. It’s a little bit Terre d’Hermes, which is a big happy YES tick.

Yardley

£12 for 50ml; TAP TO SHOP

Can we all move on from the granny vibes please? Just because saying the name out-loud beckons a Tardis back to eighties doesn’t mean their current products smell dated. Okay I’ll admit the jars, soaps and (yikes) powders look absolutely ancient, but blur your eyes whilst navigating their website or tap the link above to get to the Eau de Toilettes as quickly as you can! See? They’re lovely! They’re fresh, modern and simple, and provide a much needed dose of EASY.

I have a bottle of English Jasmine Eau de Toilette on my desk. It smells of creamy and fleshy jasmine and tuberose petals, sweet honeysuckle nectar and a fresh crunch of apple to keep it light and breezy. It’s so impressive and enjoyable, and if you’re a jasmine fan looking for an affordable spray to fill the days between wearing your more pricey special scents, this is the one.

Finally here’s something a bit more spenny but worth a look if you find yourself in a giant shopping centre (why?) such as Westfield or Bluewater…

Sunnamusk

From £65 for 50ml; TAP TO SHOP

You know those random stalls in the middle of shopping malls that sell naff mobile phone covers and gross flavoured vapes? Well, look around and you will likely spot a Sunnamusk Fragrance stand amongst them. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. It may feel all kinds of ick to step into this unwalled zone of weirdness, but the perfumes are really good. They’re formulated by CPL Aromas in Britain and the founders are hard grafting brothers with a background in marketstall trading (so this didn’t come easy to them, unlike the majority of luxury fine fragrance founders who were born with trust funds), and their passion for fragrance is genuine. The perfumes have excellent lasting power and are pretty potent so definitely try in person before committing. The Attar oils are lovely too.

Briefly back to the pricing situation before I leave you. There is a major lack of perfume blogs, social media content and editorial articles that celebrate pocket-friendly (but un-shit) fragrances, don’t you think? It’s all SO expensive and privileged out there, which is why I big-up the opposite as often as I can (see my past Substacks for more brands suggestion - including Nuxe, Beauty Pie and Clarins). A few of my pals do a sterling job of flying the cheapo flag though, including Suzy Nightingale in her 'On The Scent' Podcast, which she co-hosts with Nicola Bonn.

Sali Hughes

also creates brilliant, informative and researched perfume content on her Insta and in her Guardian columns, which often include affordable fragrance options. Other than that? It’s tumbleweed.

Maybe everyone’s so mesmerised by the bright, glossy, snazzy, shiny stuff that they’ve forgotten there are those who are very content to play with cheap, uncomplicated, easy paper.

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