Lactose is apparently making a comeback. After years of oat and almond and soy domination, dairy milk consumption is on the rise again. While my sensitive stomach and I can not abide this cow-centric resurgence, there is a correlating trend in the fragrance aisle that I can get on board with. These days, it seems a “milky note” is practically a requirement for a scent to be sold.
The official name for this category of warm, creamy scents is lactonic, derived from the lactone molecules that create the milky sensation. “[Lactones] bring smoothness, roundness, and a velvety texture to the composition,” says Tanguy Guesnet, a perfumer with International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). Like so many beauty trends, the lactonic category is not so much a brand new innovation as a creative new way to market existing things. Frank Voelkl, principle perfumer at dsm-firmenich, says Commodity (Milk) and Ellis Brooklyn (Vanilla Milk) were two of the first brands to jumpstart the current lactonic craze, though he’s been using milky notes in fragrances for “20 or more years.”
“We’ve used these notes for many, many years, but maybe we didn’t go as far as we are going today,” Voelkl says. “It’s almost like, milk has always played a role, but not as a protagonist.” Emma, a creator and fragrance student who goes by Perfumerism online and is often credited with giving milky notes their time in the spotlight, concurs. “The way notes are described is all marketing,” she says. Musk, for example, is an age-old fragrance note, but now it’s being rebranded as “milky musk.” Vanilla (now often creamy vanilla) and sandalwood (now milky sandalwood) are two other classic notes that have gotten the lactonic rebrand.
Some of the most popular milk scents don’t have any milky notes at all. DedCool released Milk as a layering fragrance in 2021, and it quickly became one of the brand’s best sellers. But neither it nor the Xtra Milk spin-off have any milk notes in them. “Milk and Xtra Milk aren’t about literal milk, they’re built around the feeling of it,” Carina Chaz, founder and CEO of DedCool says. “Soft, cozy, familiar, like clean skin after a shower.” Voelkl and Emma both mention Milk as well: “It’s basically a musk, which is very neutral,” Voelkl says. Emma agrees: “It’s a musk fragrance,” she says. “It has nothing to do with milk, but [DedCool] has benefited from the milk boom. And I’m happy about that; I love the fragrance.”
Whatever you call these notes, it’s not super surprising that they’re resonating with so many people right now. For one, they’re a part of the seemingly endless gourmand fragrance frenzy. “I will admit, I thought we would be over it by now, but the reality is we’re not,” Voelkl says. “People can not get enough of gourmand.” But, he says, milk is “the part of the trend that goes beyond just sugar.” As Chaz puts it, “Milk-based fragrances hit that sweet spot between cozy and sensual. They’re familiar, but still mysterious.” According to Gen Z-er Emma, milk in your perfume also feels just silly enough to catch her generation’s attention. “It’s not just vanilla or chocolate or caramel again,” she says. “It’s a fun new avenue of gourmand. I find that milk is kind of an in-crowd type of note, and I think that’s very Gen Z.”
These lactonic fragrances are also great for layering, which makes them easier to slip into someone’s existing scent lineup. Arielle Weinberg says her brand, Arielle Shoshana's, black tea-based Monday perfume first went viral when Emma posted a video of herself layering it with classic milk-forward scent, Bianco Latte. “Monday has the milkiness of a London Fog, but it’s only slightly sweet–that’s where Bianco Latte comes in,” Shoshana says. “You can layer them to adjust the sweetness level preference, just like when you choose zero percent to 100 percent sweet at the boba shop.”
Then there’s the fact that the outside world is… chaotic, to say the least. Wearing a lactonic perfume won’t fix any problems, but those milky notes can at least provide some olfactory comfort to the wearer. “Milk is comforting on such a formative level,” says Katri Haas, co-owner of Arielle Shoshana. “It’s our very first form of sustenance. What could be more soothing in tumultuous times?” Guesnet agrees: “In uncertain times, people often gravitate toward scents that feel familiar and reassuring.”
Some brands are leaning hard into the nostalgia that’s practically inherent in lactonic notes. Voelkl recently worked with The Nue Co to create First Milk, one of three in a line of nostalgic scents. “They didn’t want to use breast milk as a name, but that’s kind of what they’re thinking of there,” Voelkl says. I can’t say I remember what breast milk smells like, but this fragrance is a beautiful creamy, woody floral in which iris and pink pepper are mellowed out by almond milk and French vanilla.
Lactonic fragrances might have potential for mass appeal, but, like any type of note, not everyone will love all milk scents. “There are people that love milk and there are people who hate milk or are lactose intolerant,” Voelkl says. “If you start talking to them about milk fragrance they’re like, ‘no.’ That’s a reaction based on their life experiences.” For Emma, some scents–especially the ones that are trying to do a literal interpretation of a glass of cow’s milk–smell lovely on card, but turn sour once they hit her skin.
Still, if you think you hate milk scents, you just might not have found the milk for you yet. Context is key, Voelkl says, and there are lots of ways to do a lactonic scent. In addition to adding a rich, creaminess to vanilla or coffee or caramel scents, Voelkl says milk can smooth out big berry or woody scents. “The milky, creamy notes soften the edges of a fragrance,” he says. Voelkl also thinks about his fragrances in terms of color blends, and likes to add milk notes when he needs a splash of white. Guesnet, who also sees milk as a “white” note, says, “They allow perfumers to explore new dimensions of sensuality and texture, especially when paired with unexpected ingredients like woods, spices, or florals.”
Ellis Brooklyn’s Vanilla Milk, for example, has a lot of creamy, sweet vanilla; it’s a gourmand through and through. Lush Turmeric Latte also leans heavy on vanilla, but with warming spices underneath. D’Orsay Holy Berry, which Guesnet created, is a fruity chypre that pairs strawberry milk with cardamom, iris, and white oud. Strawberry also plays a role in Liberty LBTY. Fragrance’s Vine Thief, this time as strawberry liquor that’s blended with musk and leather and condensed milk. Candle brand Hotel Lobby recently launched fine fragrance and one of its first perfumes, London, is lavender tea blended with whipped vanilla milk.
DedCool does have a fragrance with an actual milk note now: sweet rice milk sits at the heart of Mochi Milk (a 2025 Fragrance Award-winning scent, by the way). If you’d prefer something sugar free, Emma recommends Define Me x Sniff With Steph Nearly Noon, a rice pudding and milky fig blend that Emma says isn’t sweet. “It’s purely the creamy, sensorial aspects of milk with rice,” she says. “I think it’s done really well.”
It’s only natural that the Queen of Milk would create her own milky perfume: Emma’s collaboration with Commodity, Milk Orchid, has been so popular that the brand recently announced it would move from a limited edition launch to a permanent member of the collection. It’s one of my favorite milky scents I’ve tried, bleding a tart-yet-creamy fig milk with a slightly spicy magnolia that’s all softened out with notes of coconut cream and macadamia milk.
What started as a marketing term has transformed into a full-blown staple category, and it seems like lactones are likely here to stay. “Milky notes always create comfort,” Voelkl says. “And that aspect you kind of want in any fragrance.”
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Meet the Experts
From a young age, Tanguy Guesnet was captivated by the evocative power of a lingering trail or the raw brilliance of a natural ingredient. Through rigorous training at IFF, he honed his olfactory language. Over the past 10 years, he has crafted a personal style, blending formulaic precision with creative freedom. "A perfume should touch the skin like a whispered secret", he often says. He doesn’t seek to mimic nature, but to transcend it — to distill from it a pure emotion.
Frank Voelkl is a principal perfumer at dsm-firmenich. Born in Germany, his interested in scent deepened during the years he spent abroad in the Netherlands and France. A graduate of ISIPCA, Frank has created many popular fragrances, including Le Labo Santal 33 , Glossier You, Ellis Brooklyn Florist, and Phlur Father Figure.
Emma is a Content Creator, currently enrolled full-time in a Master's perfumery program in Paris. She reviews fragrances online on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram at @Perfumerism and her "Milk Perfume" series sparked one of the largest olfactive trends in recent years.
Carina Chaz is the founder and CEO of DedCool. Fragrance was Carina Chaz’s passion from the very beginning. Growing up alongside her mother as a beauty formulator, with a lab as her playground, it was natural for Carina to create DedCool. Her love of scent and a general rejection of the way the Fragrance industry operates, lit a fire under Carina to create a modern 21st Century definition of what Fragrance means. It started humbly on Instagram, and then grew to knocking on the doors of local retail shops with the hope of being carried on consignment. This resulted in relationships with department stores, and boutiques to then cultivating dedcool.com.
Arielle and Katri are co-owners of Arielle Shoshana, an audaciously original fragrance line and Washington D.C.'s first niche fragrance boutique.
