CK One is back: the best 90s fragrances for a spritz of nostalgia

Typically, when you hear the term “Gen Z trend”, it’s almost automatically followed by its co-conspirators, “Y2K”, “noughties”, or “2000s”. But there’s one object of Gen Z’s obsession with nostalgia which stretches their memories that little bit further.

Zoomers have recently latched onto the 90s for their olfactory inspiration, with throwback scents from the likes of Joop! and Calvin Klein surging in popularity over the past month.

According to The Times, who obtained statistics from perfume distributors, there has been a 381 per cent increase in purchases of Joop! Homme and a 228 per cent increase in purchases of Calvin Klein Eternity for Men over the past 30 days.

So why have Gen Zs abandoned their typical favourite time period, the 2000s? Is it a backlash against the sheer mass of celebrity perfumes that were dumped on the market circa Y2K, the costly scents of the 2010s, or are Gen Zs simply searching for the old comfort of perfumes they recognise from their parents’ bathroom cabinets?

“It feels like a response to the over engineered, overly laboured looks of the 2010s,” reckons the Standard’s beauty editor, Madeleine Spencer. “Perfume in particular has become toweringly expensive and at times quite complex to navigate, whereas there is something joyously easy to understand about 90s classics, and they come at good price points.

She adds: “Many of the scents are clean and crisp, making them a sort of natural extension of the clean, healthy skin and glassy hair thing that’s happening a lot in beauty at the moment.”

But what else can you cop that will evoke that truly 1990s aura? According to one Reddit post on the subreddit r/90s, the 90s smelled like: “Secondhand cigarette smoke, coffee, CK One, and cheap beer.”

And while CK One does really look (and smell) like the 90s in a bottle, maybe you don’t want to smell like all of that other stuff, so here’s our pick of the best 90s fragrances to resuscitate for 2024.

Best 90s perfumes for 2024:

CK One, released 1994

£34, 200ml, johnlewis.com

Angel by Mugler, released 1992

£95, 50ml, selfridges.com

Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier, released 1993

£66.50, 50ml, johnlewis.com

Boss Bottled by Hugo Boss, released 1998

£50, 100ml, johnlewis.com

Jil Sander No 4 by Jil Sander, released 1990

£20.75, 30ml, allbeauty.com

L’eau d’Issey by Issey Miyake, released 1992

£49.99, 100ml, amazon.com

Dolce & Gabbana Red (Pour Femme) by Dolce & Gabbana, released 1992

£99.74, 100ml, amazon.com

Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger, released 1996

£19, 30ml, amazon.com

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