Witchy perfumes are like a glam version of smudging for your wrists – even Billie Eilish is sold

“Historically, perfumed oils, resins, and incense featured in ancient ceremonies to appease deities,” she continues. “Now they are layered in perfumes to manifest an intention – to allure, to seduce, to feel more powerful, to feel protected – just as we use different ingredients to craft a spell.”

Modern day witchy perfumes are not, however, pungent potions (no toads were harmed in the making of these perfumes), so there’s nothing to fear. The trend is exactly as it sounds: scents that envelope your pulse points in a cloud of aromatic smoke or juices peppered with off-beat herbs that sound like they’ve come straight out of a spell book.

According to Yasmin Sewell, founder of fragrance brand Vyrao, their appeal lies in how they “help you feel more courage and creativity. A scent that helps us tap into intuition and positive emotions is what we need right now.”

Each bottle has its own way of breaking down its power. Few perfumers can resist the siren call of smoky incense right now – which is arguably the most ritualistic of all smells. But instead of smelling like Italian cathedrals, these scents conjure up more primal ceremonies.

Take DS & Durga 40 Million Year Old Amber, where myrrh, incense and dark jasmine sidle up to amber resin and frankincense. According to the brand’s perfumer David Seth Moltz, it is “inspired by the otherworldly aroma of real fossilised Baltic amber from 40 million years ago. It is gently smoky and recalls an ancient time of spiced tree resins.”

Byredo De Los Santo pays homage to Dia de los Muertos, a 3,000 year-old plus festival during which the line between the living and the dead is supposedly blurred and the spirits of the dead are believed to return home. Wait a beat after spritzing for delicate tendrils of smoke, reminiscent of burning palo santo, to create a strangely haunting effect.

Likewise for Vyrao’s latest perfume The Sixth, Yasmin collaborated with a psychic. “The Sixth was created to open up your intuition and has scientifically proven ingredients for mindfulness,” she says. “Working with my psychic made absolute sense as she chose specific ingredients she uses to channel her psychic abilities and we incorporated them all into an incredible, enlightening elixir.”

Yasmin also includes a Herkimer diamond crystal, charged with good intentions, in every bottle “because of its ability to open up all chakras and awaken your energetic field. It is a little bit of magic floating around inside.”

If a scent that’s utterly bewitching, mildly intoxicating and perhaps a little blasphemous for perfume purists is right up your street, here’s our pick of the best witchy perfumes to spritz after dark…

For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR’s Acting Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.

Below, our pick of the best witchy perfumes: