Every Sunday at exactly 8:59 EST, you can find me in the exact same place: parked in front of my TV, finger hovering over the play button on my remote, and waiting for the newest episode of Succession to drop. I live for the quippy dialogue, the minute details, and, of course, the window into the opulent world of the über-rich. My favorite character changes every week, but I also kind of hate all of them—which only makes me love the show even more.
I’m a major fragrance person, and I think the scents people choose to wear say a lot about who they are. Recently, I’ve found myself wondering what fragrances the Succession characters might wear in real life. Some are easy to imagine—Gerri obviously wears Chanel No. 5—but others are tougher to nail down. After careful consideration, I think I figured out a scent to match everyone’s favorite Succession characters. Warning: Spoilers ahead, and in the words of Logan Roy himself, “Guess the scent; win a buck.”
Kendall asked his assistant what fragrance the downtown crowd is wearing, and she pointed him to Santal 33. Kendall now smells like the back room at Aimé Leon Dore and has Sebastien from the Le Labo store on speed dial. He’s been featured on Overheard Le Labo more than once. Nolita Dirtbag even posted a meme making fun of his Santal 33 obsession—he took it as a compliment.
Gerri is the kind of businesswoman that wants her seniority to be taken seriously. In her own words, she’s constantly asking herself, “How does this advance my personal position?” The olfactory version of that is Chanel No. 5—it’s sophisticated, classic, and floral without being girlish. It’s also the kind of scent the Roy kids’ highly proper English mother likely wore, and we all know Roman has some mommy issues (and a major thing for Gerri).
Here’s the thing about Shiv: She might have money, but she doesn’t exactly have personal style. Her wardrobe, while luxe, is mainly made up of neutrals that play it safe. As the only Roy daughter, we’ve seen Shiv shift her wardrobe throughout the seasons to business suiting as a ploy to win respect. Shiv would top off her outfits with a spritz of Baccarat Rouge 540. It’s a crowd-pleaser. It’s not too loud, and it’s definitely a perfume that’s found its way on rich women’s vanities everywhere. Shiv’s the kind of person that’s only wearing perfume because she feels like she has to. She probably bought this at the suggestion of someone at the Bergdorf counter, and no, she has no idea that it’s blowing up on PerfumeTok.
Dior Sauvage was definitely the first fragrance that Tom bought, and he’s stuck with it for years. It’s a louder scent than one of the Roy men would wear, which tracks for his outsider status. Sauvage is one of the most popular men’s colognes out there, but let’s be honest—Tom likes how manly it smells. It’s definitely a good cologne, but Roman and Kendall probably have some kind of inside Johnny Depp–centric joke about it.
Our favorite, most toxic media mogul (may he rest in peace) would rarely wear fragrance, but as a power play, he’d bring out Creed Aventus. Like Waystar, Creed was a family-owned legacy brand until recently, and it started from humble beginnings. Listen, if a cologne is good enough for the British monarchy, it would be good enough for Logan Roy. FYI, he’s had the same bottle for 20 years.
Marcia lived in Paris and has a taste for the finer things. She’s likely well-versed in all of the Frederic Malle perfumes but opts to wear Carnal Flower on a daily basis. It’s devastatingly chic, but she likes that it’s less well-known than Malle’s famous Portrait of a Lady. Marcia likes to play puppet master, and this floral-forward fragrance has a sharper, darker edge, enhancing her overall air of mystery. Plus, it sure feels good to buy it with Logan’s Amex.
When Marcia said she was calling Kerry a cab to the subway to go back to her little apartment, you could practically touch the disdain in her voice. Marcia would turn up her nose at Kerry’s penchant for a full-body Flowerbomb shower—it’s delicate, youthful, and sultry. (Emily Ratajkowski is the face, after all.) But of course, that’s precisely what Logan liked about Kerry. Through her blunt bangs and dark suits, she’s young and sexy and lives for drama.
Let’s be honest: Connor is the most out of touch of all the Roy siblings, which is quite a feat! Before his presidential run, he was likely wearing an obscure, expensive fragrance that a perfumer in Paris convinced him was worth the price of a month’s rent for us normies—this is Connor “You don’t hyperdecant?” Roy, after all. Now that he’s trying to win the hearts of Middle America, however, he’s turned to a classic Polo scent. He asked Willa which cologne a constituent of his might actually buy at a Macy’s counter, and she pointed him to Ralph Lauren. He picked the best-smelling, most opulent of the bunch because he’s still Connor.
Before working at Waystar, cousin Greg was wearing Drakkar Noir. (His mom bought it for him!) Once he started working for his uncle, however, he bought a slew of business suits, a Rolex from Kendall’s watch guy, and a bottle of Light Blue Pour Homme. None of the other Roy siblings would touch Dolce & Gabbana (too flashy), but it would take one of this disgusting brother’s one-night stands to inform him of the brand’s problematic history. Tom, of course, would laugh when Greg finds out, having known all along.
Willa began as an escort that Connor took a liking to. As an aspiring (and failed) playwright, she also has a penchant for the poetic—Kilian’s Playing With the Devil would be an inside joke with herself about her current marital situation. It’s an unapologetically sexy scent, which works for her, and whenever Connor can sense she’s unhappy, he buys her a bottle. (She has 12+ bottles.)
Roman’s preferred scent is a stolen spray of Gerri’s perfume (classic slime puppy move), but his father made a comment about it once, so now, he opts for this unisex citrus-forward scent. Though Kendall is the Roy brother that wears Tom Ford from head to toe, Roman is the one dabbling in the fragrances. While Kendall opts for the threads, Roman is using unexpected designer scents to get people to take him seriously.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Matsson wears Byredo. The Stockholm-based fragrance company fits his stripped-down aesthetic, and Super Cedar is the exact kind of woodsy scent that just might convince you he naturally smells like the forest he made the Waystar team fly to. Unfortunately, Byredo doesn’t make a “brick of blood” scent yet, but Matsson is trying to change that.
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