DKNY started as Donna Karan's younger line in 1989, and the brand says it has been synonymous with New York ever since. DKNY Be Delicious, which came out in 2004, turned that idea into a bottle. On DKNY's own product page, the brand says the whimsical shape, green glass and shining silver cap put the Big Apple in the palm of your hand, and that the outer carton was made to look like a brown grocer's bag stamped with the Be Delicious apple.

The perfume inside was created by Maurice Roucel. The current notes, according to DKNY, open on apple, cucumber and grapefruit, move into magnolia, tuberose, muguet, rose and violet, and settle on sandalwood, blonde woods, white amber and musk. That cucumber is why it reads crisp rather than sweet. It is a green apple, not a candy apple.

The fragrance has changed hands behind the scenes. Estée Lauder produced the Donna Karan fragrances under licence from 1997 until 2021, when the licence moved to Inter Parfums, but the bottle has stayed the same idea.

The first grid is the two Be Delicious bottles and six other apple scents, from juicy to boozy. The second grid is pear, green and fresh floral scents for the same mood, starting with Cashmere Mist, the other Donna Karan classic. My tip: spray once on your wrists and once on your clothes, then wait an hour before you decide, because the apple fades first and the woods stay.

DKNY Be Delicious Eau de Parfum is the most reviewed fragrance in this edit, and the one to try first. It opens on apple, softens into magnolia and dries down to sandalwood. Be Delicious Orchard St. is the pink bottle, with Pink Lady apple, jasmine and cedarwood, and it is sweeter and softer than the original.

KAYALI Eden Juicy Apple is the fruitiest here, red apple with wild berries and jasmine. Ellis Brooklyn Apple Love is red apple, sugar cane and Madagascar vanilla, and the brand calls it a love letter to NYC, which makes it a natural companion to a Big Apple bottle. BROWN GIRL Jane Carousel goes further into dessert with caramelized apple, cloud musk and sandalwood cream.

KILIAN Paris Apple Brandy is the grown-up one, an apple brandy accord with bergamot and cardamom over cedarwood and vanilla. Dolce&Gabbana Light Blue is not an apple perfume first, but Sicilian lemon and apple give it the same crisp start, and it is the one I would wear on a hot day. Mane Sea Sweet is a hair and body mist with green apple, melon and musk, light enough to layer over any of these.

What I would skip: layering the sweet apples together. Carousel over Eden Juicy Apple is a lot of sugar. Pair a sweet one with the Mane mist or Light Blue instead, so the apple stays fresh.

Donna Karan Cashmere Mist is the other side of the same house, a soft powdery floral with lily of the valley, Moroccan jasmine and sandalwood. If Be Delicious is the city at lunch, this is the sweater you wear home.

Versace Bright Crystal is the most reviewed scent in this grid, yuzu, peony and musk, clean and easy for daytime. Armani Beauty Acqua di Gioia is a fresh aquatic with jasmine, gardenia and warm woods, inspired by the Mediterranean coast.

The pears are next. Rare Beauty Rare Beginnings opens with pear nectar and melts into gardenia and vanilla bean. LoveShackFancy Forever in Love is crisp green pear with a big bouquet of gardenias. Nette Pear Jam is jammy Japanese pear with raspberry, and GUERLAIN Aqua Allegoria Rosa Verde is the greenest of all, cucumber, rose and mint with a juicy pear note. It shares that cucumber freshness with the green apple bottle.

Henry Rose Ripe has the best rating in this grid, a lychee rose and watermelon sorbet scent over creamy sandalwood.

What I would skip: blind buying a full bottle of any of these. Fruit notes change a lot on skin, so test a spray on your wrist and live with it for a day first.

I think DKNY Be Delicious still works because it never tried to be a candy apple. The cucumber and grapefruit keep it green, and the woods give it a soft finish. Wear it on its own on a busy day, or layer it with a light mist when you want it sweeter. And if you love the idea but want something new, the pear scents in the second grid carry the same fresh start with a softer finish.