The bottle came first. According to Olfastory's account, Jean Paul Gaultier found a corset at the bottom of an old trunk belonging to his grandmother as a child, and in 1993 Le Classique arrived in a surprising bottle shaped like a female bust. La Belle followed in 2019 as the feminine twin of Le Beau, created by perfumers Quentin Bisch and Sonia Constant. Its bottle is a red torso with more pronounced hips and a more slender waist, and the 2019 campaign was set in an Eden, with Eve and Adam.

If you are searching la belle perfume, you want the sweet, juicy scent in that bottle. The notes are bergamot, green pear and vanilla, and the perfumers' own formula leans on pear, vetiver and vanilla. It reads like a fruit with a woody edge and a smooth vanilla finish. Olfastory describes the idea as a sweet, forbidden-fruit gourmand, which fits. The refillable bottle is a nice touch. It is the kind of sweet scent that suits cooler days and evenings, when a creamy vanilla base feels welcome and the pear keeps it from tipping into dessert.

The first grid is La Belle and its Gaultier relatives, plus three close vanilla and pear cousins. The second grid is eight pear or vanilla fragrances from other houses, from jammy to boozy.

My tip: spray it on a warm pulse point, not on clothes, because vanilla needs skin heat to turn creamy.

Jean Paul Gaultier La Belle Eau de Parfum is the amber-green one, with bergamot, green pear and vanilla pod in that torso bottle, and it is the one to smell first. Jean Paul Gaultier La Belle Paradise Garden Eau de Parfum is the summer version, blue water lily and iris with vanilla, in a blue-lagoon bottle with embroidered flowers. Jean Paul Gaultier La Belle Rosea Eau de Parfum is the newest flanker, a floral-aquatic amber with a dewy opening, a soft peony heart and creamy vanilla.

Gaultier Divine Eau de Parfum is the odd, charming one. Lily and a salty accord sit with meringue, with a bouquet of white flowers around it, so it reads marine and sweet at once. Gaultier Divine Couture Eau de Parfum is fruitier, with juicy raspberry, rose and golden benzoin in a pink lacquer bottle.

For the cousins, Lancôme La Vie Est Belle Eau De Parfum is the famous iris, patchouli and vanilla gourmand, with spun sugar. Armani Beauty My Way Eau de Parfum Nectar pairs juicy pear with tuberose and bourbon vanilla. Burberry Brit Eau de Parfum is the crisp one, icy pear with sugared almond and vanilla.

What I would skip: Gaultier Divine if you want straightforward vanilla. The salt and lily make it a stranger, airier scent.

Pear first. Kayali Eden Plush Pear | 23 Eau de Parfum is the closest to La Belle in spirit, ripe pear and mandarin with gardenia over vanilla caviar. The 7 Virtues Lotus Pear Eau de Parfum is lighter and fresher, the one for spring and for people who find vanilla too heavy, with pear, peach and lotus. Nette Pear Jam Eau de Parfum is jammy, with koji pear and raspberry pulp, and the listing notes an Allure 2024 Best of Beauty win. Juliette has a gun PEAR INC. is the cleanest, a green pear with ambroxan and musks.

Then the vanilla ones. LoveShackFancy Secret Crush Eau de Parfum is whipped vanilla with a champagne accord and Chantilly cream, the sweetest of the group. Yves Saint Laurent LIBRE Vanille Couture Eau de Parfum is ambery and bolder, with vanilla caviar, rum and orange blossom. Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Rare Eau de Parfum goes warm and spicy with caramel and sandalwood, and the listing says it lingers for up to 12 hours.

KILIAN Paris Angels Share Eau de Parfum is the grown-up one, cognac, cinnamon, oak and tonka bean with praline and vanilla, and its bottle can be refilled.

What I would skip: Angels Share for a light, sunny day. Cognac and cinnamon belong to cooler evenings.

I think La Belle works because pear keeps the vanilla from getting heavy. If that is the part you love, stay in the Gaultier family or try the Kayali. If you want sweeter, go to the LoveShackFancy. If you want something with an edge, the KILIAN is the one. If you want something sharper, Pear Inc is your pick. Whichever you choose, smell it on skin first, since pear opens fast and vanilla settles in later. A single spray on each wrist is plenty to learn the story of any of them. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Vanilla Bourbon Perfume for Cold Nights and Low Lighting and Juicy Couture Perfume, from Velour Tracksuits to Viva La Juicy.