Best Forbidden Games (2026) by By Kilian Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

Perfumer: Tomoo Inaba

Rich and gothic Moth starts with a heavy dose of dark spices to jolt your senses before settling into a dusting of honey-sweet rose and powdery florals. Slowly, it tests its wings, taking flight on an exotic journey of nagarmotha, guaiac wood and patchouli. Beneath it all lingers a smoky undertone that serves as a constant reminder to fluttering creatures of the danger in the tantalizing flame.

Bright apple and peach notes kick off this friendly fruity floral. Freesia, radiant and fresh, unfurls a sweet carpet of florals in its wake: jasmine, rose and ylang-ylang. Sandalwood and musk keep the edges soft.

An aromatic, dreamy citrus scent inspired by the sumptuous Andalusician city of Marbella. With rose, amber and peach this perfume is fresh, floral and sophisticated.

Almaz, the Arabic word for diamonds, are renowned not only for their beauty, but also for their timelessness as they withstand millions of years of immense pressure in their formation. This EdP references the indestructible nature of diamonds with a powerful blackcurrant-led bouquet. Juiciness is enhanced with raspberry, while powdery heliotrope and musk add padding to the cushiony feel. The ambered base, redolent with vanilla and brown sugar, offsets blackcurrant’s tartness.
 
The jewelled bottle incorporates a poem composed by Elen Jeres Ayoub, portrayed in Eastern Kufic calligraphy. The words have been meticulously placed so that the vertical lines create eight zones on the bottle, representing the lunar phases in each lunar calendar month to represent the passage of time.

The seasons and their times
And pressures and their effects,
Bear Diamonds as their fruit.
-Elen Jeres Ayoub

Not just a fine addition to luxury white chocolate chip cookies, macadamia is also an intriguing perfume material. Creamy, buttery and velvety, it’s the starting point for this unusual fruity floral. The floral is mimosa, a cute li’l flower that looks innocent, but plays dirty. Don’t let those fluffy yellow pom-poms fool you — mimosa’s got a raunchy side thanks to its dusty niff of overripe honey. Orris doubletracks mimosa’s powderiness, while peach twins mimosa’s earthy sweetness. Mellow sandalwood steers macadamia from a nut to wood. Macadamia? That’s Ms Macadamia to you.

In the branches of a sprawling thorn tree, a boisterous flock of lovebirds gathers, undeterred by the African savanna’s scorching heat. Cheerful chatter fills the air as they flit and weave, playfully hopping from one partner to another. Amid the lively commotion, one pair slips away to a quiet perch. Snuggling head to head, they preen one another, their affectionate chirps muffled against velvety soft feathers. The setting sun captures the intimate encounter, washing the glorious hues of the lovebirds’ intertwined plumage with a golden glow.

Zoologist Lovebird bottles the thrill of budding romance in a single spritz. It opens with a playful burst of kiwi, orange, and passionfruit, as sweet and fleeting as a first kiss. A captivating blend of ylang-ylang, lavender, lily of the valley, and heliotrope weaves an intimate connection, drawing you deeper. Finally, ambrette, musk and amber ignite a sensual embrace, leaving a warm, lingering glow of enduring love.

A dream of childhood summer days. You’re in a garden, familiar and unfamiliar, looking into the kitchen of a house where your mother makes jam with fresh-picked berries. There’s a rose bush with a magical cat underneath, its dense fur filled with your favourite toys. A sublime aroma of tart blackcurrant and rhubarb, sweet lychee and magnolia, along with woody amber ferries you off to a dreamlike world, brimming with enchantment at every corner. You don’t want to wake up.

Perfumer: Julia Rodriguez Pastor

A perfume celebrating the legendary Damask rose, and its travel across ancient empires along the Silk Route. The formula is a complex tale of the rose's journey through souks filled with fantastic fruit and precious spices, mixing with sea breezes to encompass the Mediterranean.

Delulu is a soft-focus dream sequence in oversaturated colours, swirling across a soundtrack of shoegaze and nineties/noughties indie.This particular sequence follows childhood into adolescence: a favourite toy, a pack of crayons, a melted sweet in your jeans pocket, a bite of berry pie, a long sunny day doing nothing. There’s fizzy cedrat and the salty-fresh friction of tart rhubarb against rooty vetiver. Like all dreams, things get weird: a niff of rosy plastic and smoky incense. Yesterday is a place you can never visit again, but it’s still an escape from tomorrow. That’s Delulu.

Delulu bottle caps are hand made from memories, specifically a nostalgic jumble of plastic beach toys captured in epoxy resin.

Master perfumer
David Chieze

A passionate declaration of love written in ink and blood. The scent opens on a dark, almost smoky red rose, pierced with crimson sparks. Metallic aldehydes emerge, adding tension and intensity. Dense magnolia adds a sweaty sweetness. The opoponax warms and deepens the whole, leaving a profound, mysterious signature.