Lidl: Budget supermarket launches croissant-scented perfume for Christmas

As Homer Simpson once said: “Dough!”
Josh Barrie @joshbythesea
10 December 2025

The brand — alongside German rival Aldi — has become famous for its middle aisle, which in larger stores is always a vaguely mysterious and nonsensical collection of items.

Now croissant-scented perfume is the latest bizarre move by the budget retailer, a scent inspired by the French bakery classic.

croissants
Lidl bit smelly: the scent is a limited edition item
Lidl

Lidl’s new 15ml, croissant-shaped bottle was created by the British perfumer Sarah McCartney. Saltburn-born, she joined the cosmetics brand Lush when it had just four stores (it now has 700 worldwide) before going it alone and launching 4160 Tuesdays, a specialist cosmetics shop.

Her Eau de Croissant is a limited-edition creation that supposedly smells just like the buttery flavour of a traditional French breakfast. The aim is to transport wearers — and those around them — to the boulangerie, to a warm sheet pan golden with crescentic pastry.

Another silly stunt from a company with too much money? Absolutely. Getting your hands on a bottle will require entering a prize drawer (tedious) between December 4-18. It was announced in the US.

There’s also no way of testing to see whether the perfume even smells any good. Croissants do, but does such a fragrance translate?

We’re in Lidl socks territory here, a world of irony and men called Hugo wearing Birkenstocks to the gym. It’s silly, it’s frivolous, and it’s not even an original idea: Greggs launched its "Eau de Sausage” in 2024 as a means to market its products without requiring the services of an expensive agency.

Still, we suspect there are a few people who wouldn’t mind getting their hands on a croissant-shaped trophy in brown-tinted glass, this filled with 15ml of “rich, pastry-inspired scent”. Where’s Scrooge when you need him?