Hard Candy (2022) by Aaron Terence Hughes

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Hard Candy Aaron Terence Hughes 2022

Version from 2022

7.9 / 10 49 Ratings

A popular perfume by Aaron Terence Hughes for women and men, released in 2022. The scent is sweet-gourmand. Projection and longevity are above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.
Pronunciation Compare

Main accords

Sweet

Gourmand

Fruity

Woody

Creamy

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lavender

Lemon

Mandarin orange Mint

Mint

Orange

Heart Notes

Vanilla

Honey

Nutmeg

Strawberry

Tonka bean

Base Notes

Oud

Patchouli

Sandalwood

Perfumer & Creative Guidance

Aaron Terence Hughes Brand owner, Perfume maker

Ratings

Scent

7.949 Ratings

Longevity

8.546 Ratings

Sillage

8.346 Ratings

Bottle

7.649 Ratings

Value for money

7.239 Ratings

Submitted by Svartir, last update on 10/09/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Rehab

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

02/24/2023

10Scent 10Longevity 10Sillage

TheeWizard
1 Review

TheeWizard

4

Hard candy is really special

In my opinion it is one of the best smelling fragrances on the market.
It is unlike anything I have smelt before.

Starts off this beautiful sweet citrus and mint then changes into this sensual and addictive slight wood sweet smell. It's pretty hard to describe..
Serious compliment getter!!!!!!
I hope this house gets bigger and bigger and I am so excited to try all the ATH fragrances.

10/21/2024

8Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

Pablitos22
5 Reviews

Pablitos22

1

Nothing to doubt...

Are you able to get a bottle? Dont hesitate, there is no doubt you will like it...spiced, creamy but fresh and sweet but not gourmand is what I get from this. Maybe a designer scent but with much more quality and excellent performance. The main problem is that it is difficult to get and bottles in the second hand market are now extremely expensive... but if you are able to get one, go for it, you wont regreat it.

10/09/2025

7.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

xtermn8
168 Reviews

xtermn8

A very iconic, well loved gourmand.

Personal: 7.5/10 - I like the concept, but this just feels like a sugar rush in a bottle. It's too sweet to be a love, but it's interesting enough for me to like it.
Mass appeal: 7.5/10 – Sweet, fruity, and loud. People will enjoy catching a whiff of it, but it’s so candy-coated that it might come across juvenile.
Performance: 8/10 – Surprisingly strong. The sweetness hangs around longer than I’d expect, which is both impressive and a bit exhausting.
Value: 4.5/10 – ATH pricing always stretches justification. For a fragrance that leans so synthetic and playful, the niche markup feels unjustified.
Uniqueness: 7/10 – Sweet gourmands aren’t rare, but this has a sharper, more artificial candy vibe that does make it stand out in the crowd, for better or worse.

SCORE: 69/100

Full bottle buy? NO, fun for samples, but not a bottle I’d reach for often, and given the price...
Blind buy? NO, too polarizingly sweet and artificial, better to test first.
Recommend? YES, if you like over-the-top candy gourmands, you’ll have fun.
Date night? NO, unless your date is Willy Wonka, but I'd be concerned for your safety if you wore this.
Office safe? NO, nobody wants to smell cotton candy clouds in a meeting.

Pros: Playful and unique candy vibe, great performance, fun to sample.
Cons: Too sweet to be versatile, niche price doesn’t match the DNA, leans synthetic, cloying.

Hard Candy is a bag of brightly colored artificially fruity sweets with strange woody undertones and an imposed sense of complexity. Look, I think if you slapped a Juicy Couture label on this, it would be a remarkably complex and wonderful fragrance from a designer brand, but not entirely surprising. This just doesn't feel like a niche fragrance to me, but that's how I feel about anything remotely cloying or synthetically sweet. The fun factor is undeniable, though. It’s a reminder that perfumery doesn’t always have to be serious or brooding. Still, for the price, I’d rather reach for something that balances sweetness with depth.

It's an almost niche toothache in a bottle. Very hard to justify the price, but the fun factor with this fragrance is higher than I would've expected.

Review #157 in my fragrance journey – this fragrance I own as a decant

07/28/2022

4Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

Ischgelroi
289 Reviews

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Ischgelroi

Helpful Review 13

Misfortune all around...

I have already written a statement about Hard Candy, but the mostly positive to very positive reviews have led me to test Hard Candy again. I just wanted to take some more time for this fragrance to see if I was being too critical.

Unfortunately, I have to say that my aversion to Hard Candy has increased rather than decreased. The reasons for this are manifold.

1: The scent really smells very chemical, and anyone who knows other high-quality brands that use more natural ingredients can confirm this.

2: The scent really strongly resembles Ambroxan. This completely overwhelms most of the other notes because Ambrox is like a dense cloud hovering over everything.

3: The strawberry smells more like a cheap E-shisha liquid, just terrible.

4: The fragrance seems completely randomly put together. The synthetics are battling against themselves, and in the end, Ambroxan wins.

5: I really don't smell a gourmand fragrance here.

6: The scent feels so arbitrary and simply fails to stick in my mind. It really reminds me of cheap sweet fragrances under 10€.

7: What has been done to the Oud? I simply smell nothing of the 5% Oud. The noble Oud has been completely destroyed and blocked by the chemical disaster surrounding it.
I just can't discern a progression here; Hard Candy simply smells of: Ambroxan, E-shisha, vanilla (chemical), and honey. The whole thing lasts about 10 hours before Hard Candy is no longer perceivable. The sillage is also good to very good.

Unfortunately, I can't find anything good in this fragrance at all. I feel like Aaron has just released unfinished fragrances in an inflationary manner.

10/21/2024

9Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

Lauser93
1199 Reviews

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Lauser93

2

A Beautiful Fruity Fragrance

I really enjoyed "Hard Candy (2022) | Aaron Terence Hughes." The performance is also impressive. The longevity on my skin is over 12 hours with a successful sillage.

The top note starts off exceptionally sweet, fruity, berry-like, floral, and slightly citrusy thanks to mandarins, strawberries, oranges, lemon peels, and lavender. In the background, a refreshing and aquatic mint resonates. The heart note remains sweet with gourmand and creamy hints of forest honey, bourbon vanilla, tonka beans, and benzoin. The base is oriental-spicy, balsamic, and woody with notes of oud, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and sandalwood.

Yes, I really liked "Hard Candy (2022) | Aaron Terence Hughes." I would like to thank Nick once again for the many samples.

Statements

16 short views on the fragrance

TheeWizard

3 years ago

10Scent 10Longevity 10Sillage

5

Aarons hard candy really is a special fragrance. It is so addictive, I can't stop smelling it. Can't wait to try all his range.Andorian is a purehater