Strawbeary Den

Signature Scent(s!)

I'm on a perfume hunt!

Been thinking a lot about signature scents recently, and I wanted one, but now I want three (ish).

For those who don't know, a signature scent (n.) is a perfume you love, wear often, and associate with yourself! Something like a signature outfit / uniform or style, but as a perfume. Ideallyyy you don't have just one, because that's boring, but I think there's worth in cultivating your scent profile (re: visual conditioning).


What I Wear ~atm

Starting off, let's go through what I wear right now:


Victoria's Secret - Strawberries & Champagne
fragrantica link

Notes: strawberries (ofc), champagne, cassis

Vibes: fruity, bubbly, and a little woody / plant-ish

This was my college perfume! To me it feels a little darker than the notes suggest, like the fuzzy opening of a strawberry soda (do those exist?) or, barring the bubbly champagne, an actual strawberry plant. That's probably the cassis working.

Final rating: 7/10 - it's a body mist so not that strong, but it has a really unique smell that I can't seem to track down in other scents. Berries, but like a berry plant, and also berry mixed drinks. The champagne is bubbly and the cassis plant-y and forest-y. Simultaneously a strawberry plant and a soft drink.


Lattafa - Yara
fragrantica link

Top Notes: orchid, heliotrope, tangerine
Heart Notes: ~gourmand~ and ~fruits~
Base Notes: vanilla, musk, sandalwood

Vibes: pink, tropical (?!), sweet, musky dry down

Inexpensive! Popular! Veryyy gourmand.

In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan? The opening is a little harsh, and the floral and gourmand notes are a bit much. It smells weirdly sour, specifically like a bad pineapple. After the evil pineapple fades away, it's really good! The vanilla comes across as a vague sweetness, and the rest is this sweet, musky, powdery fluff. That is the singular reason I still wear this.

Total rating: 5/10. I'll rate the opening as a 2 and the dry down as a 7, individually.


Tulip - Amber Vanilla Bean
fragrantica link

Top Notes: citrus
Heart Notes: rose, vanilla bean
Base Notes: amber, china musk

Vibes: rain, cozy, softly floral, vanilla, warm

Love! The opening is very very vanilla in a really soft, beautiful way. It rises up in the air around you and kinda just dances about.

Imagine a mouse. A really tiny mouse. A really tiny mouse in a really big flower. He's drunk on pollen. It's pouring outside. He's cozy. So cozy. It's a little unfortunately warm and humid, but he's cozy and it smells faintly of flowers and strongly of rain.

That is, essentially, Amber Vanilla Bean. It's a very warm, slightly heavy warm (perhaps after a rainstorm?) vanilla, with the tiniest bit of ~flower~ and a lot of raininess. Raininess, but you're inside.

Overall rating: I originally wanted to say 6/10, because of how rarely I wear it (really only on rainy days) but it's been growing on me lately. 8/10 in total. Perfectly suited for rainy or otherwise cozy days, but not my pick in any other circumstance.


Tulip - Lemon Sugar
fragrantica link

Top Notes: lemon, sugar cane
Heart Notes: caramel, bergamot, raspberry
Base Notes: vanilla, musk

Vibes: lemon, sugar, pastry, lemon again

This is a lemon bar. There is no other description. If you're bisexual (hi babe!) this is perfect for you. Or if you were my dad circa 2023.

As an olfactory adventure, the opening is very lemon-y and the dry-down is a kind of blank sugary musk? It's a very simple gourmand. Opens lemon, transitions linearly into sweet treat. In the large in-between, lemon bar.

Rating: 5/10? I likeee it but it's a lemon bar. I can appreciate a lemon bar every once in a while. But after your first lemon bar, you really get in this mood of "well that was very nice but it was really just a Lot (lemon, sweet, pastry) so I'm going to go drink some water and not have another". It's that.

Maybe I'm just not bisexual enough, or dad enough, or just not a lemon/citrus fan? It's a once-in-a-while perfume.


The Hunt

With the background settled, let's talk about the adventure.

I'm searching for one two three signature scents. Or rather, I'm searching for my ideal perfume for each of a few broad categories of interactions. It would generally make sense that these scents are similar but not the same (ex. my bar fit is not far from my walk-around-town fit), and I want each one reflect my attitudes and vibes in each situation.

Vaguely, I'm thinking

  1. Nightlife (bars, clubs, etc.) - sultry, messy, teasing
  2. Day time (lunch out, vacations, game night) - put-together, tasteful, still me though
  3. Home (reading, cuddling, sex) - skin-but-better, soft, cozy


Nightlife

My usual nightlife vibe is a couple drinks (rum and cokes mostly), yapping, hanging out, and then escaping for a bit to be sleepy and silly. That being said, I do want my perfume to be a little... more than that. Inviting? Teasing? Not bold outright, but definitely not casual. Kinda flirty.

For that, I think I want to go fairly close to VS Strawberries & Champagne in vibes, but stronger and more alcoholic. The VS body spray would make a really nice layer (especially for clothes), while this pick would be the main seller.

Ideally: something alcoholic (rum preferably), berries, maybe woody or spicy additions


Daytime

Tasteful. That's the goal here; something that smells nice, smells polished, and is recognizably me.

Since this one's stronger and bolder (and also what people generally refer to when they talk about a signature scent), I want to focus on the smells I'm obsessed with in the ordinary (non-perfumed) world.

By obsessed with, I mean to have a carnal lust for it! Smells I hunger for, out and about.


Option 1: Vanilla Extract

I could eat it straight. I've had some straight, it's actually pretty good. Smells divine also, it's rich and intoxicating and smells ~deep~, like you could drown in it. Vanilla goes well with a lot of different things, but the vanilla extract vibe specifically would be hard to distinguish.

If I go in this direction, it'll have to get balanced by some floral or gourmand notes, probably. Just to make it a little more complex.


Option 2: Seawater

I was at the beach once and got dunked (accidentally) while wearing my scrunchie. Sniffed it later and oh my lorddd

Genuinely intoxicating. Salty, hungry, just... captivating. Earlier I wrote that I have a carnal lust for these scents, but I meant it in a more edible way. These are things I want to consume. That seawater wasn't really consumable, but it was quite genuinely lustful.

The smell faded over the next week (I was so attached as to consider sealing it in a ziploc bag, but left it out so I could keep smelling it) to my dissapointment. That being said, it's a clear memory.

Ideally: musky, salty, maybe a little animalic? I've seen a lot of ocean scent recommendations around, but they mainly focus on the PNW coast, NE coast, or California coasts. Something specifically made for the South Atlantic coast would be great.

As a daytime perfume though, this might not work, not unless it was mixed with some florals or fruits. White florals, seawater, and musk? Could be a thing.


Option 3: Honeysuckle

Yummy!

I loveee honeysuckle, it's a beautiful scent, and reminds me of my middle school best friend, who I played Pokemon (the TCG) with, and whose neighbourhood trail we'd run into to go smell the flowers. His favorite Pokemon was Mismagius. At the time, he was running a Gengar Lvl.X deck, and I was running an Absol Prime lost zone deck.

Anyways, honeysuckle is amazing! It might actually go well with ocean scents, now that I think about it...


Home

Something soft and comforting. Fur scents, musk, amber, etc.

There's not a whole lot to discuss here since it's a very plain concept! Just musk and amber accords really. A little woodiness would be fun too.


Potential Picks

I haven't finalized anything yet, but I'm planning on buying samples and discovery sets soon! Specifically interested in Imaginary Authors and Juliette has a Gun for discovery kits. They're both fairly popular and have a lot of unique scents, but aren't fancy fancy.

For fancy fancy perfumes, I'll nab some samples off Scent Split.

Without further ado:


Nightlife

Looking for alcoholic (rum?) and berries, with an eye toward woody additions. Strictly feminine, with flirty tones.

Owned

Considering:

Leaning toward Valentino DBIR Extradose, since it's got a more central rum accord than the others, and I'm hesitant about passionfruit. But we'll see. Alcoholic feminine scents is not a very saturated market. If I drop the need for an alcoholic note, the original Donna Born in Roma is a great option too, or even YSL Mon Paris.


Daytime

Looking for the South Atlantic coast in the vibe of white florals, ocean notes (sea salt?), and musk. Either feminine or non-gendered.

Owned:

Considering:

I have high hopes for Olympea! The others also, but Olympea is a bit more of a confident fem scent than Salt Air or Beach as far as I can tell.

Unrelated, but vaguely on the topic of white florals, I've been really wanting to try Lush Lust. Not honeysuckle, but florals, and apparently very heady.


Home

Looking for non-gendered ambery scents, with maybe a little woodiness.

Owned:

Considering:

The more I thought about it, Amber Vanilla Bean kinda hits the spot. As in, I don't think I would often wear an at-home scent, and in the situations that I would, Amber Vanilla Bean is just it. Rainy, cozy, a little in your head with the vanilla, it's just perfect for its goal.

About Tihota - I know it's like the vanilla scent. Like genuinely authentic vanilla extract, and like, fancy and for special occasions. But I can totally imagine myself wearing this to cuddles or a cozy reading day. It's vanilla, but warm and deep like AVB.

On that note, I also want the whole Indult discovery kit! Tihota is for me, I know it, but Isvaraya seems like a really good and complex floral, and my partner would love Manakara. Sooo.


Aside: Discovery Kits

A lot of (casual / everyday) brands offer discovery kits! Usually a few samples in a set, for 20% off or equal price off your next purchase. There are a couple of these brands I like, so I might order a kit or two:


Imaginary Authors


Juliette has a Gun

Song of the Day!

Blue Moon by Zara Larsson