A Fragrance Expert Explains Skin Scents

Whether you can’t stop hearing about the famous Missing Person perfume on TikTok, or hugged someone and got a soft whiff of their perfume, the chance that you’ve encountered a skin scent over the last year is incredibly high. The popularity of the fragrance sub-category has skyrocketed in the previous few months, thanks in part to how wearable the perfumes are. “With the rise of minimalism and authenticity in beauty and fashion, we’re also seeing a shift in fragrance,” says Ourside founder Keta Burke-Williams. “Additionally, skin scents are great for office wear due to how subtle they are.” 

As the name suggests, skin scents are meant to smell like an extension of, well, you. “Skin scents are typically categorized as fragrances designed to smell almost like they are an extension of your skin or body,” Burke-Williams says. “Usually they are subtle and intimate scents that wear close to the body without projecting a lot, which gives the impression of a ‘you but better’ effect.” Walter Johnsen, vice president of Product Development at InterParfums Inc., adds that skin scents almost seem to fuse with the wearer, instead of adding to their natural scents. “The goal is to make the scent feel like a part of the wearer’s natural body essence,” he says. 

Fragrance Notes to Look For

Just like gourmands or aquatics, skin scents typically have certain notes that allow them to qualify for inclusion in the category. You can usually find synthetic molecules in most of your skin scents. “The primary notes and raw materials you will often find in skin scents are Iso E super, Ambroxan, Cashmeran, Hedione, musks, and Cetalox,” Burke-Williams says. 

• Iso E super is one of the most versatile notes used in skin scents and smells slightly musky on its own.
• Ambroxan is a synthetic amber note that is a relatively long-lasting molecule. It smells woody, creamy, and musky. 
• Cetalox was developed in the ‘50s by Firmenich and is a synthetic alternative to ambergris. Like Ambroxan, it smells sweet, amber-like, and musky. 
• Cashmeran is simultaneously spicy yet soft. It smells musky with hints of floral and woody notes. 
• Hedione is sometimes used in small quantities in skin scents to add a delicate fresh note.

How to Find the Best Skin Scent

Though skin scents don’t typically project as loud of a sillage (or, scent trail,) as other traditional fragrances, finding the perfect one still requires a period of trial and error. “Finding your skin scent is like any new scent adventure—it’s all about experimenting and exploring,” Johnsen says. The best first step is researching a few of the more popular skin scents out right now and looking at the notes that make up those fragrances. Glossier’s You, Missing Person by Phlur, Naked Beauty by Modern Magic, Cashmere Mist by Donna Karan and Moon Dust by Ourside, are all great places to start. Then, get sample sizes of the perfumes to start learning how each formula reacts with your unique body chemistry. 

As with any beauty category, the popularity of certain fragrance notes will come and go. Still, finding a skin scent that smells particularly good on you is like building a capsule wardrobe — it’ll take some refining but will be so worth it in the end.