KEELY'S FRAGRANCE SHELF

etat libre d'orange - eau de protection

oh, eldo. i love so many of their fragrances but that brand name is kind of inexcusable. this was my first big love from them, and this bottle was a christmas present from my parents a few years ago. it's an incense-y rose with an edge of something sharp - probably that blood note they play up in the fragrance description. it's wearable but just a little weird in the way that i find a lot of eldo compositions to be. i love to wear this one to ballet class and feel like a vaguely dangerous ballerina.

etat libre d'orange - the ghost in the shell

i first fell in love with this one from a scentbird sample (another problematic fav) and finally picked up a secondhand bottle off mercari a few months ago. it smells like fancy mothballs in a swanky hotel lobby, or like a skin scent for a robot. it's dusty but clean, citrusy and lactonic. it's surprisingly a crowd pleaser - i get a lot of compliments on this one.

elizabeth & james - nirvana black

coming soon!

ds & durga - grapefruit generation

this house is hit or miss for me - i find a lot of their fragrances too dry and their unaffected hipster-y branding obnoxious. this is one that i really love, though! it wasn't really on my radar to purchase, but a secondhand 100 ml bottle at an insane discount popped up in one of my facebook groups and i jumped at the chance. this reminds me of my favorite grapefruit oolong tea from my favorite asian bakery i used to frequent when i lived in orlando.

snif - crumb couture

love this fragrance, hate the longevity. this bottle is on its last legs because i have to absolutely hose myself down with it to smell anything. i'm not particulary impressed with snif's regular line, but the secret menu offerings i've tried are all pretty nice. this smells exactly as advertised - a buttery, slightly spicy croissant filled with berry jam.

glossier - you

she's popular for a reason! this was my gateway into synthetic musks - i actually couldn't smell it when i first tried it in sephora.

glossier - you rêve

coming soon!

glossier - you fleur

coming soon!

mugler - angel muse

coming soon!

zadig & voltaire - this is her

an easy reach for me. this has been a favorite for a while, ever since i ran through a travel size of this a few years ago and then bought a secondhand partial for under $40 on mercari. at one point in the last year or so it had gotten pretty popular on perfumetok, so the market might look a little different now.

this is her! is musky and lactonic, with notes of sandalwood and cashmere. although it's not officially named by the perfumer, there's a fig vibe to her. maybe it's the fruity/milky combo of the pink pepper and whipped cream. the first time i smelled phlur father figure it reminded me of this is her!, and i still find them to be pretty closely related. where father figure is soapy and clean, this is her! is sweeter and more lived-in. maybe they're cousins.

ds & durga - debaser

coming soon!

liis - ethereal wave

coming soon!

liis - in this world

this is one of the few bottles i bought brand new at retail price, from arielle shosanna on my annual trip to d.c. in 2024. eucalyptus is the star here, with lavender and sage adding to the aromatic vibe. sage is a note i can struggle with when it's too dry, but blood orange and fig add enough juice to keep the herbs from being cloying. it's so hard to explain what this one smells like, because i had never before (and have never since) experienced anything quite like it. it doesn't change much over its wear time, and the sillage is very gentle, as with everything from liis that i've tried.

i wore this to some friends' wedding last year, more than a little influenced by the fact that the shade of my bridesmaid dress was called eucalyptus. it's a soft, minimalist reminder to slow down and enjoy sights, smells and sensations, and it centers me every time i wear it. i don't ever want to be without it!

etat libre d'orange - jasmin et cigarette

coming soon!

marissa zappas - annabel's birthday cake

like the memory of a childhood birthday party. the vanilla cake is fresh out of the oven and covered in a lemon-y icing. there are latex ballons in the corner and you've just unwrapped a new barbie doll. it's super special and nostalgic, like most of marissa zappas' work, but i don't find myself reaching for it as much as i expected (i am truly not a gourmand girlie). i might be looking to trade this one soon.

d.grayi - black

i've become maybe the world's most outspoken d.grayi evangelist since i finally picked up some samples from them back in december 2024. this was the free gift with purchase that month, but it was definitely a factor in me deciding to eventually pull the trigger on some samples. i can't find the listing on their website with the exact notes, but i remember mulled red wine being among them.

perfumer james nguyen makes a lot the tinctures for his fragrances out of natural materials, so they all have this kind of herbal quality to them. this one opens with a huge blast of green that reminds me of walking into a lush. the drydown does smell like warm spices on a cold day. i find this one really comforting, incense-y and a little bit witchy

d.grayi - ca phe by night

my perfect tomato leaf, combined with bitter black coffee and animalics. it has the same herbal vibe as the rest of d.grayi's catalog, but there's nothing quite like this one to me. it's astringent and powerful in a way that feels no-nonsense and honest. i waited months for this to come back in stock and it was so worth it.