About the "Gender Expression" tab on products

About

We've added "Gender Expression" as a metadata field to our fragrances, and we wanted to explain a bit more about our reasoning behind this as well as provide definitions for the expressions we've listed.

This field can be found on each fragrance's product page, and it can also be used as a filter.

Why we provide "gender expressions" for fragrances

Fragrance is a powerful tool for transformation, affirmation, and expression.

A person holds many things at the crossroads of their identity, so I like to think of fragrance as a little magical glamour - something you can try on to invoke the specific qualities you wish to embody or things you want to express about yourself.

There's also a safety component here, both psychological and physical. Olfaction is a complex neurological process that involves multiple regions in the brain, including the amygdala and hippocampus. This is how we form emotional associations with scent and it's also how our brain alerts us to dangerous smells in our environment, so it can be emotionally disarming when we smell like something that is incongruent with our identities or has a negative association for us.

A disclaimer about our definitions

Admittedly, as someone who has always had an uncomfortable relationship to traditional gender constructs, these definitions are imperfect and subjective. I've had severe body dysphoria for as long as I can remember, and this has had an impact on my own gender expression, my innate biases, and my technique as a perfumer. I hope that my perfumes can alchemize some of my uncertainty into a sense of playfulness that feels a little safer for those of us who have never felt represented or whole within the prescriptive confines of the binary.

If you leave review on our site for a perfume, I love seeing feedback about how you experienced its gender expression, especially if it's different from my own. Our perceptions are strongly linked to past associations, so this information is helpful to others, and occasionally I like to add additional perspectives to the perfume's tab.

Definitions

genderfluid: either photorealistic or atmospheric to the point of being agender OR containing elements that lean masc or femme depending on your personal associations / style
lo-femme: possesses some characteristics typically associated with femme fragrances, but these may be offset by atmospheric notes or playful additions that veer the fragrance into a genderfluid expression.
hi-femme: possesses characteristics strongly associated with femme fragrances like florals, fruits, strong gourmand elements, or delicate notes.
lo-masc: possesses characteristics typically associated with masculine fragrances, but these may be offset by atmospheric notes or playful additions that veer the fragrance into a genderfluid expression.
hi-masc: possesses characteristics strongly associated with masc fragrances like woods, mosses, or superambers (although we don't make typically make superamber bombs).

Let customers speak for us

from 183 reviews

08/21/2025

Bean sprouts and sweet softness

A very fresh and rainy opening! After an initial blast of slightly bitter greens, the petrichor really shines. This reminds me of stepping out into my grandmother's yard on a summer morning after a rainy night on the east coast. Bean sprouts is exactly right. The intensity of the green dies down to a bean sprout murmur and there's a soft, round, airy and woody sweetness that comes forward. The sweetness hints at fruitiness and the maesil tea note. This is subtle in a way that makes me take shallow, intentional breaths to smell it as much as possible. I don't get any of the smokiness one might expect from lapsang souchong, but I could see getting a black tea from this sweetness. The scent lasts for 10+ lovely hrs on me.

Perilla Garden (PETRICHOR X)

Brittany R

08/17/2025

Bittersweet Nostalgia

I was hesitant to try this perfume due to the vinyl and popcorn notes, but I took the plunge anyway. So glad I did!! I first tried this on a rainy summer day in which I was running errands. I have had a few perfumes make me sentimental and nostalgic, but none have ever made me teary eyed. The Seahorse was the first. Pool days with friends and family are definitely my most cherished childhood memories. Especially with those random rainstorms that would roll in. One of my favorite movies growing up was Aquamarine which is fitting. Playing mermaids or going down water slides, enjoying slushies or snowballs- the simpler times with friends. This perfume encompasses all of that for me. All the notes blend together well but are still identifiable. Though stronger upon application the vinyl and popcorn notes fade into the background to add to the overall atmosphere. It still has a very wearable and pretty aspect to it at well. 13/10 cannonballs

The Seahorse (PETRICHOR X)

Owen

08/14/2025

Beautiful summer atmospheric, a memory in a bottle.

The Seahorse is maybe my favorite out of the collection, despite earlier reservations about popcorn and gardenia, two notes that sometimes come on too strong for me. It shifts and morphs as it dries, other notes asserting dominance before settling on pool water, cherry lipgloss, and the smell of rain on the pool deck. I kept bringing my wrist up to my nose while grocery shopping the last time I put it on, just shamelessly huffing myself in public. I wanted to invite the cashier to smell it, too. Five stars.

08/12/2025

Come for the memories, stay for the storm.

From the moment I read the notes and description, I knew I had to try Sunshower Valley. My father’s side of family is from the Southwest and in an admittedly misguided attempt to learn more about them, I moved to Arizona.

This reminds me of standing on my patio after a haboob tore through the city, bringing purple skies and dust before cleaning up after itself with a vicious lightning storm that tore of parts of the roof. The parking lot was a mess. I was absolutely shellshocked. Where in the world had I just moved?

Sunshower Valley opens with a burst of petrichor before becoming the warm and gentle smell of the desert after a storm. I don’t get any orange (or orange blossom petals) which, honestly, is fine because this perfume is so beautifully atmospheric and I think any florals would serve as a distraction.

Come for the memories, stay for the storm. I feel like if I opened my mouth and breathed in deep enough, I would be able to taste the lingering dust in the wind.

Sunshower Valley (PETRICHOR X)

Amanda

08/02/2025

Great base layer

Like a plush blanket wrapped around you. Great scent, and great for layering.

Stuffkin

Lovely, cozy boyfriend scent

Smells like your boyfriend (or butch partner) but better. Idk what it is but the scent just reads masculine to me. It's deliciously cozy and perfect for fall or winter weather.

Autumnkin

Love this!!

Great scent, have really been enjoying it. ❤️

Beachkin

08/01/2025

Softer, gentler, cozier than I imagined.

Comes out of the gate hard and fast, and almost astringent before softening into a mellow, clean scent. I love bergamot so this felt like a no brainer for me; the bergamot takes a backseat as it dries down but never fully disappears. This is one of those perfumes that changes even as you breathe in deeper, getting sweeter and softer and creamier as it fills your nose. If you’re looking at the notes and going “this would be perfect if it didn’t have patchouli,” give it a shot anyway. I can’t smell anything that resembles a stereotypical patchouli. Really beautiful.

Emerald Pearl Moth (April 2023 Monthly Moth)

07/30/2025

Love, love, love.

A breathtakingly beautiful fleurmond. Florals and I are not always the best of friends, but this is exquisite. Opens with a cloud of marzipan (I am obsessed with marzipan, no, I am not sure what is wrong with me!) before the marshmallow, vanilla, and bluebells come in. I kept bringing my wrist to my nose while working at the coffee shop yesterday, just shamelessly breathing in and sighing happily. I don’t have anything like it in my collection, and it’s a keeper.

Faerie Door

Mal

07/26/2025

Super yummy

This was exactly what I was hoping for. It’s sweet, and just the right amount of mossy green-ness. It's now my favorite perfume.

Mossmallow Puff

Lillian

07/24/2025

Heavenly

Everything and more that I hoped for. Very much gives off a book cafe in fall vibe to me, so soft and cozy.

Longevity (still getting solid whiffs after 12 hours) is excellent and has decent enough throw. The coffee is definitely a true latte rather than a black coffee note, woody in a really nice way. Sweet but not cloying so and very complex. 100% plan to buy again.

07/22/2025

The scent of peace.

I am constantly on the search for new atmospherics and The Crossroads of Lost & Lorn is exactly what I hoped it would be. It reminds me of all the times I needed to escape my studio apartment during the pandemic — I would drive about 45 minutes towards the coast, sit next to a stream in the woods, and just breathe. Rain or shine (although mostly rain, I’m in the PNW), it was my little pocket of peace.

This smells like that: river water, dirt, petrichor, and trees.

The Crossroads of Lost & Lorn

07/18/2025

Lovely

Tried it right out of the mail so it may still settle some but very positive first impression. Most indies brands have been disappointingly quick to vanish on me but this has very good longevity and moderate throw.

The banana is definitely on the subtle end. It's steadily there and lovely but I wouldn't necessarily be able to pinpoint the note as banana if I didn't already know it was there. The amber and brown sugar comes through strongest lending it a very warm and cozy vibe yet the other notes give it enough sparkle and lightness to still be summery. I could see grabbing a full size next year.

07/16/2025

The world feels different when I wear this.

A completely blind buy for me, simply because I was curious what "plastic doll skin musk" would smell like. This is gorgeous. Musky, a little powdery, strawberry sweet - it smells like what clouds look like when you're flying through them at sunset. It smells like you isekai'd into a Lisa Frank unicorn trapper keeper, and then became a unicorn yourself. This is the olfactory manifestation of a strawberry Cupcake Surprise doll, and I am in love.

Doll Face Puff

WTF in the best way

I don’t even like fruit scents?? what is happening here? It’s so well-blended,

i’m walking around a night market in a fey city and a vendor nearby is selling jam. I wouldn’t call it a rain scent, but somehow i’m sure it rained much earlier that day, bringing out the clay walkway scent. which smells earthy but not like dirt. Some mineralic scents from other houses have struck me as piercing or funky, this is not. maybe like clean, wet, warm terracotta pots. But still blended so beautifully I’d never go “this smells like plant pots.”

i can’t smell leather, smoke, or glowing coals specifically, they’re supporting. this really smells like warm midnight air in a place that’s mostly familiar but just different enough to keep you on your toes (the perfume doesn’t make me edgy, just a vibe i get considering the environment it seems to resonate with).

i immediately full sized this despite my pledge to finish samples first. >:0 :D

The Golden Curl