The best thing about New York Uber drivers is that they’ll always give it to you straight, “quiet preferred” selection be damned. Usually, it’s “You’re late, lady” (blame the walk-up) or “Is this address correct? You wanna go six blocks?” (blame the shoes). But five times, I’ve gotten some version of “You smell amazing. What perfume are you wearing?” And for that, I can blame St. Rose’s Out Of The Blue. One driver even had me type it into his Notes app so he could buy it for his wife.
I’ve been on the other side of that interaction, too—sniffing something so good I had to stop what I was doing. One time I kept walking for half a block before making a U-turn to chase down a girl on Macdougal Street. She pulled a bottle of The Naxos Apothecary’s Yria from her purse—an intoxicating mix of bergamot, pink pepper, cereal, rose, jasmine, and patchouli that she had just bought.
Those encounters feel strangely intimate—tiny moments where a stranger briefly enters your orbit because of the way you smell. Ahead, 15 people on the fragrances that stopped strangers in their tracks.
The CFDA Scent Trail
“Every time I wear Madame Grey, someone stops me. The funniest moment was with my friend Meredith Stoecklein, the founder of Lein Studio. I borrowed a dress for the CFDA Awards and wore The One That Got Away with it. After I returned the dress, she texted me, ‘When I pulled the dress out for the dry cleaners, we were all like, WHAT IS THIS PERFUME? It’s beautiful.’ Apparently, they were all standing around the dress trying to figure it out.”—Ashley Moubayed, Founder, Don’t Let Disco
The TSA Check
“I’m never ever, ever, ever going to stop wearing Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge 540. No perfume smells as good on me. If I walk in somewhere and someone doesn’t say, ‘Oh, you smell good,’ or ‘Someone in here smells good,’ we have a problem. I went through security at the airport a bit ago and the TSA lady walked away from the scanner to ask what I was wearing. That’s all I want.”—Amber Grimes, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Love Renaissance
Concierge-Approved
“Nothing gets me more compliments than Giorgio Armani’s My Way. I discovered it randomly a few years ago, and it works so perfectly for me that it’s become my signature. Every day I walk past the concierge at my front desk and they often joke, ‘Here comes Gab and her amazing scent that lingers as she walks.’ It’s a hit!”—Gab Waller, Luxury Fashion Sourcer
The Pickup Perfume
“Sometimes I go to a weight-lifting class before work, and I take off all my rings—including my wedding ring—because my Chinatown jeweler has put the fear of God into me about kettlebells destroying them. One morning I was there in all my ‘single’ glory wearing Glossier You when the guy on the weight bench next to me said, ‘If I take you out on a date, will you wear whatever fragrance that is?’ In another life, I wouldn’t have been mad at that pickup line.”—Veronica McCarthy, Glossier
The Italian Affair
“When I was studying abroad, I wanted a specific fragrance to embody who I wanted to be while I was living in Milan. I wanted to feel like the most beautiful woman in the room, and I resolved that I would always have a red lip on—that was my persona. I bought Black Orchid by Tom Ford—my first perfume blind-buy ever—at Costco. One night, I wore it to Just Cavalli, and a man walking by me almost broke his neck turning around. He said, ‘You’re exactly what I want you to smell like.’ We danced, and it was great. I still remember him saying in his thick Italian accent, ‘Your scent drives me crazy!’ I never saw him again; it was just a fun, one-time, intense, serendipitous, carnal attraction between two strangers.”—Asia Grant, Founder, Scent Social Club
The Confession
“I discovered Bottega Veneta’s Hinoki almost by accident last September in Turin. I walked through a department store when I suddenly smelled something that literally stopped me mid-walk. I bought a bottle immediately. Since then, it’s become the fragrance people associate me with, and the reactions are constant. But the one I’ll never forget happened during a Catholic retreat in December. We were in the middle of prayer when the woman sitting next to me suddenly leaned over and whispered, ‘What is that extraordinary scent you’re wearing?’ She looked genuinely emotional about it.”—Natacha Bonjout, Founder, Bonjout Beauty
The En Pointe One
“I recently fell in love with Maison Francis Kurkdijan perfumes and their philosophy about having a scent wardrobe and freeing yourself from the burden of having just one faithful perfume forever. For a recent performance, I decided to surprise myself and my ballet partner on stage by getting into character for a dramatic role with their new Gentle Fluidity Gold Edition. It helped us both reimagine the pas de deux, a dance duet we’ve danced many times, and make it feel like it wasn’t just me again pretending to be someone else. As soon as the curtain came down, my ballet partner asked me right away what perfume I was wearing and said it spiced up the whole show.”—Francesca Hayward, Principal Dancer, The Royal Ballet
The Soho Showstopper
“I sprayed Delusions of Grandeur by L’Epoque Parfums right before I left my studio, and then a woman stopped me in the middle of Soho to ask what perfume I was wearing. Later that night, at a skincare event, someone said, ‘Someone in here smells incredible,’ and we traced the ambery scent back to me. It leaves this warm, smoky trail with its rich but sweet mix of rum, tobacco, saffron, and amber that lingers in the best way.”—Elizabeth Grace Hand, Founder, Stalle Studios
The Cab Connection
“A random cab driver once remembered driving me somewhere before because of my perfume, Glossier You. We checked the cab app, and it was completely true—we had crossed paths months earlier.”—Marina Coppola
Bieber-Approved
“I met Hailey Bieber at an event and the very first thing she said to me was, ‘You smell so good!’ That moment is forever engraved in my brain—my friend captured it on camera, too—and now I’ll never go a day without wearing U Beauty’s Proem. It’s bold and the perfect mix of feminine and sexy—floral and fruity, but earthy, too. The cool thing about it is that every time someone smells it on me, they call out a different ingredient first. Some people smell the lychee, others say rose or cedarwood. Needless to say, if I want to feel confident, I don’t leave the house without spritzing this perfume—after all, it’s Bieber-approved.”—Vanessa Stern, Content Creator
The Hangover
“I wear Abel’s Green Cedar layered with their now-discontinued Golden Neroli on special occasions, and somehow this duo gets me more compliments than anything else I wear. I have been stopped multiple times at weddings by guests asking what I am wearing. It always makes me feel good because it cuts through rooms full of strong perfume without being overpowering. The best was the hungover morning after one wedding when my fiancé’s best friend—who couldn’t care less about fragrance and was sharing a room with someone covered in Axe body spray—yelled across the house that I have really good taste in perfume.”—Olivia Leachman, Founder, Olivia Leachman PR
Love At First Scent
“My now-boyfriend was in the same friend group as my college roommate. One weekend I went home, and he borrowed one of my sweatshirts thinking it was hers. A few weeks later, I was at a party and my roommate finally introduced us in person. The first thing he said to me was, ‘You smell familiar!’ It was love at first sniff thanks to Glossier You.”—Deborah Garner
The Unexpected Celebrity Fragrance
“Cloud by Ariana Grande has been one of my favorites since the day it dropped. Every time I wear it, multiple people stop me to tell me how good I smell, and demand to know what I’m wearing. It’s that good. It’s sweet, creamy, and a little electric, like charged air before a thunderstorm. It’s just a one-of-one, completely obsession-worthy, and the perfect fragrance for turning heads. I was bartending when Cloud was released, and people constantly asked what perfume I was wearing during my shifts. The fervor only intensified as the nights went on and everyone got drunker. I got a lot of ‘Oh my God, WHAT are you wearing? You smell INCREDIBLE!’ It’s one of those scents everyone seems to agree on, especially when they go in without the preconceived notion of it being a celebrity fragrance.”—Tynan Sinks, Podcast Host, Smell Ya Later
The On Set Favorite
“I’ve always worn perfume—I both fear smelling bad and dream of having a signature scent—but I never got compliments or questions until I started wearing ‘Ôrebella’s Eternal Roots layered with a little bit of Phlur’s Vanilla Skin on top. I swear every single person asks what it is because it has this intoxicating, almost cologne-adjacent quality to it. I’m obsessed, and it seems like everyone else is, too!” —Lila Childs, Makeup Artist
Eternal Spring
“Daisy by Marc Jacobs will forever be my go-to, most dependable fragrance. I love the floral scent—it immediately brings me back to summery days, which, living in London, is especially comforting during the winter months. I’ve been wearing it for so long that people say they can smell me in a room before they see me. One time I went to a party and my friend knew I had arrived minutes before she spotted me because she smelled my familiar scent first.”—Julia Sarr-Jamois, Fashion Director, EE72
Photo via ITG