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If you haven’t heard of BORNTOSTANDOUT yet, you’re about to. 

The Seoul-born niche house quietly made its way into Sephora back in February, and if you’ve been anywhere near fragrance Twitter (i.e. X or whatever we’re calling it these days) or #FragranceTok lately, you already know the community has been obsessed with them for years. I finally got my hands on Sugar Addict — their cult gourmand — and I’m here to happily share my thoughts.

This is meant to do two things at once. It works as a standalone skin scent, but they also market it as a “fragrance sweetener,” which is something you layer over whatever’s already in your rotation to push the sweetness and complexity up. When I first heard that framing, I imagined something easy and uncomplicated. A pretty vanilla. Maybe something I’d enjoy for a few wears and rotate out, but that is not what this is.

It opens with white sugar and cocoa that is bright, and almost sharp. Then the rum comes in and takes it up a notch (as rum does). Suddenly you’re not in a candy shop anymore. The cinnamon adds just enough edge to keep it from reading as straight-up dessert, and by the time the base settles in (which is cashmere wood, labdanum, coffee) it’s gone somewhere musky and a little dark. I kept catching whiffs of it on myself hours later, and it was warm and boozy and familiar in a way I couldn’t immediately place. 

This leans masculine. I know that’s going to surprise people because “Sugar Addict” sounds like it should be pink and girly and fun. It is not. The musk in the drydown in particular takes it somewhere unisex at best. I personally love that about it but if you’re expecting something in the Pink Sugar family, you are in the wrong neighborhood entirely.

Why I love it: I sprayed this on my arm one morning and couldn’t figure out what it reminded me of. And then it clicked: Amouage Sunshine. On paper, the comparison doesn’t quite make sense, given how different the notes are. But something about the way the sweetness sits on skin felt like a less polarizing version of that one. All the best parts, none of the edge that makes people put it down. 

This lasts longer than I expected, every single time. I’ve worn it through a night out, on a lazy Sunday at home, and at church, and an award show, and it stays put for hours longer than I expect. I’ve gotten more unsolicited compliments in the past two weeks wearing this than almost anything else in my current rotation. People who have never once mentioned my perfume. That’s the test that matters to me. One caveat: the drydown gets musky and earthy, and it is a real departure from that bright sugary opening. Please test this before you buy. Sample it, wear it for a full day, see where it lands on your skin, because what it becomes hours in is actually the best part, and you want to be ready for it.

Perfect pairings: Because BTSO literally designed this as a layering scent, I’ve had way too much fun testing it on top of things. The combination I keep coming back to is layered over Kilian’s Angels’ Share. Two boozy, warm fragrances on top of each other, but the rum in Sugar Addict and the cognac and oak in Angels’ Share don’t compete; they just make each other richer and more complex. One light spray of Sugar Addict over Angels’ Share and you suddenly just smell expensive and sexy (two of my favorite ways to smell). That’s my going-out combination right now. For something more everyday, I’ve been applying a little Sugar Addict on skin first and layering Kayali Vanilla 28 on top, and Sugar Addict grounds the softness of Vanilla 28 and gives it real staying power without taking over. And if you already own anything else from the BTSO lineup, this speaks the same language. The house has a very specific take on warm sugar, and Sugar Addict is essentially the purest expression of it.

BORNTOSTANDOUT Sugar Addict just landed at Sephora, which means you can finally smell what everyone’s been talking about.

The post ESScent Of The Week: This Seoul-Born Cult Fragrance Just Hit Sephora — And Sugar Addict Is Already On My Most-Reached-For List appeared first on Essence.