I was genuinely excited to love this scent. I spent hours researching different sprays and perfumes before choosing the two I purchased. I stopped wearing perfume five years ago and switched exclusively to essential oils because I became more mindful of my health and how synthetic fragrances affect my body. That shift happened after I noticed that perfumes I had worn for years suddenly triggered intense motion sickness—especially in the car or in enclosed spaces like Ubers with friends wearing multiple fragrances. Even a short ride would leave me nauseous with a headache.
With essential oils, I’m very selective. I gravitate toward citrus, lavender, and ginger, and I avoid vanilla, cinnamon, and anything that feels heavy, lingering, or suffocating. Citrus scents help ease nausea and temple tension for me, so they’ve become my go‑to.
All that said, I still love the smell of many of the Boy Smells products, candles, and sprays. I was thrilled to catch their sale on Drop Thursday and thought I had thoroughly vetted the two scents I chose. Unfortunately, I missed that Sugar Baby contains vanilla. While I loved the second spray I ordered, I lost it a week after it arrived, so I really tried to make this one work. I even blended it with orange essential oil to soften the vanilla and bring forward notes my body responds well to.
But the vanilla is simply too dominant. As an anchor note, it takes over the blend no matter what you pair it with. For some people, adding lighter complementary scents may slow the emergence of the vanilla, but for me it still eventually becomes the main presence. I realized I’m especially sensitive to vanilla, despite reviews suggesting it could be balanced with brighter notes.
If you’re someone who enjoys or tolerates vanilla-forward fragrances, this might work beautifully for you. But if you’re like me and find vanilla cloying, heavy, or overwhelming on the body, I would avoid Sugar Baby.
4.4
