So I’ve noticed a trend recently that Youtubers are spending more and more time glazing Middle Eastern brands and clones, with more and more “Top 5 dupes for summer” or “Top affordable fragrances for date night” or whatever that just keep recycling the same offerings. At the same time I keep seeing the same Youtubers at exotic locations, like the pyramids or Maldives for events thrown by these brands. Now, I always had to take with a grain of salt anything that these folks had to say for the most part, and I get that hyperinflation is putting more and more designer and niche offerings out of reach for most people, but I feel like the trend is resulting in less and less content that is relevant to me or that I feel I can learn from. Or that I can trust as being truly impartial. At the other end of the spectrum, there are a few true content creator connoisseurs that don’t seem swayed by paid promotions and aren’t following the trend to emphasize Middle Eastern and clone offerings, but my issue with them is they feature all these random super ultra niche houses and frags that are nearly impossible to sample — and when I do manage to sample them, for the most part they turn out to be beautiful works of art that are absolutely unwearable for me. So I’m feeling stuck in the middle and less and less satisfied finding content I like. Anyone else feeling this way?

So I caught a discussion the other day on the definition of a Signature Fragrance. I've always heard it defined as the scent you wear all the time and that people associate with you. It's what you wear most often and would be the fragrance that people would describe you with. But the discussion presented an alternative definition that I find myself agreeing with. A signature scent should be something that you personally feel like represents the way you most want to smell. It's the fragrance that fits you like a glove and and makes you feel like... YOU. It may or may not be the thing you wear the most often - that would be your utility scent, not your signature. And it may or may not be the thing that other people associate with you. Instead, it is the fragrance that YOU most identify yourself with. As an example, the fragrance I love the most, and that makes me feel the most like ME, is Tom Ford's Black Orchid EDP and EDP Reserve. They are very similar, and I wear them interchangeably. But I only wear it on special occasions, or when I'm not planning much and will be mostly by myself for the day. (as a side note, I once wore it on a casual coffee date, and she told me it was the most beautiful scent she had ever smelled. I wear it now every time I know I'm going to see her). My utility fragrance - the one that I wear most often, and that I think more people would associate with me and how I smell, is Byredo Gypsy Water. I've worn that one more than any other fragrance I own, and have gone through nearly 1/3 of the bottle in a year. It's what I wear when I'm going to be around a lot of people, or when I'm meeting with a potential client, hanging out with my goddaughters, or just because it's Tuesday and I don't feel like spinning the fragrance wheel or playing games with my selection for the day. So what say you? How would you define your Signature? And have you found it, yet?