11 Cool Moms on Their Go-to Perfume

“This fragrance makes me feel joyful, blessed, and in the moment,” says Thirteen Lune cofounder Nyakio Grieco, whose beauty brand, Relevant: Your Skin Seen, launched last summer. For her, Leila Lou is “super versatile, and strikes a beautiful balance of floral and fruit notes”—in this case, jasmine and pear blossom, alongside cut grass and nectarine. Elevated yet easygoing, it reminds Grieco of impromptu spring days with her kids, soaking in the LA sunshine. Her nose is particularly attuned this season, with Relevant’s debut fragrance, 13 Stems, out this spring. Designed with grounding in mind (mimosa and violet leaf, backed by leather), it would make a compelling double feature.

Kavi Moltz, one half of the Brooklyn perfume brand D.S. & Durga, brings the design brain and black eyeliner and deadpan sense of humor. Her husband David (middle name Seth) is the self-taught nose, eager to go off-roading with limited-edition Studio Juices and forever cranking up the tunes. It’s no surprise that she’s currently steeped in the latest creation: an homage to The Carlyle’s uptown polish, folding in citrus top notes, Balkan rose and honeysuckle, and sandalwood. (The joint venture earned them a fizzy Talk of the Town piece by the New Yorker’s Rachel Syme.) “It makes me feel like I’m embracing springtime in NYC, which is a magical and fleeting couple of weeks when people come out of hibernation and blossoms abound,” says Moltz. “It feels lively, fresh, and fancy.”

“I recently switched from Mondo Mondo's grassy, tobacco-laced Cowboy to another of theirs, The Center of The World,” says Trinity Mouzon Wofford, cofounder and CEO of the wellness brand Golde. (Undoubtedly the biggest news for the company, which she runs with her husband Issey Kobori, is the arrival of their nine-month-old daughter—strong-willed, adorable—but a recent expansion into more than 700 Ulta doors is a runner-up.) “The lotus blossom and sandalwood feel grounding but optimistic,” Mouzon Wofford says. “When I wear this, I feel, perhaps unsurprisingly, centered: just what I need while balancing new-mom life and entrepreneurship.”

“As a midwife, I can’t wear anything that takes over or is too strong,” says Jo Zasloff, whose holistic midwifery practice, Nettle Wellness, offers home birth and well-person care in Brooklyn. She got to be choosy with the scent she wears lately—Vetiver, a new oil blend by Sisters Body—because she and her sisters run the show. The brand makes nontoxic bath products (there’s also a previous scent called Earth Tones, good for layering), with 40% of the proceeds donated in support of reproductive rights. Vetiver is a blend of essential oils, with notes that skew “earthy and sweet, with hints of citrus,” says Zasloff. “I put it on my neck and wrists and sometimes”—she knows this will get a laugh—“in my armpits.” The result is a kind of armor of emotions: “confident, strong, and sexy.” 

According to Erin Kleinberg, founder of the home and body-care brand Sidia as well as the creative agency Métier, Baccarat Rouge 540 has earned its viral status. “It has a warmth and nostalgia to it that is unparalleled,” she says, calling out the balance of smoky, woodsy notes and powdery-sweet ones. Kleinberg likens the perfume to the decadent experience of being the last couple to close down a restaurant. In other words, “it makes me feel expensive, and luxe as all hell,” she adds. The jewel-like packaging furthers that point. “I would almost exclusively wear this fragrance at night to set an intentional mood,” she says. How does that mood feel? “Totally intoxicating.” 

Makeup artist Romy Soleimani is known for her luminous way with skin, as seen on Guinevere van Seenus for Rachel Comey, Cara Delevingne for the cover of Vogue, or the cast of models sent down the Ulla Johnson runway. She is just as intuitive with scent. “At the moment I am loving the combination of Child Perfume oil, which I have been wearing for over 20 years, and Costa Brazil’s Aroma,” she says. The former is heady with jasmine, orange blossom, tuberose, and magnolia; the latter brings in a resinous, earthy quality—“so it becomes more sensual, grounded, and transformative.” For a single spritz that carries that duality, she recommends Régime des Fleurs’ Leather Petals, which she calls “quite mysterious and sultry.” (We happen to agree.)  

“The most potent scents for me are those associated with a sense memory: the evocation of how I felt at a particular moment of time,” says Daphne Seybold, cofounder and co-CEO of Sky High Farm Universe, the exuberant enterprise that supports the Dan Colen–founded nonprofit farm in the Hudson Valley. One such recollection is “walking through a redwood forest in my early 20s, completely cut off from civilization and dwarfed by these gorgeous, majestic trees.” This scent by Comme des Garçons, where she previously served as head of communications, leans into that expansive mood. “Sequoia is woody, spicy, mossy, energetic,” says Seybold, who likes that it softens on skin and doesn’t overpower. It’s a foil to Sky High’s effervescent new drop: a probiotic-laced sparkling water called Honey Pop. (Erewhon stocks it in California, and shipping is available to New Yorkers.) As for a Sky High perfume? Time will tell. 

Doris Hồ-Kane, who runs the Vietnamese-American bakery Bạn Bè in Brooklyn, regularly draws lines around the block for her inspired cookie tins and jelly layer cakes. But it was an earlier phase of her career that had her working alongside fragrance. “I discovered Ginger Ciao 2.27 perfume oil by Yosh Han in 2004, while I was doing display and visuals at Steven Alan,” she recalls. Only later did Hồ-Kane learn that the numbers referred to the chakra system and numerology. “Turns out this very fluorescent, gourmand scent aligns with the second chakra, connected to emotional, sexual, and creative energy. 27 represents reassurance and renewal,” she explains. “It’s probably why I have three kids and am a retired fashion designer turned archivist-baker.” (Hồ-Kane’s other project, 17.21 Women, collects and documents the histories of East and Southeast Asian women; a book with Penguin is forthcoming.) She admits to hoarding Han’s original formulation—“but I’ve heard this newer iteration is beautiful too.”

“I love how clean this fragrance smells,” says editorial hair artist Lacy Redway, detecting a powdery note alongside the Turkish rose, vetiver, and lychee—a sense of refinement summed up by the bottle. “I get plenty of compliments when I wear this.” In addition to a red-carpet client list that includes Tessa Thompson, Jessie Buckley, and Laura Harrier, Redway’s work can now be seen on The Sims 4, for which she designed five Black hairstyles as part of the game’s newest Growing Together Expansion Pack. (She’s also a Unilever stylist for Nexxus, TRESemmé, Dove Hair, and SheaMoisture.) There’s a sense of avatar play even in real life, as far as scent is concerned. For Redway, Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent helps her “transition from day to night events,” while Byredo’s Rose of No Man’s Land “feels lovely right out of the shower,” she says. “It is definitely a travel essential because it is not overpowering.”