A journey through scentscape by Kellyanne Fitzgerald
1. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) “with you i dance in the storm in my best dress, fearless!”
J’adore by Dior. Magnolia, melon, peach, pear, bergamot, mandarin orange, tuberose, plum, violet, orchid, freesia, lily of the valley, jasmine, rose, musk, cedar, vanilla, blackberry, amaranth. Strong and sweet and almost synthetic. This is the glittery, girly, explosive side of Fearless.
Wasp by Nui Cobalt. Fresh linen, crisp chardonnay, and a rain-quenched herb garden edged with impeccable boxwood topiaries. Somehow irresistible. It’s cool but warm all at once. The rainy, “just go for it” cool girl energy that Taylor had to me when I was fourteen and geeky, and listening to her singing about heartbreaks and kisses in parking lots.
2. Fifteen (Taylor’s Version) “feeling like there’s nothing to figure out...”
White Shoulders by Eyvan. Aldehydes, white flowers (gardenia, jasmine, tuberose, lily-of-the-valley, lilac, lily and orris) and complex final notes (amber, benzoin, musk, civet and oak moss. My dad got this for me when I was in early high school- all long red hair and fussing in the mirror for hours every Sunday morning, taking selfies and comparing my head to the attempted Daenerys braids. It feels classic and feminine and perfect, like a soap bubble. Nostalgic and naive.
Maudlin Bedlam by Darling Clandestine: Dark, warm honey and herbals and wood frosted unsettlingly with weeping green leaves. This scent reminds me of my brother’s house that I used to visit all the time as a teenager. Has that in-between energy of driving in the dark with headlights flashing past. The weird time capsule that is having your exact, fifteen-year old feelings immortalized in a song that you can’t change, (or maybe won’t change) for fear of altering what it really was to be fifteen.
3. Love Story (Taylor’s Version) “on a balcony in summer air... see the lights, see the party, the ball gowns...”
Versailles by Poesie: Golden cake, intoxicating orange blossom, fluffy vanilla citrus icing, blood orange. I never like cake perfumes, but I like this one. Warm and luxe duchess energy. The first story I ever finished was about a Spanish princess named Isabella, who trained falcons and had two ugly stepsisters. I wrote about how ugly their hair was, compared to the thick black hair of Isabella, who of course, thought her hair was awful. Is there something innate to princess heroines, that they have to think themselves uninteresting, unlovely? Is it an awareness of the fragility of their position? Or the keenness to not be like other girls, who allow themselves to take up space?
4. Hey Stephen (Taylor’s Version) “come feel this magic i’ve been feeling since i met you, can’t help it if there’s no one else, oh i can’t help myself...”
Wild Pansy by CB I Hate Perfume: Violet, grass, soil, wildflowers. Girlish and a little lonely, but sweet and fun still. Fun fact: the boy Taylor wrote “Hey Stephen” about, wrote her a song back called “Try to Make it Anyway”. She never (publically) responded. I couldn’t understand this as a child. But maybe she knew that half the romance of them was in the pining- the “could never be” of it all. The thing that was simply so relatable about this era of Taylor Swift’s music was that she understood that 80% of the emotion and drama of a relationship took place within one’s mind- even a fully constructed emotion, built from a crush and turned opaque by the sheer force of teenage dreaming. I remember doing the hand wash at the kitchen sink, singing along with “I’d Lie” as it played on my iPod touch, meaning every single goddamn word. A crush about whom I’d lie! His sister was beautiful! He sort of had his mother’s eyes!
5. White Horse (Taylor’s Version) “i’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairy tale, i’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet and lead her up the stairwell...”
Violet Empire by CB I Hate Perfume: Violet leaf, violet, elemi, palisander, rosewood, leather. Sweet, wistful, strangely sad. Violets have a cool sadness to them that is still dignified, to me. The castle is gone, but the girl remains. Almost “A Little Princess” energy.
6. You Belong With Me (Taylor’s Version) “if you could see that I’m the one who understands you, been here all along!”
Euphoria by Calvin Klein: Pomegranate, Raspberry, Passionfruit, Persimmon, Peach and Green Notes; middle notes are Orchid, Lotus and Champaca; base notes are Mahogany, Amber, Musk, Violet, Patchouli and Vanilla. Sugary, sweet, sexy. A hot girl perfume for a hot girl who knows she is in fact destined for her man. I identified a bit too much with this song, as I imagine most of us who were adolescents during Taylor’s rise were wont to do. I couldn’t relate to the kisses and the heartbreaks, but boy could I relate to pining from afar. This perfume is sharpened (as all perfumes are) by wearing something diachronically opposed. A ring choker, maybe. Or a hickey.
Narcosa by Haus of Gloi: A thick haze of tonka and black vanilla, three jasmines, tuberose and ylang ylang. Really pretty floral, in a Charlotte from Princess and the Frog kind of way. Early Taylor Swift music has to fit within a fairly classic box of the kinds of perfumes a country girl who probably has never visited a crystal shop (yet) or walked Cornelia St (yet) would wear. Warm, flowery, the kinds of things you would find in a department store. I almost went with “Daisy” for this one, because it is such a staple of basic-girl-perfume, but I personally don’t love “Daisy”, so couldn’t do it. You might also consider “Flowerbomb”.
7. Breathe (feat. Colbie Caillat) (Taylor’s Version) “And we know it's never simple, Never easy, Never a clean break, no one here to save me...”
To See a Flower by CB I Hate Perfume: flower stems, water, spring, wildflowers. The silver/cool version of “Under the Arbor” (see “That’s When”). Breathe has angelic, elfen vibes to me, and also the immortal liminality of any song you hear over and over in a Kohl’s at age 14. I was trailing my mother, flipping boredly through racks of maroon work-appropriate cardigans and mother-of-the-bride sequined jackets. The perfume takes you straight to a kitchen where you are placing wet flowers into a vase- all shining stems and cut-flower fragrance and purple petals.
8. Tell Me Why (Taylor’s Version) “i need you like a heartbeat but you know you got a mean streak that makes me run for cover when you’re around...”
Year Without Summer by Poesie: The narcotic sweetness of opium blended with the blackest amber, spilled coffee, a hint of bitter green cannabis. Spicey, dark, and autumnal. Academic, but in a pissed off way. One thing I really adore about the early Taylor Swift albums is that she just went for it. She said “you know what? you’re being a real p-o-s, and I’m going to sit here and tell you that you’re making me feel low.” She caught that teen girl swell and made us feel the injustice and rage of the moment. (granted hers were about actual heartbreaks and mine were about not getting to wear the sweater I wanted because my mom thought it was too revealing).
9. You’re Not Sorry (Taylor’s Version) “You had me crawling for you honey, and it never would've gone away...”
Whisper Your Bitter Things by Poesie: Pressed coffee beans, dried clove bud + cassia bark, jasmine and neroli blossoms, roasted vanilla pods. Weirdly sweet. Bitter in the wrong way and sweet in the wrong way. This is one of those perfumes that you can’t quite figure out what’s going on with it, and why it’s not smelling the way you expect.
10. The Way I Loved You (Taylor’s Version) “I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain, and its 2am and i’m cursing your name...”
Full Moon (At the Temple) by Poesie: Fragrant white rice, shiso leaf, bitter yuzu zest, hinoki wood, green tea, lakewater. Very cool and cucumbery. The lake water and the hinoki wood are strong, and a little bitter. Me and water scents often disagree, in that they smell horrible on me, and yet I keep buying them. I am a hoe for bodies of water, and how they smell and the smell they leave on you. If only perfumed water notes were able to hold the magic of the real thing.
Awakening Desert by Alkemia: Rainstorm across desert. Cracked earth drinks deeply, softening into moist clay. Desert springs refill and replenish. An elemental scent of awakening... dry warm mitti earth, parched grasses, dried wood, and mineralistic clay drenched in rainwater. Sharp and spicy and smokey. Irresistible. It does not give me thunderstorm at all, but does make me long desperately for the desert (my brother (see Maudlin Bedlam) used to live there.) And it’s a little alien and frustrating and naked. The desert in bloom is outrageously gorgeous, and hard to describe because the bloom is not bright green, like a midwest bloom. It is to the classical beauty of spring what vaporwave is to classic art. An electric past love meets rose colored glasses in the rear view.
11. Forever & Always (Taylor’s Version) “was i out of line? did i say something way too honest, made you run and hide? (like a scared little boy)”
Villa Diodati by Poesie: Pungent wild rosemary and fresh balsam pine, crystal clear lakewater, dry, dark vanilla. Haunted house on the lake energy. Those few aquatic scents that work for me, work for me. Sorrow and nostalgia and pain. Dark pine and crushed rosemary and lake sand, sweetened by a tiny touch of vanilla. “Forever and Always” is my favorite song off of “Fearless”. Pale and flush with all the otherworldly drama of a ghost, or a mermaid. As a kid and teenager I wanted desperately to be a mermaid- for the ability to disappear. It’s so final- the last word of slipping between the folds of the water and letting yourself dissolve into the elements.
12. The Best Day (Taylor’s Version) “I don't know why all the trees change in the fall, But I know you're not scared of anything at all...”
Elemental Tea Party by Poesie: A swirl of autumn leaves on chilly air, brewed black tea with a discreet splash of whiskey, overturned earth, distant bonfires. This song reminds me so much of my mom. Perfectly gold-leaning-orange leaves and tea. (for a more intense “burning leaf” energy I recommend “Burning Leaves” by CB I Hate Perfume, which is gorgeous, but not quite as layered as this scent.) I wrote a song inspired by “The Best Day” and sang it to my mother at church for Mother’s Day, sometime around age 16 or 17. The song was trite, and cliche, and not quite honest, but I wanted to mean it, and so I sang it. I don’t regret it. Sometimes you have to stand in front of the mirror and tell your reflection that you love it.
Mama’s Porridge by Haus of Gloi: Brown sugar sweetened oatmeal with a splash of milk and a piece of buttery cinnamon sugar dusted toast. My dad actually was the person who made a lot of oatmeal or oatmeal pancakes as we were growing up, so this is the other half of the parental tribute. This scent is perfectly warm cinnamon oatmeal.
Sparrow by Haus of Gloi: Salty sea air and sparkling emerald jewels. Reminds me of some childhood scent - purpley and sugary. Almost grape soda, but more plastic than that. Like flavoring in lip gloss from the 00s or something like that. It is so strongly some strange synthetic smell that is locked in 2004. If you take “The Best Day” as a set of time capsules, this perfume is a time capsule for me that I have not quite figured out. It is maddening.
13. Change (Taylor’s Version) “It was the night things changed, Can you see it now? the walls that they put up to hold us back fell down, it’s a revolution!”
Sol by Haus of Gloi. Dry gingergrass, litsea cubeba, neroli, frankincense tears, saffron infused honey, rosemary and the faint touch of true sweet cinnamon bark. Gingery and zesty, delightful. Warm. Tangled energy- that whole kingdom dance scene. If I had to pick another song for it that wasn’t off of “Fearless” I would probably go with “Long Live” (the Tangled tribute of my dreams).
Apothecary by Haus of Gloi: Lemongrass, rosemary, blood cedar, bitter basil, lavender and the tiniest drop of vetiver. Lemon has a sunny, “we did it” energy that I think is related to cleaning products and productiveness. You could also do “Sacred” by Poesie, if you want to take the hallelujah more literally.
14. Jump Then Fall (Taylor’s Version) “Every time you smile, I smile
And every time you shine, I'll shine for you...”
First Blush by Haus of Gloi: Tahitian vanilla bean, white tea, lavender and peach. This is one of those perfumes I never wear because it is so girlish and soft, and it’s just not complex or interesting enough for me, but it is actually very sweet. Jump Then Fall is similar. Meet the parents good-girl energy. As a child I wanted to grow up and marry into a family like the Weasley family from Harry Potter - all wild, and homey, and there for each other, and afghans on the couch- until I realized that I am in fact from a Weasley family, and marrying into one would be cataclysmic. I place my reflection against the stencils of the Weasleys, trying to slot myself in somewhere. I live in fear of being discovered as Percy.
15. Untouchable (Taylor’s Version) “In the middle of the night when I'm in this dream, it's like a million little stars spelling out your name”
Reset Button by Nui Cobalt: Cool balsam and verdant mosses fresh with rain, cracked pink peppercorns, and grated ginger root. Pale and austrere, beautiful, and sure things will be all right.
Sea of Glass by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Grapefruit, ozone, water, gardenia, grass, lily of the valley. Clear and crisp and starry - ozone plus water makes it feel Tolkien and like a bright forest by fresh water.
16. Forever & Always (Piano Version) (Taylor’s Version) “it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong, it rains when you’re here and rains where you’re gone...”
Lavender Sugar by Haus of Gloi: Lavender, brown sugar. Lavender, but the whole plant, stem and all. Slightly sweet. Lavender makes me feel sad, but in the most cathartic way. This song wrecked me as a teenager - lavender is the only thing that can soothe the abandonment and sorrow of teenage-angst. Can anything? Half the fun of it was being unsoothable. Back when feeling real pain meant I’d unlocked some adult emotion. No child could ever feel this way. I’d remember the comment that had set me off, hug it tight to my chest like a little leaking battery. Gather up the batteries and put them in a jar of hurt, for ammunition later.
17. Come In With The Rain (Taylor’s Version) “i’ll leave the window open, cause I’m too tired tonight to call your name...”
Cozy Sweater by Haus of Gloi: Pale skin musk, faded perfume, Egyptian amber, softly burning nag champa incense and a fine aged vanilla. Spicy, amazing, almost honeyed. A little woody? Very indoors musing on the outdoors. Like warm chocolate as you look outside- but the emotional equivalent. Sitting in a painful memory that has gone just far enough away to become numb, just to look at how deliciously awful it was.
18. Superstar (Taylor’s Version) “i’m no one special, just another wide eyed girl who’s desperately in love with you”
Guilty by Gucci: Pink pepper, mandarin orange, bergamot, lilac, peach, geranium, jasmine, black currant, patchouli, amber, white musk, vanilla. This has department store energy, the perfume you buy to feel grown up but is only the sort of thing you wear if you’re like 17 and trying to smell grown up. Sweet and wholehearted.
19. The Other Side Of The Door (Taylor’s Version) “stand outside my window throwing pebbles screaming i’m in love with you”
Rose des vents by Louis Vuitton: Peach, green notes, black currant, May rose, rose, Turkish rose, iris, white musk, cedar, pepper, orris root, violet leaf. Pretty and rosy, but not nearly as interesting as it thinks it is. When I look back on the music I wrote as a teenager, there’s songs like “Fifteen” that capture this startling, ray of light on who I was and the realness of my life- and there’s songs like “The Other Side of the Door”. I devoted far too much songwriting and emotional time to men who at best did not know I existed, and at worst, fully went to jail for being child-rapists. Revisiting the music I wrote when in those spaces is difficult, and frustrating.
20. Today Was A Fairytale (Taylor’s Version) “today was a fairytale, i wore a dress, you wore a dark grey tee shirt...”
Zazz by Haus of Gloi: Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne all shook up with crushed ginger root. I love this perfume! It is cranberry grapefruit fizzy ginger soda! So bright and sparkling and perfect. This perfume is what I wanted champagne to taste like - I was actually disappointed in champagne the first time I tried it. Delightful.
Hummingbird by Zoologist: Lilac, cherry, pear, lily-of-the-valley, apple, plum, violet leaf, rose, citruses, honey, honeysuckle, mimosa, ylang-ylang, peony, tulip, whipped cream, musk, moss, coumarin, sandalwood, amber, white woods. Light and sweet and floral. This perfume is the equivalent of a floral sundress, and a pale summer’s day. You feel like the actual essence of “girl”. Maybe also “fairy princess”. Sweet and truly floral. I wore this perfume today as I edit this piece (May 1, 2021) and my boyfriend just asked me to marry him, so it is now inextricably tied to magic and fairy-tale joy.
21. You All Over Me (feat. Maren Morris) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”Once the last drop of rain has dried off the pavement, shouldn't I find a stain? but I never do...”
Mishigami by Darling Clandestine: Sand, water. One of my all time favorite scents. It’s dedicated to Lake Michigan, and I grew up near Lake Michigan. This scent has sand dunes and freshwater and wind whipping past your ears, and grasses nipping at your bare ankles. It’s also so madly nostalgic. You cannot wear this scent on a happy summer day. It will kill the vibe. You will be thinking of grey days in the half-light of early spring/late fall, on abandoned Lake Michigan beaches that quite literally do not exist anymore due to erosion, and of the murky wisdom of childhood. Perfect for a wistful “still all over me”.
22. Mr. Perfectly Fine (From The Vault)- “it takes everything in me just to get up each day but its wonderful to see that you’re okay...”
Secret Boyfriend by Poesie: A mountain of light fluffy marshmallows, your secret boyfriend’s leather jacket, pine and cedar, a wisp of smoke. This scent is how the guy would see himself - he’s perfectly fine, he smells amazing, and things are going great. Dated this chick for a few weeks, but it fizzled out. Life’s pretty good.
Dirty English by Juicy Couture. Peppered mandarin, blue cypress, Calabrian bergamot, cumin and cardamom, marjoram and black leather accord, sandalwood, Atlas cedar and vetiver root, agarwood, ebony, black moss and amber musk. This is how Taylor sees the guy. Teenage boy cologne for prom kinda energy- it’s not bad when the guy is okay, but the second things go bad, it is the cologne of a true bag of dicks. I have a love/hate relationship with colognes. They are so heavy and strong on me- it’s like being drenched in “FIRST DATE, GOTTA MEET HER DAD” kind of energy, and sometimes that is just too much for a Tuesday.
23. We Were Happy (From The Vault) “talking bout your daddy’s farm, you were gonna marry me, and we were happy...”
Sun Dried Laundry in Summer Rain by Alkemia: Linen, sun, ozone, rain: Exactly what the title says. Smells like fresh laundry. White, pale, refreshing. Cozy but warm. Wistful.
Artemis by Poesie: Sweet meadow grasses, sparkling lakewater, saffron + rockrose, dried hay, a summer breeze. Dewdrops and grass. Sweet in a complicated, summery way. Mildly spiced - feels a little ethereal and almost out of reach. Isn’t that the goal, with perfume, and mermaids, and songwriting? To feel out of reach? Like a leaf flirting with the wind, never caught, never unchased. Perfume descriptions are little poetic shots of words meant to sell you on the moment. Perfume’s unique power is the fact that it is inherently evocative - you are not given any kind of object with your purchase of perfume. It is a liquid in a vial. I have hundreds, and they all look just about the same. But the rush of a moment that sucks you in, the second you snap open a sample - taking you to the sunscreen warmth of the beach, or the cinnamon cocoa of Christmas, or anywhere in between- that is so far beyond any other accessory. Everything else says “Having me will make your life better.” Perfume says “I’ll take you somewhere you were happy.”
24. That’s When (From The Vault) (Featuring Keith Urban) -”When I wake up in the morning,
that's when, when it's sunny or storming...”
Warm Cotton by Clean: Aldehydes, ginger, ozone, water, mint, green, pepper, floral, musk, incense, vetiver. Smells like clean warm laundry. It’s just such a good smell. “We Were Happy” and “That’s When” both have this innocence and warmth to them that makes you think of fresh laundry.
Under the Arbor by CB I Hate Perfume: Crushed grape leaves, weathered wood, green moss and cool earth. Warmer, sweeter version of “To See a Flower”. Almost like smelling warm summer flowers at a garden gate.
25. Don’t You (From The Vault) “you can say we’re still friends (but i don’t want to pretend)”
26. Bye Bye Baby (From The Vault) “It wasn't just like a movie, The rain didn't soak through my clothes, down to my skin...”
Desiderata by Alkemia: Honeysuckle, vetiver, ivy, grass, water, clay, wood. Mostly honeysuckle, like a spring flower garden.
27. Bonus Track: Love Story (Taylor’s Version) - Elvira Remix “Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone!”
Ari by Ariana Grande: Pear, raspberry, grapefruit, lily of the valley, rose, vanilla orchid, musk, wood, marshmallow. Pink, unabashed, and hip. Joyful and sweet. She has a good time. She can close her eyes, coated with shimmer shadow, and let her shoulders move. Tension disappearing under sweat, hip hop, and the chafing of a sequin dress.
Perfume Houses:
(All italicized descriptions are the intellectual property of the respective perfume house).
Alkemia
Ariana Grande
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
Calvin Klein
CB I Hate Perfume
Clean
Darling Clandestine
Dior
Eyvan
Gucci
Haus of Gloi
Juicy Couture
Louis Vuitton
Nui Cobalt
Poesie Perfumes
Zoologist
Kellyanne Fitzgerald is a writer and artist based in Madison, Wisconsin. In her free time she enjoys language learning, fiber arts, and folk art illustration.