I am a total sucker for perfume. I know it, everyone who knows me knows it, and everyone who reads my reviews knows it, too. While this might sound like a totally normal statement for a beauty editor to make, things are particularly severe in my case. I own nearly 100 bottles of the stuff. And while I don’t (and wouldn’t) wear all of them, I couldn’t possibly bring myself to part with a single one. You see, I surround myself with fragrances all day long, so I appreciate great perfumes so much that, even when they don’t appeal to my personal tastes, I like to keep them and smell them from time to time.
To me, a great perfume (whether it’s citrusy, woody, or sweet) evokes emotion. It might make you want to scrunch your face up in a tight ball, but if a perfume gets an overwhelming response from you, I think it’s doing the right job. The very best perfumes make you feel something. And it’s for this reason that I don’t give time to scents that champion specific notes—I want my perfume to swaddle me up in a blanket of nostalgia and sentiment. So when I first heard about Phlur, the new kid on the perfume block, I was intrigued.
I stumbled across Phlur on TikTok when U.S. creator Mikayla Nogueira went viral after describing the brand’s Missing Person Eau de Parfum as “a person that you love and that you miss.” Within five hours, the perfume had sold out and racked up a hefty waiting list. Now that is a perfume that evokes emotion. I had to try and get my hands on it.
Founded by entrepreneur and influencer Chriselle Lim, Phlur champions fragrances specially crafted and blended to evoke intimate memories, tell a story, and communicate a specific mood. While not a perfumer herself, Lim has enlisted the help of superstar perfumers to create each scent. I’m talking about the noses behind Le Labo Santal 33, Byredo Gypsy Water, and Glossier You, to name just a few.
What’s shocking is that, after snagging all of Phlur’s fragrances, I want to keep every single one—all nine of them. And I actually want to wear every single one. The bottles are understated and chic, giving off slightly more colorful Byredo vibes, which is something I want to touch upon while we’re here. Even though I’m not a daily wearer of Byredo (I keep Blanche, De Los Santos, Open Sky, Violet Haze, Gypsy Water, and Mojave Ghost in my collection), the brand’s ability to evoke emotion and memory through scent really has set a precedent for how a great perfume should be crafted. And while I fully appreciate every Byredo perfume out there, I can’t say I’d wear all of them. In fact, I wouldn’t wear every fragrance from any perfume brand—except for Phlur.
If, like me, you’ve also found yourself intrigued by Phlur’s new presence in the beauty world, keep scrolling for an honest review of each of its perfumes.