Kayali's New Vanilla Fragrance Is A Nod To '90s Nostalgia
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.
Picture this: It's 1995. You are 14 years old. 14 years and eight months, to be exact. Yes, you're the sassy type. You're cruising through the mall with your two best friends and just called your crush on the pay phone so him and his friends can come meet you and yours. While you wait to meet in the food court, you pop into Victoria Secret's or Bath and Body Works and douse yourself in body mist. You stop at the candy shop and get a quarter pound of your favorite sweet and sour candy before heading to meet your crush.
That's what Kayali's latest sweet scent, Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar, is giving—'90s mall rat energy. 'Oh my God, that's such a good description because I grew up in the '90s and that's when I was the biggest mall rat ever,' exclaims Mona Kattan, founder of Kayali, as we chat during lunchtime on Friday. For the gourmand girlies, this scent will satisfy the sweetest of cravings. Candied pears, marshmallow, rocky candy, and bubble gum dance with violet leaves, jasmine, and patchouli for a sweet scent that dries down to a saccharine, smoky vanilla essence. You can't help but feel like a kid in a candy shop—Kattan admits she worked in her school's candy store. 'I love desserts. I'm a sweet tooth girl. It's probably my biggest weakness in life, so that's why I always want to smell really sweet. It just makes me happy,' says Kattan.
As I spritz the fragrance, I imagine Kattan selling rice krispey treats while smacking on Hubba Bubba bubble gum. 'I'm crushing on marshmallow right now—I want to put it in everything,' says Kattan. There are warm, woody notes of sweet tonka bean with the vanilla shining through as the fragrance dries down and becomes more complex. It's sweet but not childish, rather, nostaligic. 'They're really fun playful notes. We have jelly beans, we have so many fun notes in there,' Kattan says. Vanilla is a scent profile found throughout the Kayali collection and Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar fulfills a trio of this spice. 'A lot of people in our community were asking [me] to make something stronger and more long lasting, more intense. So [Vanilla Royale] was the answer to that, like the bougie big sister,' explains Kattan. She describes Vanilla 28 as the 'crazy rich auntie,' and Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar rounds out the sisterhood as the 'younger, more playful sister.' Vanilla is a nostalgic scent for Kattan, one that makes her feel at ease. 'I think it's related to vanilla cake when you're a kid and all of us had birthday cake and that smell of vanilla cake to me, just makes you feel happy,' she says.
These family moments—birthdays, dinners, and times spent with people you love are the ones that are most precious to Kattan and often inspire her scents. 'It's not a big milestone. It's not a trip. It's chilling with people you love and having good food is the best memory. So that's why I feel like I always want to bottle those memories and wear it and feel that emotion again.'
You can shop Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar at HudaBeauty.com and Sephora.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Elle
3 hours ago
- Elle
Go Inside NYC's Must-Visit New Dior Exhibit
From Christian Dior to Gianfranco Ferré and Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior's legacy is one of the utmost beauty and refinement. Now, UBS House of Craft has partnered with the atelier to connect the designs of all seven creative directors in a single show unlike ever before. Curated by iconic fashion stylist and editor Carine Roitfeld and photographed by Brigitte Niedermair, the exhibit examines the intricate and historic craft of couture through a uniquely modern lens. The project offered Roitfeld personal access to the archives, where she explored eight decades of history and hand-selected iconic looks—ranging from an eclectic spring 2015 couture minidress by Raf Simons to a extraordinarily chic crocodile jacket from fall 1960 couture by Yves Saint Laurent. 'It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. And because we know the house very well, both of us, we have a nexus to everything we want,' Roitfeld tells ELLE. The curated archive was then photographed by Niedermair, a longtime collaborator of the house (who has also shot for ELLE.) Through her lens, each piece transcends its original era and is brought into the editorial light of the present day. Adds Roitfeld, 'We learned so many things. And even though we are very respectful, we still had some freedom. It was very important for Brigitte and me to have some freedom for the picture.' Throughout the exhibit, a select few of the actual garments were juxtaposed in front of Niedermair's modern editorial images. Observing these rare archive items, like the crown from John Galliano's fall 2004 couture collection and the original 1947 Bar ensemble, up close felt like paying tribute to invaluable pieces of fashion history. 'Above all, this alliance is a celebration of excellence, haute couture elegance, and the exceptional savoir-faire deployed by Dior since the triumph of the New Look in 1947,' said Olivier Bialobos, UBS's deputy managing director in charge of global communication and image, in a statement. 'This artistic dialogue is a tribute to audacity and virtuoso artisanship, at the convergence of past, present, and future, in a perpetually shifting cultural landscape.' UBS House of Craft x Dior is open and free to the public from June 6-8 at 28 Pine Street in New York's Financial District.
Elle
4 hours ago
- Elle
Dakota Johnson's Blazer Minidress Was So Low Cut, She Covered It Up With Tissues on TV
Dakota Johnson is no stranger to wearing daring ensembles, from sheer Gucci dresses to lingerie bodysuits. But the actress got a little self-conscious while filming The Tonight Show in a very low-cut blazer minidress. At two points during her interview, Johnson literally covered up the neckline with objects host Jimmy Fallon gave her. 'This is the wrong outfit,' she began the interview before warning Fallon to 'tell me if there's a problem.' 'Right now, there's not a problem,' he replied. 'There's almost a problem but not quite.' '[I'll] keep my posture real good,' she quipped. Then she asked a moment later, 'Does anyone have, like, a blanket I could wear?' Fallon offered her some tissues, joking, 'No one will even know the difference.' She put them in her neckline, and it almost looked like they were part of the look: She ultimately removed them. Later in the chat, Fallon gave her a sweater to wear. The first place she put it was over her cleavage to cover it up again. Johnson didn't actually have any wardrobe malfunctions during the interview, but she did cause a little trouble with Fallon doing prank phone calls. The host first brought up Johnson being prank-called by Billie Eilish on ELLE's Phoning It In series. Johnson defended her earnest response to Eilish's prank, saying 'I was trying to be a good friend...I love Billie so much.' Fallon and Johnson decided to do some prank calls of their own to businesses. Both used accents—and were pretty convincing. Watch the full segment below:
Business of Fashion
9 hours ago
- Business of Fashion
Huda Kattan Buys Back Huda Beauty
Huda Kattan has regained full ownership of Huda Beauty after buying back a minority stake held by private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners, the company announced Tuesday. Kattan, an Iraqi-American beauty influencer credited with driving the mid-aughts trend towards bold makeup looks, founded the Sephora and Boots-stocked prestige cosmetics brand in 2013 with a $6,000 loan. In 2017, she sold a minority stake in the business to TSG at a $1.2 billion valuation. 'Taking back full ownership of Huda Beauty is a deeply very important moment for me,' said Kattan in a statement. 'As we step into this new chapter, I'm more committed than ever to pushing boundaries, staying true to our roots, and showing up for our incredible community every step of the way.' Earlier this year, Huda Beauty sold its fragrance line, Kayali, to General Atlantic and Mona Kattan, a co-founder of the line and sister of Huda Kattan, buying out TSG's stake. Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your must-read source for the day's most important beauty and wellness news and analysis. Learn more: Beauty's Top M&A Targets for 2025 After a slow year for acquisitions, brands and investors alike are hoping that 2025 will yield bigger exits. But with most strategic buyers like L'Oréal operating with an even narrower lens, only a select few firms will make it across the finish line.
