The Myth of ‘The One’ — & Why I’ll Never Have A Signature Scent

I was five when I first learned that a person could have their own smell. I remember standing in my babysitter’s hallway, waiting for my mom, when the door opened, and a familiar scent slipped in before she did. Soft and powdery, it smelled like home and safety all at once, lingering on my hair long after her hug. Years later, I learned its name: L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme by Issey Miyake. Even now, catching it in the wild instantly takes me back to that hallway; my small hand gripping my backpack as I wait.  Growing up, my mom and grandma wore scents like that; perfumes that seemed as natural to them as their voices. My mom even saved coupons to buy her next bottle, which, to me, felt like the ultimate marker of adulthood. The beauty world calls it a ‘signature scent’: one fragrance that defines you, lingers after you’ve left, and becomes shorthand for who you are.  For almost a decade, I assumed I was meant to have one, too, but n