For more than a decade, inquiring minds have been working day and night to figure out what Taylor Swift smells like. Or more specifically, which perfume she wears. Now, it seems her recent appearance at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards has led to a major break in the case. During a very cute recorded interaction between Swift and drag queen Xunami Muse that subsequently surfaced on X, Muse poses for a photo with Swift, then casually turns and does the unthinkable by straight-up asking the pop star what scent she's wearing.
"You smell so good," Muse appears to tell Swift before miming the act of applying perfume. "What is that?" Swift seemingly lights up and replies, "Oh thank you, it's Tom Ford." Muse then appears to echo Swift by saying, "Tom Ford! It's so nice."
📹| Drag queen @XunamiMuse asking Taylor what perfume she's wearing 😂 #VMAs Xunami: You smell so good. What is that? *imitates perfume spray*Taylor: Oh thank you! It's Tom Ford!Xunami: Tom Ford!! It's so nice! pic.twitter.com/42rKXUdPINSeptember 12, 2024
The clip is the closest fans have ever come to getting a direct answer from Swift herself. Of course, we've been theorizing about her signature scent for years. In the pop star's 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana, Swifities noticed a bottle of Tom Ford's Santal Blush sitting in the background along with a bottle of L'Oreal Elnett Spray. The discovery backs up claims on Reddit and TikTok that Swift has shared several of her favorite fragrances with secret listening party attendees over the years. The rumored list includes Santal Blush as well as Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb and another iconic Tom Ford fragrance, Tobacco Vanille.
All three perfumes cohere with David Letterman's 2010 remark about Speak Now-era Swift smelling like “expensive wood.” Santal Blush is a spicy, sumptuous blend of ylang-ylang, cinnamon, cedar, and sandalwood. Tobacco Vanille is an elevated gourmand spiked with wood sap. Flowerbomb opens with tea and bergamot but dries down to a base of musk and patchouli.
Perhaps someday Swift will give us the perfume collection tour we've been requesting for more than a decade now, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Miss Americana rarely, if ever, name-checks beauty brands. That is, unless you're Mother Pat McGrath.
