KAYALI
Yum Boujee Marshmallow | 81

2024

PERFUMER
Gabriela Chelariu

freesia
strawberry
pink marshmallow
coconut
whipped vanilla
pink musk

Fair warning to those inside the Kayali cult: I’m generally not a big fan of Kayali, although I think it’s a misconception that I dislike the fragrances (with Vanilla 28, Maldives In A Bottle & probably Velvet Santal as my favorites); it’s the cult-like following that has taken away any reasonable sense of objectivity surrounding these over-hyped releases that I’m not a fan of. Therefore I think it’s all the more important that other opinions are vocal about them as well and I take my reviewing as serious and extensive as I always try to do for those more popular releases.

Given that Yum Boujee Marshmallow seemed to be a flanker of sorts to Yum Pistachio Gelato, which I think is arguably among the worst offerings from the house, my expectations were low. I guess that it was good that I set my expectations low, because this would not have exceeded any expectations for me. It’s not a bad scent and I much prefer it over Yum Pistachio, to get that out of the way. However, it has a similar room spray feeling. The smell is pleasant, albeit very sweet and singular. Depending on your taste, I can definitely see why people are loving the scent; it just feels as simplistic and basic as one can find in a niche-priced perfume in my opinion.

Yum Boujee Marshmallow smells like 90% sugary, airy caramel sweetness to my nose and not much else. I was kind of surprised how generic it ended up being. Not as creamy as I perhaps hoped, although the texture isn’t bad either ; it’s not screechy or sharp. Still a bit airy, musky, but an upgrade over the Yum Pistachio. It’s more comparable for me to the sweet base in the Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar. Meaning that it’s a slightly traditionally feminine leaning, but mostly teenager – youthful vibe. From memory, I would say Vanilla Rock Sugar is a slightly better fragrance for me, but they’re in the same ballpark.

There is only a hint of strawberry to my nose. It smells like almost any strawberry flavored or scented product: nothing like actual strawberry. It’s sweet, not sour at all and much more understated in its fruitiness than I expected it would be, although it lingers on for quite a while. Closer to the imagery of a strawberry milkshake that was used in the marketing, so in that sense, it makes sense. This is not to Kayali’s detriment; almost all strawberry flavoring has this scent, so if you like it generally, I’m sure you will like it here too. Personally, I would’ve preferred some acidity or anything to break this barrier of non-stop sweetness. There is the hint of coconut as well, that may be as prominent to my nose.

And I do think that those little hints are the saving grace, keeping Yum Boujee Marshmallow from feeling like it’s pure ethyl maltol or some similar caramel-ish ingredient, but it’s not really doing much / enough to stand out.

From the fragrances that I’ve reviewed in 2024, Fomowa Red Keela Split is closest to Yum Boujee Marshmallow and minus the strawberry tinge, also Theodoros Kalotinis Cotton Candy. The Fomowa has my preference, but I think neither of them are particularly interesting at their respective price points (the Kalotinis being the least expensive by a margin, but also the cheapest smelling). I’m not hip to the gourmand body mists, but as many other reviews have pointed out already, I assume you can find close to identical scents in much cheaper body sprays / mists without too much effort, so that may be a way to go if you don’t need the Kayali bottle per se. Otherwise, it’s another, seemingly redundant sweet Kayali that fails to join the ranks of their best releases.