Wednesday Waftings: Sampler Set Review – Skylar Perfume Discovery Set

Happy Wednesday and welcome to this week’s waftings! Today, I’d like to introduce you to Skylar and their light, airy, hypoallergenic scents. CEO and founder Cat Chen was previously with Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company before launching her own clean and conscious company, Skylar, in 2017. Ms. Chen was inspired to start the company after discovering her little daughter was having an allergic reaction to the perfume she had been wearing while holding her.

Skylar prides itself on using all clean ingredients in their fragrances, making this line a possible perfect match for those who’ve struggled with fragrance allergies in the past. They utilize both naturally-derived and synthetic notes (an extremely common practice in perfumery) but always make sure all elements are hypoallergenic. Their products never contain parabens, sls cleansers, phthalates, animal-derived ingredients, or synthetic dyes. You can read more about their mission to deliver clean products here.

The sampler set has changed a bit since I first wrote this post. The house has done some re-branding and changed out a few scents. They also are really pushing their Scent Club these days and, imo, are putting most of their best fragrances there. The new sampler set contains 5 fragrances, including Isle Escape, Salt Air, Capri Summer, Pink Canyon, and Vanilla Sky. If you’d like some extra guidance in choosing your scent (in addition to my notes and opinions below), Skylar offers an online quiz to help you determine which fragrance might be your best match.

Find it here:

Skylar Perfume Palette Discovery Set – the exact one reviewed here (can sometimes still find at Skylar’s Amazon store)

Newer Skylar Discovery Set – 2 options (at Skylar)

Newer Skylar Discovery Set (at Macy’s)

Isle Escape (previously known as Isle)

• Main Notes: bergamot, cardamom, sandalwood
• Top Notes: bergamot, orange mist, fresh quince
• Middle Notes: cardamom, peony caress, ginger root
• Base Notes: sandalwood, subtle musk, golden amber

This light, beachy scent perfectly captures the essence of saltwater and sea breezes. The opening has a very strong alcoholic scent but that does die down rapidly. I detect a light flower, almost like a water lily, early on in the scent. I would not consider this a floral, though, and it doesn’t read as a peony fragrance at all. It’s mostly a very salty scent and I’m really surprised sea salt isn’t listed as a note/accord.

The warm marine and salty ambience is what really stands out here and It’s quite masculine in feel to me, though I do certainly see this as a unisex scent. I picture a handsome guy in his Sperry Top-Siders wearing this fragrance on a sailboat. The projection is light and it fades to a skin scent quickly. This is another line that is light in general so you’ll find lots of great daytime and office-friendly options here but you should expect to reapply throughout the day if you want a lasting scent. Isle Escape is not really a ‘me’ scent; I can’t get over how it reminds me of a Glade bathroom air freshener we used to have at my family’s beach house when I was a child, lol But it’s a nice enough scent and definitely one that beachy-scent lovers will appreciate.

Find it here:

Isle Escape 10ml rollerball, 50ml (at Skylar)

Isle Escape 10ml rollerball (at Macy’s)

Isle Escape 50ml (at Macy’s)

Capri Summer (previously known as Capri)

• Main Notes: bergamot, neroli, blood orange
• Top Notes: grapefruit, blood orange, bergamot
• Middle Notes: neroli, muguet (lily of the valley), dewy rose
• Base Notes: teakwood, sheer vetiver, crystal musk

I immediately get a burst of the delicious sweet blood orange from this fresh citrus scent. If Starburst had a blood orange + grapefruit flavor, it would taste like this smells. It also smells faintly like peaches to me. As it dries down, the lily of the valley comes out more and joins the citrus party. The musk is not a strong player here. Overall I’m getting a nice, refreshing citrus here.

Another lighter scent that would be good for folks that do not care for strong perfumes. Not really getting much of any projection. It fades quickly but lasts as a faint skin scent for hours. A great choice for daytime events or office wear and highly recommended for the citrus lovers!

Find it here:

Capri Summer 10ml rollerball, 50ml, also available as an 8oz candle (at Skylar)

Capri Summer 10ml rollerball (at Macy’s)

Capri Summer 50ml (at Macy’s)

Willow Woods (previously known as Willow)

• Main Notes: pine, fir balsam, willow
• Top Notes: heliotrope, willow
• Middle Notes: pine, fir balsam
• Base Notes: incense, wood

Oh wow, this one immediately smells like musk and woods. VERY mossy. I definitely do not detect the heliotrope – or anything floral for that matter. It smells exactly like hiking through a forest. It’s SO earthy! I can even smell dirt, lol It’s literally like picking up a dirty, mossy rock while you’re hiking and smelling it. This actually slightly reminds me of the classic Fahrenheit by Dior, which some guys in my high school always wore too much of, lol It gets muskier and muskier as it sits on my skin longer. I’m not a musk lover so this is definitely not my type of scent.

This is 100% a masculine musky woodsy fragrance. And though it is not my personal cup of tea, I will say this does smell like a very expensive niche musky/woods fragrance. If that particular genre is your jam, I think this is an excellent choice. Projection is fair and longevity is very good, it lasts several hours.

Find it here:

Willow Woods 10ml rollerball, 50ml (at Skylar)

Willow Woods 50ml (at Macy’s)

Vanilla Sky

• Main Notes: cappuccino, pure vanilla, caramelized cedar
• Top Notes: bergamot zest, sweet orange, cappuccino
• Middle Notes: pure vanilla, jasmine grandiflorum, cinnamon bark
• Base Notes: caramelized cedar, sheer amber, sandalwood

This one is Skylar’s best seller and it’s no surprise; this is SO yummy-smelling! The initial scent is like inhaling a fresh vanilla cappuccino. It’s a very warm and cozy scent. It’s also incredibly light and airy and very easy to wear. For those who like vanilla but feel it can be too sugary-sweet at times, this would be a great one to try. This is definitely not a sugar bomb or sweet cake vanilla. It vaguely reminds me of Black Opium by YSL because of the coffee and vanilla notes but it’s sooooo much lighter.

You all know I love my vanillas but I honestly think this scent will appeal to a lot of people. At the very least, it’s so light, I certainly don’t think it would be offensive to anyone. Definitely office-appropriate but I must admit this scent makes me just want to curl up in a cozy blanket with a good book and sniff my wrist, lol My one quibble is, like the others, it is not very long-lasting and frankly, might be a little TOO light. Reminds me a lot of Pinrose’s Secret Genius in that way. I need to experiment more with layering this with a longer-lasting vanilla. That said, I still love this and feel very safe wearing this in close quarters with others, knowing I won’t be blasting anyone away with too much fragrance.

Find it here:

Vanilla Sky 10ml rollerball, 50ml, also available as a 2oz or 8oz candle (at Skylar)

Vanilla Sky 10ml rollerball (at Macy’s)

Vanilla Sky 50ml (at Macy’s)

Vanilla Sky 8oz candle (at Macy’s)

Vanilla Sky 8oz candle gift set with wick trimmer (at Macy’s)

Magic Bloom

• Main Notes: pear, yuzu, magnolia
• Top Notes: yuzu, pear, mandarin leaf
• Middle Notes: magnolia, apple blossom, honeysuckle
• Base Notes: sandalwood, white amber, clean musk

I’ll keep my notes on these next 3 short, as all I have for them is a peel-back card so I can’t really get the full experience of wearing them and testing things such as their longevity or projection. Nor will I really be able to really properly see how they develop on my skin. But as for my impressions of Magic Bloom, it smells like a very tart citrus candy to me. The yuzu, with its tart profile, is the stand-out note here.

(Ed. note: I cannot find this fragrance on Skylar’s official website anymore as of 10/2025; this may be a discontinued fragrance or perhaps is being reformulated – ? If it’s a love for you, you may want to snatch it up at Macy’s or Nordstrom while it’s still available!)

Find it here:

Magic Bloom 50ml (at Macy’s)

Magic Bloom 50ml (at Nordstrom)

Salt Air

• Main Notes: driftwood, sea salt, seaweed
• Top Notes: Italian bergamot, sea salt, seaweed
• Middle Notes: cotton blossom, water lily, cyclamen
• Base Notes: driftwood, vanilla, musk

Well, it smells like what it says it does! Fresh, salty air that brings to mind waking up at dawn and going for a walk on the beach. It’s in the same family as Isle but has more of a fresh linen lean to it with the cotton blossom note. This is also similar to Isle in that it has an air freshener/candle/dryer sheet vibe to me. Unisex, for sure.

Find it here:

Salt Air 10ml rollerball, 50ml, also available as an 8oz candle (at Skylar)

Salt Air 10ml rollerball (at Macy’s)

Salt Air 50ml (at Macy’s)

Sun Shower

• Main Notes: lemon leaves, jasmine tea, meadow greens
• Top Notes: Italian bergamot, lemon leaves, jasmine tea
• Middle Notes: ginger flower, meadow greens, lily
• Base Notes: cedarwood, cypress, guaiacwood

This smells exactly like a lemony green tea. Refreshing and just very slightly sweet. Has a bit of a lemongrass feel. Definitely unisex.

Find it here:

Sun Shower 10ml rollerball, 50ml (at Skylar)

Sun Shower 50ml (at Macy’s)

Honorable Mention – Arrow (no longer available on Skylar’s webpage)

• Main Notes: jasmine, rose, vanilla
• Top Notes: black currant, Anjou pear, Schinus molle (pink peppercorn)
• Middle Notes: neroli flower, warm labdanum, midnight jasmine
• Base Notes: patchouli haze, sweet tonka, vanilla bean

Opening is very aromatic/spicy/peppery/clean with a tiny touch of the pear. As it dries down, the vanilla emerges but it’s a light and airy vanilla that is not overly sweet. The black currant and pear are quite light but very nice. I really like this, it is a really well-balanced fragrance where all of the notes work together in harmony.

This scent is unisex but probably just fruity and sweet enough to lean feminine. I will say that this is possibly the lightest of this overall light collection and fades into a skin scent within the first 10 minutes. Out of all of the scents, this probably lasts the shortest. I would like to experiment with layering this one to try to prolong the longevity and give it a better projection because I really like it but I’m sad that it fades so quickly. By the one hour mark of wearing, I cannot smell it at all. This discontinued scent can sometimes still be found in Skylar’s Amazon store or you can try your luck with a reputable seller on a marketplace site, such as Mercari or eBay. Links below.

Find it here (maybe?):

Arrow 10ml rollerball (at Skylar’s Amazon store)

Arrow 50ml (at Skylar’s Amazon store)

Arrow (search on Mercari)

Arrow (search on eBay)

Honorable Mention: Coral (no longer available)

• Main Notes: black currant, patchouli, sandalwood
• Top Notes: radiant mandarin, pink grapefruit, apple blossom
• Middle Notes: tuberose, lily petals, golden mimosa
• Base Notes: blooming rose, patchouli, amber glow

Grapefruit lovers, this one is for you! This is strong grapefruit from the get-go. There’s a little bit of a funny spice here, too. Almost like… cumin (?!) or something? 😂 It’s definitely spicy on top of the grapefruit. It lists apple blossom as a note but it smells more like actual apples to me. I get the amber a little but not really sensing the patch. In general, I would classify this as a light, airy aromatic citrus with a small touch of floral.

This is very clean, very fresh, definitely unisex and feels very springtime to me. Projection is not strong. Like the others, fades to a skin scent pretty quickly. Folks who enjoy a citrus/floral combo should give this one a sniff. Like Arrow, this one is trickier to find these days but marketplace sites do seem to still have it for now.

Find it here (maybe?):

Coral (search on Mercari)

Coral (search on eBay)

Honorable Mention – Meadow (no longer available)

• Main Notes: baie rose, rose, tuberose
• Top Notes: bright lime, orange blossom, ethereal tuberose
• Middle Notes: white rose, delicate peony, gardenia
• Base Notes: geranium leaves, labdanum, patchouli leaf

This is your pretty, ladylike white floral of the collection. The initial scent reminds me of the original April Fresh Downy or some other kind of fabric softener, lol But as this dries down further, it’s not quite so strong with the Downy scent and becomes more of a standard white floral. Lightly powdery but not overwhelmingly so. If you like a clean, white floral, this will probably be a very good choice for you. Nothing indolic here.

I think this is the strongest scent of the Skylar bunch. It actually has some projection and whenever I move my arm around, I can smell it. Good longevity, lasts as a skin scent for hours. This could be a holy grail scent for the tuberose and gardenia lovers.

Find it here (maybe?):

Meadow (search on Mercari)

Meadow (search on eBay)

I enjoyed this refreshing, clean-scented sampler! Did anything catch your eye from this collection? Or perhaps you’ve already tried something from Skylar? I always love to see what you all think so please let me know in the comments. Happy sniffing! 🍊🌺🍋🌲🍎🌹🍐

P.S. Read my review of Coconut Cove in my coconut fragrances post here!

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