The newer bottles trade cloud for something a little more grown up, and that is where my nose has been lately. Vanilla is the thread through all four, but each one bends it in a different direction.

MOD Vanilla Eau de Parfum is the cleanest, a soft vanilla with a light, creamy feel that is easy to wear to work. MOD Blush is its rosier sister and pairs well with a plain white shirt. LOVENOTES Plush Vanilla Eau de Parfum is thicker and cuddlier, a scent that seems to belong to a cashmere sweater. LOVENOTES Pink Woods is the outlier, sweet but with a drier, woody bottom that gives it a more grown-up shape.

Between the two ranges, I reach for MOD when it is light out and LOVENOTES when it gets cold. Sweet scents tend to feel heavier in a warm room, so a small spray in a heated office often goes further than you would think. Adjust the dose to the room, not the bottle.

If you are not sure which to buy, ask which of the words in the name feels most like you: clean, blush, plush or woods. It is a silly test, and it works better than reading notes. Then spray it and let it sit for an hour before you decide.

A body mist is the easiest way to extend a perfume, and the sweet ones do it best. I spray a mist all over after a shower, then add one spray of perfume on the pulse points, and the whole thing lasts longer than either would alone.

Sol de Janeiro's Cheirosa 40 Hair and Body Perfume Mist is the sweet one, and it is easy to wear all over. OUAI's St. Barts Hair and Body Mist with Dragon Fruit and Orange Blossom is fresh and fruity, and it makes the case for pairing a sweet perfume with something bright. amika's amika:aura with Vanilla and Pink Grapefruit does the same thing, with a citrus tang that cuts the sugar. PHLUR's Vanilla Skin is the softest, closest to an actual skin scent. Summer Fridays' Vanilla mist, with vanilla cake and amber, and LoveShackFancy's Vanilla Twirl are the two I reach for when I want the mist to match a vanilla bottle like MOD Vanilla instead of contrasting with it.

Rare Beauty's Find Comfort Awaken Confidence Body and Hair Fragrance Mist with Niacinamide is the comforting one to keep in a bag. Moroccanoil's Fragrance Originale with Spicy Amber and Sweet Florals is the deepest of the group and the best partner to a vanilla-heavy bottle, since amber and vanilla get along.

What I would skip: spraying hair mists on a brush and dragging it through dry, brittle ends, and layering two different vanillas that fight each other. Mist hair from a distance and let it dry, and keep the scent families matched. Sweet plus fresh works. Sweet plus sweet plus sweet turns to fog.

Sugar-heavy perfume is a matter of dosing, and a sillage that fills an elevator is rarely the goal. One spray of a bottle like Cloud on skin is plenty in a small room. Two is a lot, three is an announcement. A friend who hugs you should smell it, and the person across the table should not.

Keep the mists for daytime and the perfumes for the evening, or use them together on days you want a longer trail. Store bottles away from windows and heat, and expect the top notes to fade first while the vanilla stays. If you keep coming back to the same smell on your sleeve at the end of the day, that is your bottle. Buy that one, and leave the rest for someone else to fall for. It also helps to test a bottle across a whole week, since a scent that pleases on Monday can feel cloying by Thursday, and you want to know which way it goes before it lives on your dresser.

If Cloud is the bottle you keep returning to, I wrote a whole piece on Ariana Grande Cloud perfume and other creamy vanilla scents.