On 21 June 1879, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, F. W. Woolworth opened his second store. His first, in Utica, New York, had failed. The Lancaster one worked, and it led to the five-and-ten-cent model, the shops the rest of America would call the five-and-dime. The idea was simple and a little radical: walk in, find something you want, and do not think twice about what it asks of you.

 

DIME Beauty borrows that spirit with a wink. Ryan Relf told one interviewer that the name stands for Developed with Intention by a Master Esthetician, and the master esthetician is his wife, Baylee Relf. The brand says they started in 2018, gained traction in 2020, and set out to fill a gap in healthier ingredients, which comes from Ryan's background in contract manufacturing. DIME perfume is the newest chapter. The brand says its mission is full body skincare and fragrances for real life, and the brand also says its products are vegan, EWG Verified and free of parabens, sulfates and phthalates. I take those as brand claims, not as a promise about how anything smells.

 

The trick is to choose by mood, because the names are full sentences. The first grid is the whole line. 7 Summers is the warm, creamy one, with vanilla orchid, whipped cream, coconut and blonde woods in the brand's copy. I Love Your Smell, Baby lists lemonade, pomegranate and warm vanilla, per InStyle, so it is the friendliest of the set. Dans Les Bois goes red saffron, jasmine and cedarwood, which is the grown-up pick. Lovely Sweet Dreams has freesia, white moss and vanilla cream, and I would keep it by the bed. Stay Awhile has pistachio, white chocolate and cashmere musk. Malibu Night, Core Memory and No. 1 Cologne complete the eight.

Put scent on in layers, from the ground up. Oil or butter on damp skin after the shower, perfume on top once the skin has absorbed it, and the scent will hang around much longer than a spray on bare skin.

 

DIME has built the whole ladder for that. The Glaze Hydrating Body Oil comes plain and in a 7 Summers version, so you can match it to the perfume in the first grid. The Biome Body Butter is the thicker option for legs and elbows, and the Boosting Body Serum with ceramides and niacinamide is the light one for after a shower when you do not want to feel slick. The Whipped Body Exfoliator is the step before all of them, because scent sits better on smooth skin.

 

On the fragrance side, Tuesday Date Night is the evening perfume, Running Late is the one you grab on the way out, and the Felt Cute Perfume Roller is the pocket version. A roller is a quiet way to try a scent, and it is the one I would put in a gym bag.

 

A pairing I like: the 7 Summers oil on the body and the matching eau de parfum behind the knees and on the collarbones. It feels deliberate without being loud.

 

What I would skip: a rich body butter and a heavy perfume on a hot afternoon. One or the other will do.

Swatch a gourmand on your wrist and then leave the room. Sweet perfumes smell loudest at the beginning, and the real scent arrives after ten minutes, when the sugar settles into skin.

 

If the DIME line made you a gourmand person, this is the next shelf. KAYALI's Yum Pistachio Gelato is the nearest to Stay Awhile, given the pistachio. Ellis Brooklyn's Vanilla Rice is the most unexpected name, and Glossier's You Doux is the soft, quiet one. Ariana Grande's Cloud is the dreamy, airy pick, and Maison Margiela's Replica Coffee Break is the one for anyone who would rather smell like a cafe than a dessert.

 

Lattafa's Yara is the one with the most devoted following I hear about, so it is worth a sniff for comparison. Commodity's Milk has marshmallow and mahogany wood in the name, which is a more serious take on sweet, and Juliette Has a Gun's Vanilla Vibes is the vanilla of the group, done simply. Rare Beauty's Rare with vanilla and caramel and Summer Fridays' Sunlit Vanilla are the soft, creamy ones, KAYALI's Boujee Kitty Caramel Milk 22 goes sweeter, and DedCool's Mocha Magic brings in coffee and tonka bean.

 

It is worth comparing these with I Love Your Smell, Baby and 7 Summers. Gourmand is a wide family, and the DIME scents sit in the lighter, creamier part of it.

 

What I would skip: wearing a gourmand as your only scent on a long flight or in a crowded office. Sweet travels further than you think.

A hair mist is the quickest win in this whole edit. Mist it from arm's length onto the ends of dry hair, never onto the scalp, and your hair carries the scent all day when you move.

 

Sol de Janeiro's Cheirosa 40 is the classic, and Cheirosa 91 Intense is a floral gourmand, as the name says. PHLUR's Paradise Nectar and Moonstone are the two I would compare side by side. Touchland's Rich Pistachio is the one that fits neatly beside KAYALI's pistachio gelato, and Emi Jay's Aura in Toasted Sugar is a hair mist with a dessert name. By Rosie Jane's Beach Baby has coconut, which is what you want for summer, and IGK's Velvet Muse rounds out the shelf. Summer Fridays' Pistachio Milk and Vanilla, PHLUR's Caramel Skin and Sol de Janeiro's Cheirosa 71 give you more flavors to match to whichever DIME scent you wear. If you would rather stay in the family, the DIME travel sprays and rollers at the end of the grid let you carry your scent in a bag.

 

A mist is a light layer, so it will not compete with a DIME eau de parfum. Use one sweet scent as the lead, and let the other be the background. If you are not sure, pick the mist from the same flavor family as your perfume, pistachio with pistachio or coconut with coconut, and the two will read as one scent instead of two.

 

What I would skip: two dessert scents at full volume. Give one of them the night off.

Honestly, I would begin with 7 Summers if you like warm and creamy, or Dans Les Bois if you do not like sweet at all, and then decide what to layer on top. The oil is the easiest add-on, and a hair mist is the second easiest. Wear it for a full week before you buy a second bottle, because a scent you reach for on a Tuesday morning tells you more than a scent you loved for ten minutes at a counter.

 

Woolworth built an empire on the idea that small, good things add up. A DIME perfume is a small, good thing too. You do not have to overthink it. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together What Do These Fragrances Smell Like and A Yummy Lip Gloss Should Smell Like a Memory.