An Honest Review Of Charli D'Amelio's Born Dreamer Fragrance

She only just turned 18, but Charli D'Amelio is already a mogul. The fashion brand she launched with her sister, Dixie, Social Tourist, is in a perpetual state of selling out, she’s about to star in her first movie, and she’s been one of the highest-paid content creators on TikTok for years. Now, D’Amelio is adding beauty brand founder to her exceptionally impressive resume with the launch of her first fragrance, Born Dreamer.

Celebrity fragrances aren’t a new concept and, in fact, they can be disappointing. It’s easy to slap a famous name on an otherwise unremarkable scent and have it suddenly sell. Rest assured, that’s not the deal with Born Dreamer. “I’ve been working with Forma for a couple of years now on developing Born Dreamer and creating the perfect, signature scent that truly felt like me,” D’Amelio tells Elite Daily over email. The teenage superstar has been all in from the jump, even flying to France to experience the jasmine featured in the perfume firsthand. It was a long process, but one D’Amelio was committed to working through until “we achieved a scent that I felt really represented not only me, but my friends and people that follow me as well.”

Launched on June 26, Born Dreamer evokes the sweetness and sharpness of being a teen. While no amount of money could ever make me go back to my own adolescence, I don’t mind stopping by for a visit courtesy of a sparkling, fresh scent that’s full of unexpected surprises.

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Fast Facts:

• Price: The first bottle will cost $48. After that, refills are priced at $35 each.
• Clean/Cruelty-Free? Born Dreamer is both clean and vegan.
• Best for: This is definitely a scent for someone who loves floral notes.
• What I like: I love the thoughtfulness of this fragrance. It’s clean, vegan, features sustainably-sourced jasmine, and the packaging contributes to sustainability efforts as well. The scent lasts all day and blended beautifully with my body chemistry.
• What I don't like: This isn’t an everyday scent for someone like me who needs a little bite or musk in their fragrances, but if you’re a floral perfume fan, you’re going to fall entirely in love.
• My rating: 4.5 out of 5

My Body Chemistry:

I mainly gravitate towards spicy, smoky scents simply because crisp florals don’t really blend well with my body chemistry. That’s not to say I never wore Marc Jacobs’ Daisy, but floral perfumes that are on the more sparkling side tend to drift right off me, so I have to constantly reapply if I want to smell like I’m wearing perfume. As a lover of most floral notes, this is perpetually disappointing, but just something I thought I’d have to live with.

The Scent:

Born Dreamer’s top notes are Anjou pear and orange zest essential oils. Its middle notes are jasmine and pink sugar, and the base notes are cashmere woods, skin musks, ambroxan, and cedarwood. To put it in simpler terms, the top notes are bright, what perfume folks call “sparkling,” while the middle of the scent is floral, warm, and very sweet. The base is surprising because, while it carries through the warmth of the jasmine with the cashmere woods, it builds a final scent that’s velvety and unexpected, due in large part to the cedarwood and ambroxan.

The Packaging:

You can tell this fragrance was launched by a member of Gen Z because it’s doing the most to support the environment. In D’Amelio’s own words, “One of the most important things to me when creating this fragrance, besides the smell, of course, was making sure we were putting sustainability at the forefront.” As such, the (very adorable) perfume bottle is fully recyclable and refillable.

Sustainability in the beauty industry is a tricky concept — the most sustainable thing for brands to do, after all, would be to stop making so many products — and it’s entirely unregulated, so brands can say something is sustainable without backing up that claim. The fact that Born Dreamer’s packaging is fully recyclable is actionable, no buzzy words required. The refill system involves emptying a second fully recyclable container into the original glass bottle. As far as packaging goes, this is a great concept and nice to see in the fragrance space.

First Impression:

When I first applied Born Dreamer to my wrists, I did think it was way too sweet. However, my initial thoughts shifted immediately as the scent dried down. After a couple of minutes, I was able to catch the brightness of the Anjour pear, which brought a level of green freshness to the scent. After 15 minutes, the original sweet smell had completely changed to something very familiar to me — amber, one of my favorite notes (I know, I’m so predictable). The final overall scent, and the one that lingered throughout the day, was warm and almost woodsy, with the added complexity of the jasmine replacing the initial almost saccharine sweetness.

That evolving scent profile was intentional, and something D’Amelio explained to me when I asked her to describe her favorite thing about Born Dreamer. “One of the things I learned during the process of creating this scent is that everyone’s body chemistry is unique, so the fragrance affects everyone differently,” she shared. “It’s been so exciting getting positive feedback from all my friends who have tried it and hearing how it smells on them.”

It was a nice surprise to find that a perfume I originally didn’t think would work with my body chemistry did, in fact, adapt and wind up smelling like the perfumes I usually wear with a little bit of extra brightness.

Ingredients:

The Born Dreamer formulation is vegan, dye-free, and made with natural sugar cane alcohol and sustainably harvested jasmine. “Protecting our planet is something that I know is important to our generation,” D’Amelio says, “so I feel very proud that we didn’t make any sacrifices in that area when developing this product.”

Similar Products:

While there are some perfumes out there that have similar notes to Born Dreamer, you’re not going to encounter anything as affordable, intricate, or focused so heavily on sustainability. That said, there are a few perfumes you might want to try in case Born Dreamer runs out and you’re stuck waiting for a restock.

Marc Jacob’s iconic Daisy heavily features jasmine and has a velvety finish similar to Born Dreamer. In place of cedarwood, Daisy gets a boost of sensuality from sandalwood, but still maintains an overall bright and youthful finish. Flowerbomb by Viktor&Rolf also plays with brightness and warmth. Instead of orange zest, the top note features bergamot. It also includes jasmine as a middle note, and features musk and vanilla for a warm base.

Worth It?

I’m not only shocked by how affordable and long-lasting this perfume is, but I’m also impressed by the sustainability efforts that D’Amelio brought to the forefront of this brand. If you’re a fan of floral scents and like sweet, bright perfumes, please do yourself a favor and try Born Dreamer for a fraction of the cost of similar perfumes.

Final Verdict:

While I wouldn’t wear Born Dreamer every day (I prefer to smell like expensive wood and strange mosses, and for this I will not apologize), it’s a delightful fragrance. I can’t wait to run out and buy whatever fragrance D’Amelio launches next.

About Me:

I’m Elite Daily’s beauty editor and I’ve been testing and reviewing beauty products for the past seven years. I’ve written extensively about fragrance for Glamour Magazine, in print and online, and I don’t leave the house with a bottle of perfume — not a rollerball, an entire bottle of perfume — in my bag.