Rihanna's Perfume Has Been Unearthed by the Internet

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published 24 July 2019

Rihanna—queen of music, queen of business, queen of leaving restaurants with wine glasses—cannot be emulated. But it's never been easier to attempt it, thanks to Fenty Beauty, Savage X Fenty, and most recently, the luxury fashion house Fenty. Still, there's one secret even the most dedicated members of the Navy have struggled to crack—why does Rihanna smell so unbelievably good?

A long, long list of celebrities have commented on Riri's irresistible scent, as Harper's Bazaar reports, from Cardi B to Jennifer Lawrence to Nick Jonas to Lil Nas X. (See this comprehensive thread from @thickannawhore for the full details.) As someone whose very own best friend told her that her cherished Diptyque perfume smelled like "sunscreen in a bad way," I can confirm that this unanimous opinion means Rihanna. Smells. Good.

Naturally, the internet wanted a bit of that scent for themselves. Including me—please refer to the aforementioned Diptyque perfume incident. And the internet can solve any mystery, unearthing this 2016 article from Stylecaster citing a video from Rihanna's friend @stylishgent. In the video, much to Rihanna's chagrin, her friend (whose Instagram account is anonymous) reveals which perfume she's wearing: Love, Don't Be Shy by Kilian.

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"But that was three years ago! Her perfume could have changed by now!" I hear you ask, rudely, as if I hadn't gone to all this effort writing you an article. That, friends, is where YouTube's finest Jackie Aina comes in. Several days ago, Jackie tweeted a screenshot of her DM history with Rihanna; back in April, after the two beauty icons met, Jackie asked Rihanna which fragrance she was wearing (alas, to no reply.)

Jackie, as her followers know, is never one to disappoint her fans. When word got out that Rihanna wore Love, Don't Be Shy, Jackie bought a bottle to test it out, taking to her Instagram story to confirm it smelled an awful lot like Riri. So there you have it: Rihanna's perfume is Kilian's Love, Don't Be Shy. You may never be Rihanna, but at least you can smell just like her.

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