Lily Allen photo credit: Charlie Denis
Lily Allen’s new album, West End Girl, has been a gift to us on many levels. Firstly it’s a gift to pop music—personally I’m a sucker for a sweetly-sung catchy chorus, telling somewhat-true stories of thoroughly modern betrayal. Made as her marriage (to Stranger Things actor David Harbour) was breaking down, this is heartfelt pop music showing its brutal, vulnerable and messy side – no holds barred, no punches pulled, no f’s given.
Secondly, it’s been a true gift to online discourse—an unevenly open celebrity marriage, boundaries that didn’t stay put, allegations of cheating, plus that Architectural Digest video tour. The conversation around open marriages and millennial maximalist decor shows no signs of slowing down.
But that’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to ask the big, important questions, the fragrance-blog questions, the questions like what does West End Girl smell like? And as with all of life’s big questions, there’s no one single right answer. But let’s start at the beginning.
What We Know
We know Lily Allen carries Glossier You in her make-up bag, we know Lark and Berry have listed her on their website as someone who wears their perfume, and we know in this 2018 video interview she raved about Nasomotto Narcotic V (our girl’s got taste!) and Clarins Dynamiste.
What We’re Speculating
The Vape
The matcha vape never leaves her hand. The scent to match this matcha-addicted popstar? Princess By Kilian. Matcha with marshmallow, for a sweet hit of not-quite-real but incredibly moreish creamy sweet matcha.
Grown-Up Cool Girl
For those of us who grew up at the same time as Lily, she’s a true London cool-girl, and these fragrances fit that bill perfectly: Byredo Bal D’Afrique (clean, poetic, fresh, and perfect for everyday) and Cult Gaia’s Zan (pink peppercorn meets white incense, this one is made for the fashion girls).
The Maximalist Decor
In interiors, more is more for the West End Girl, so in reflection of that let’s go large with Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb, an all-in explosion of jasmine and rosebuds.
The Skin Scents
She likes a skin scent (we’ve got the receipts). Let’s lean into this fondness for Glossier You, and layer it with Dedcool Xtra Milk.
The Wildcard
I read a review of The Ghost in the Shell by Etat Libre D’Orange that honestly stopped me in my tracks. It’s described as powdery, sweet and soft but with an animalic note. The animal? A human who smells a little dangerous. Just like the album, its soft, sweet and melodic side meets that raw human underbelly.
This story captures so much about modern relationships, modern women, and modern fragrance fans—from maximalist aesthetic abandon, to comforting skin scents, to the moreish sweetness of an illicit matcha vape hit. This marriage breakdown might be Lily’s story, but forty-ish and looking for joy alongside the ‘it’s complicated’ side of life? That speaks to a lot of us. Pass the Byredo and the vape, please.
