One thing about me: I always wanna smell delicious. Sure, spicy scents and rose perfumes are ~sexy~ and ~chic~. But everyone around me should wanna take a bite outta me, dammit. And no one understands this need quite like Sabrina Carpenter, as evidenced by her Fragrance By Sabrina collection that’s filled with sweet, yummy gourmand perfumes.
Lemme give some flowers to Sabby real quick: No one’s had a bigger year than Ms. Carpenter herself (starting with a Cosmo cover, nbd). From performing on Saturday Night Live herself to the Domingo sketch heard round the world to a massive Coachella crowd for the live debut of her #1 hit “Espresso” to a sold-out USA tour, our girl’s been busy as hell. And it all comes to a perfect culmination with A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter, which premiered on Netflix on December 6. And what better way to ring in the holiday season and a year filled with ’Brina’s double-shot energy than a new perfume?
Introducing: Fragrance By Sabrina’s newest creation, Me Espresso. It’s the perfect companion to your fragrance lineup if you like a lil sweet treat in the afternoon (sue me!) or if you just couldn’t get “I’m working late, cuz I’m a singerrrr” out of your head all year. So because exclusively testing perfumes before launch is kinda our thing, read our full review with all the details you need to know before buying below.
What does Sabrina Carpenter Me Espresso smell like?
Key notes: Espresso bean, cocoa powder, vanilla orchid, biscotti, jasmine, caramel drizzle, amber, whipped cream
What better way to celebrate “Espresso” ranking as the #1 song of 2024 on Spotify and Apple Music than with a new perfume, huh? Me Espresso is like a warm cappuccino—but, like, specifically a very Americanized one covered in whipped cream, caramel, and loaded with sugar. None of that too-cool-for-school European energy here. On first spritz, you get hella coffee and chocolate notes—like a fresh mocha latte—but as it dries, the jasmine and vanilla orchids really blossom (hehe). It goes into a creamy, warm, fresh scent with a bit more grown-up vibes.
My Review
Because I love feeling exclusive and ~special~, I wore this for a few days on my own before anyone knew what I had on. (Humblebrag, but I was one of the first people to get my hands on this bottle.) Immediately upon spritzing, associate editor Annabel Iwegbue skipped over my desk to ask what I just sprayed because it smelled so good. Later in the day, another staffer asked if something was baking (!?!?!), because it smelled like vanilla gingerbread.
My biggest takeaway is how much this perfume changes as you wear it. When I first spritz, it’s heavy coffee and even maybe a little too sweet for my liking. But wowowow, as it dries down, the scent develops and calms down a lot. Instead of that intense sugar rush, it turns into a fluffy, whipped vanilla with an underlying clean touch from the jasmine.
It also lasts a shocking amount of time on my skin. That’s been my only gripe with the other scents from Fragrance By Sabrina (because I’m genuinely obsessed with every single scent). They generally don’t last a very long time unless I mix them with other perfumes. But Me Espresso legit lasted from the time I spritzed it on first thing when I came to the office to the end of the day. By the afternoon, it didn’t have nearly as strong of a sillage, but the softness actually felt more appropriate given the way the scent changes.
Cosmo HQ Reviews
Obviously, though, I eventually pranced around the office getting my Cosmo coworkers’ thoughts on Me Espresso. Assistant beauty editor Jasmine Hyman fell in love with it too—noting it smells like a cinnamon coffee cake to her. “This would be so great for the holidays, since it’s both spicy and sweet and warm,” she says.
Sex and relationships editor Veronica Lopez echoed my sentiments on how much the perfume changes as you wear it. “At first, it’s very sweet—like giving cotton candy–level sweetness—but on my skin, it’s lighter and grounded and more my vibe,” she explains. “It’s not the scent I’d wear around the office or delivering a Very Important presentation, but it’s what I’d wear on a date night or cozy night in,” she added. Assistant news editor Sam Olson agrees. “As it dries down, it loses a lot of the coffee scent, but I actually love that,” Olson says. “It’s more muted but creamy and yummy still.”
Iwegbue immediately sprayed a lil on her wrists after I finally clued her into the launch. “It smells like my favorite Starbucks cappuccino at 12 years old,” she gushed. She wore it all day long and even asked for a top-off before leaving for the day so she could smell it on her commute. Huge praise.
Lots more gourmand goodness from Fragrance by Sabrina btw...
Fragrance By Sabrinaa Sweet Tooth Caramel Dream Eau de Parfum
Final verdict
Not even remotely shocked that Fragrance By Sabrina’s whole vibe is sweet (ahem, do I even need to say it?). But this one breaks the mold of her other scents and feels way more complex, per all of our team’s testing. If you like coffee scents, you will 1,000 percent be a fan of this. But even if you don’t usually go for something so foodie-centric, you might fall in love with how soft and fresh this one goes after it dries. And compared to the bajillion other perfumes on my desk, it’s a much more digestible price point. Another win for Carpenters everywhere.
Why trust Cosmopolitan?
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan with six years of experience researching, writing, and editing fragrance stories, like the best winter perfumes and expensive perfumes. To write this story, she tested Me Espresso by Fragrance By Sabrina for a few days herself plus forced her coworkers to wear it and give reviews. They are soooo welcome.
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
