Body Mists Are Back. And Actually Good This Time.
I’m old enough to remember when Bath & Body Works first opened in my local mall in 1990. I was 10, just starting to get interested in beauty, and its body mists (then called Body Splashes) quickly became tween and teen status symbols. I can still remember the scent of Cucumber Melon and Sun-Ripened Raspberry. By college, my roommates and I had graduated to Victoria’s Secret, spritzing on Love Spell or Pear Glacé before heading out for the night.
Eventually, body mists disappeared from my routine. As I got more into fragrances, I gravitated toward niche perfumes with more concentrated formulas and stopped wearing mists altogether.
Then, while reporting my drugstore-fragrance story last month, I found myself sniffing my way through the fragrance aisle at Target and realized something had changed. The new generation of body mists feel far more sophisticated than the one- or two-note formulas I remember. Around the same time, I noticed prestige brands like Byredo, Phlur, and Valentino launching body and hair mists of their own.
As I tested them, I found that while they’re still lighter than an eau de toilette or parfum, many lingered on my skin longer than the first-generation body mists I grew up with. They’re also ideal for summer. When it’s hot and humid, I don’t always want to wear heavy perfume. A lighter veil of fragrance feels just right.
