The 2025 City Exclusive Event: Survival Kit
By Kayla Baken
City Exclusives are sensory portals to the world from our own backyard. But it can feel thrilling and overwhelming when they all come for a visit—here’s our handy pro-tip pocket guide to navigating the 2025 event.
Pro tip 1:
Pregame Your Nose
You’re about to take off on a multi-city excursion, so you’d better keep those two runways clear.
Consider a scent-fast: Don’t smell any other cities for at least 24 hours before you get there.
Pro tip 2:
Choose Your Co-Pilot Wisely
Bring a friend, a lover, a parent, a nemesis—anyone who can smell and react. Preferably someone who will pay. They don’t have to be great company, the fragrances will do the heavy lifting.
Pro tip 3:
Ride the Emotional Rollercoaster
Be prepared. You will fall head over heels for one scent and imagine yourself growing old in it forever. You will also have reckless wrist and sleeve affairs with four others in the same afternoon.
Pro tip 4:
Personalize with Abandon
Once a year, City Exclusives come to you—and for 23 characters or less, you get to name one. A love letter to yourself—a dedication to the real place or your imaginary version. Because once it’s got your name on it, it’s not just exclusive—it’s yours.
Pro tip 5:
Do Not Panic at the Dry Down
Just because it opens like fresh melon and closes like a corduroy library chair doesn’t mean you’re hallucinating. You’re experiencing complexity. Sit with it. Then, when the noise dries down, take another sniff of your collar.
Pro tip 6:
Say Goodbye Like You Mean It
By October 1, they’re gone—quietly, without fanfare, home safe and sound. You’ll miss one. Maybe two. Probably five. But take a moment. Revisit your sleeves. Re-smell your tote. And to those who already have a bottle: yes, you can refill it anytime, year-round. Just don’t gloat to the rest of us.
