English Major.

English Major came from a simple obsession: what does it actually smell like to love old books? Not the idea of them, not a candle pitched at bibliophiles, the real olfactory reality of afternoons spent in university stacks, the specific warmth of paper that's been handled too many times. Caitlin Hayes built this around marshmallow and orris, two notes that rarely share space, then anchored the whole thing in the unmistakable scent of aged paper. The name came last, which is the right way to do it.

Orris root is expensive, time-consuming, and genuinely polarizing, it can read as buttery, dusty, or like the inside of an antique shop. Most brands sidestep it. English Major leans in. Combined with the caramelized sweetness of brown sugar and the gentle creaminess of marshmallow, the orris doesn't become soft. It becomes specific. That's the distinction: this isn't a sweet fragrance that happens to have book notes. It's a literary fragrance that happens to be sweet. The difference matters on skin.

The opening arrives like a library door swinging shut, paper, dust, a faint mineral edge from the carrot seed absolute. Within minutes the marshmallow softens everything. The old books note expands, warm and slightly sweet, like pages left in sunlight. The orris arrives around the thirty-minute mark, powdery and grounding, taking over from the initial paper burst. By hour two you're in the drydown: sandalwood, peru balsam, a ghost of coconut that never quite announces itself. On skin, expect five to seven hours. On fabric, it lives until the next wash, that particular magic of scent trapped in old cotton.

English Major has found its audience in the indie fragrance community through pure word-of-mouth, no campaign, no celebrity, just the right name hitting the right nerve. It's the kind of fragrance that gets recommended in threads about 'book smells' not because it's safe, but because it's specific. The orris-marshmallow pairing has become something of a signature for the brand, referenced whenever Hayes discusses her approach to sweet-and-earthy compositions.