BORNTOSTANDOUT: First Impressions

BORNTOSTANDOUT is a niche perfume brand from South Korea made by Jun Lim, and recently went global in 2025 - I was able to get a sneak peek at a brand launch from a friend but finally, the brand has landed at MECCA and I was able to test a little bit of everything! I was super excited to see them since my friend highly recommended Dirty Rice to me (they know me well!) and so here are my impressions of some of the more interesting (aka gourmand) blends I immediately went to huff. 

Dirty Rice - Bergamot, Almond, Basmati Rice, Peony, Milk, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Cedarwood, Musk, Cetalox

The one I was looking forward to - and it did not disappoint! Admittedly, this is definitely more of a sandalwood scent, but I like sandalwood. I think this is an interesting blend between Taipei (One Day) and Afternoon Delight (Maison Margiela), where it draws out the more obvious rice/nutty elements from Taipei with its almost taro like starchiness as well, but its well balanced with the more grounded woody quality of the sandalwood and a touch of cedarwood (as reflected in Afternoon Delight's mildly sweet sandalwood affair). The milk here isn't obviously lactonic either, just adding a touch of creaminess to the overall blend. My only gripe is that this scent doesn't last on me at all, it lasted around 3-4 hours on my skin before fading quite signifcantly. I do love how this scent feels like a ricey, my skin but better, and I vastly prefer this rendition on my skin compared to the almost savoury take from Taipei, and the pure sandalwood in Afternoon Delight, and compared to White Rice (D'annam) and L'Eau Papier (Diptyque), this is a far warmer and skin friendly affair than the more high strung florals featured in both of those. For me, I think this scent is a tentative full size worthy for me, it's not something I'd wear often, and I think I'd like to layer this with Soft (Poesie), but I'd like to try it a few more times before I commit - but that said, it's a rare time any mainstream/niche blend pulls my attention to even consider full sizing, so for that, this is well worth a try. Also, the shop I tried it at was completely sold out - I'd say this is a popular scent and rice notes are only getting more and more popular in my opinion! 

Drunk Maple -  Pink Pepper (Jungle Essence), Davana Essential Oil, Rum (Pure Jungle Essence), Coffee Resinoid, Maple Syrup, Soft Suede, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Benzoin Resinoid, Orcanox (Ambroxan)

mmmm maple syrup. I like how distinctly maple this is, but this was another one of the more foodie adjacent scents for me - not to say the maple doesn't open distinctly like a decadent heaping of maple syrup, but it's true to the name, this is a dirty, kinda roughed up woody, almost sour and sweaty gourmand (but not as sour as Cookie Party (Sorce) unfortunately was). I think this one might be a little YMMV depending on skin chemistry, but on my little tester strip, this one dries down to an aggressive punch of fragrant pink pepper, a splash of dark rum, dark leathery coffee and wood, with just the barest hint of maple sugar. I like the opening, but this one isn't for the faint of heart, you can tell on opening that this is going to be a loud and demanding blend. It reminds me a little of Follow (Kerosene) from the coffee/maple blend, but also has a touch of Followed (Kerosene) with its strength, although it's a little less musky. For me, the more leather/coffee/benzoin/peppery elements far outbalance the sweetness, and while I think this was interesting, I think this is one I'd like better on other people than myself. That said, this is an interesting one, and probably one I'd actually recommend checking out. 

Sugar Addict - Sugar, Cocoa Absolute, Tonka Beans, Vanilla Absolute, Cinnamon Essence, Rum Extract, Labdanum Absolute, Coffee Extract, Cashmere Wood.

This was a little bit of a 50/50 for me, I think the opening of this scent feels relatively familiar to other Kayali like gourmands, although the dry down is distinctly darker and much more abstract in its execution. For me, the opening was a very sweet, almost Kayali Yum Bougee Marshmallow type sweetness, before quickly drying down to a very dark, woody blend of ground coffee, mahogany and cashmere wood, with a heady dose of labdanum. While this one isn't bad, this isn't quite one for me, I can see myself enjoying it on someone else but it's not quite one I'd reach for again. 

Nanatopia - Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Rum (Pure Jungle Essence), Banana Bread, Melted Caramel, Tonka Bean Absolute, Cypriol Essential Oil, Orcanox.

Considering the amount of banana scents out there in the mainstream world (almost zero), this was a lovely pleasant surprise to come to - I've often loudly proclaimed my love for the sliced banana note from Blackburn's Parlor (Solstice Scents) as a photorealistic banana on an ice cream sundae, but since the unfortunate cessation of all international shipping from NA based indies, I never got the chance to upsize the scent. While this isn't anywhere close to the foodie gourmand that Blackburn's is, the banana note here is absolutely bright and creamy, and definitely a recognizable sweetness in that top note. The opening is enthusiastically propped up by a delicious swizzle of musky caramel and spiced rum, with a touch of clary sage like greeness from the orcanox. On dry down, this scent is a sweet spiced treat from the nutmeg and vanilla, but also equally balanced with the darker, woodier qualities from the orcanox and the cypriol. This is definitely more of a foodie adjacent gourmand for me, it's not too edible but it has a distinctly dessert like quality in its sweetness. It's not a full size temptaion for me, but honestly, I'd definitely recommend this one based on how impressed I was with the banana note.