“I Want to Smell Edible”: Why Gen Z Girls Are Obsessed With Dessert Fragrances And Why Boys Like It Too?
In 2025, Gen Z isn’t just smelling good—they’re smelling delicious. Vanilla, caramel, pistachio, and even kettle corn perfumes are dominating TikTok under hashtags like #PerfumeTok and #SmellLikeDessert. This isn’t just about fragrance—it’s about identity, femininity, and the deep psychology of being perceived.
Leah.kateb, a TikTok influencer and former Love Island USA contestant, made waves when she declared in a viral video:
“You just smell like caramel cake and like you’re ready to be served on a decorated plate.”
“I don’t want to smell pretty—I want to smell edible,” she added with a wink.@leah.kateb The first thing you guys say to me when meet “woah you smell so good” 😂🫣🤭💌 GO RUN UP YA MANS credit CARD #perfume ♬ original sound – leah.kateb
And that sentiment is echoed by millions of young women across the platform, spraying themselves in “sugar cookie” mists and “vanilla glaze” body sprays. The trend is so widespread that even mainstream brands like Dove and Dunkin’ Donuts have jumped in, releasing dessert-inspired deodorants and hand washes.
But this movement runs deeper than sweet scents.
Psychologists suggest that the desire to “smell like a cake” taps into a complex cocktail of post-pandemic comfort-seeking, nostalgia, and performative femininity. Dr. Eleanor Cline, a psychologist specializing in consumer behavior, explains:
“This trend isn’t just about fragrance—it’s about presenting oneself as soft, safe, desirable… almost consumable. There’s a subconscious fantasy of being the ‘treat’—literally and emotionally.”
Some scholars call it the “cake girl complex”—the internalized idea that a woman should be desirable in a passive, pleasing, almost edible way. “Like a dessert—perfectly decorated, tempting, but ultimately disposable,” says Cline.
The emerging “cake girl complex” in Gen Z culture—where young women desire to smell and present themselves as sweet, soft, and edible—reflects deeper psychological dynamics rooted in objectification and performative femininity. While not a clinical term, this trend aligns with Objectification Theory, which posits that girls internalize an external gaze, learning to see themselves as objects for consumption rather than as agents of action.
Scent becomes symbolic. Vanilla, caramel, and cupcake-inspired perfumes aren’t just nostalgic; they serve a social function: to make the wearer more “palatable,” comforting, and harmless. This desire to be “like a cake on a plate” speaks to an old narrative dressed in modern aesthetics—femininity as passivity, sweetness, and service. It’s a soft power play, where beauty is leveraged for social validation, often from men, but also from peer admiration online.
Underneath this sugar-coated surface is a conflict: empowerment through self-expression or submission through societal expectation? As girls craft their identities in a hyper-visual, scent-enhanced world, the line between the two is increasingly blurred.
The Cake Girl Complex: Femininity, Objectification, and the Desire to Be Consumed
In today’s hyper-aesthetic, social media-driven culture, a peculiar yet telling trend has emerged among Gen Z girls: the aspiration to be sweet, soft, and “edible.” Fragrances that mimic vanilla frosting, caramel drizzle, and warm cookies are not just olfactory preferences—they are part of a broader identity performance that some have dubbed the “cake girl complex.” At its core, this phenomenon represents a modern repackaging of traditional feminine ideals: to be desired, docile, and pleasing, not just visually, but sensorially—like a dessert on a plate, ready to be consumed.
Femininity as Performance
This complex aligns with Barbara Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts’ Objectification Theory, which suggests that from a young age, girls are taught to see themselves through the eyes of others—primarily male observers. Their value becomes tightly linked to appearance, charm, and the ability to evoke desire. By choosing to “smell like dessert,” girls aren’t just enjoying sweet scents—they’re curating a persona that is soft, safe, and unthreatening. This echoes long-standing feminine norms: be pretty, be gentle, be pleasing. Be a treat.
Edibility and Control
But why “edible”? Why not powerful, bold, or untouchable? The desire to be edible—to be like cake—reveals something deeper: the surrender of control. To be edible is to be consumable. It is to be acted upon, not to act. This speaks to a fantasy, often reinforced by both media and consumer culture, in which the ideal woman is beautiful, passive, and available. She exists not for herself, but for others’ enjoyment.
This is where the metaphor takes a darker turn.
The Doll Parallel
The cake girl complex shares eerie similarities with another cultural motif: the living doll fantasy. In particular, the Harajuku “living doll” subculture in Japan celebrates hyper-feminine fashion, exaggerated youthfulness, and physical perfection. These girls often dress in frilly, pastel clothing, wear porcelain-doll makeup, and train themselves to move delicately. In media representations and even in male fan culture, these girls are often adored not for their inner lives, but because they embody an idealized, controllable version of womanhood. Dolls don’t talk back. Dolls don’t resist. Dolls are played with.
The desire to be a doll—beautiful, quiet, compliant—is a cousin of the desire to be a cake. Both reflect a deep internalization of performative femininity, where worth is derived from the pleasure one gives to others, particularly men.
Modern Aesthetic, Ancient Expectations
What makes this trend striking is how contemporary and “empowering” it appears on the surface. Influencers speak of “choosing” to smell like sugar, of reclaiming femininity and self-love through sweet fragrances and pink aesthetics. But beneath that veneer lies an old pattern. The cake girl complex may be self-styled, but it remains rooted in a centuries-old idea: that a woman’s highest calling is to be wanted.
In an age where girls are taught they can be anything, it’s telling that so many are still taught to look and smell like something meant to be unwrapped and enjoyed—then discarded.
This desire to be “edible” or sweet-smelling isn’t just about attraction—it’s about embodying a role: soft, harmless, comforting. Like a doll, or a perfectly frosted cupcake, the woman becomes a symbol of passive pleasure. This reflects deep-rooted social norms where femininity is rewarded when it is attractive, docile, and non-threatening—traits historically aligned with servitude to men.
There’s also overlap with femme-coded consumer identity—the idea that women, especially in social media culture, are encouraged to brand themselves as aesthetic objects, often for validation and economic opportunity (like influencing). The cake girl is marketable.
The influencers, knowingly or not, are selling this fantasy. One popular TikTok by @leah.kateb features her twirling in a pastel outfit while applying Lush’s kettle-corn spray, captioned:
“I don’t want a boyfriend, I want compliments from strangers who want to lick my perfume.”
It’s funny, self-aware, and yet undeniably real.
The rise of gourmand perfumes also reflects how Gen Z buys beauty: online, fast, and driven by aesthetic storytelling. With online fragrance sales surging—over 25% of purchases now made through social media platforms—familiar food-like scents give consumers instant olfactory anchors.
Shelly Socol, CEO of a beauty marketing agency, notes:
“When you can’t smell the perfume in a store, selling scents that already exist in your memory—like vanilla frosting or buttered pretzels—is smart marketing.”
The result? A generation of girls (and some boys) embracing the idea that the most powerful way to attract, comfort, and express themselves… is to smell like dessert.
