Costa Mesa After Dark: My Night at the 5th Golden Pineapple Fragrance Awards

I fought traffic, fixed my eyeliner in the parking garage, and pushed into the Laguna Beach ballroom at 7:40 pm, the pineapple trophies winking under the lights like citrus peel. The 5th Golden Pineapple Fragrance Awards feels like a wink at the industry, part insider roast, part genuine celebration. It’s Orange County glam with a quiet indie heartbeat, and yes, the room smells like ambition.

Scent of the night on me:

• Chanel No. 19 Poudré on wrists for backbone, a mist of Heeley Sel Marin on scarf for that coastal snap. Green iris and clean salt cut through the banquet air without shouting.

What I actually smelled on others, often before I saw them:

• Baccarat Rouge 540, the inevitable sugar-amber cloud that photographs well and sits heavy in a ballroom.
• Parfums de Marly Delina, all pink petals and tart lychee, still a magnet.
• Creed Aventus and Dior Sauvage Elixir doing the power-suit thing.
• Le Labo Santal 33, that creamy cedar-saddle that refuses to retire.

Whispers from the tables and corridors:

• Citrus is creeping back into power. Not candy lemon, think pithy grapefruit and neroli with bite. If you want to feel current, reach for Pomélo Paradis by Atelier Cologne or a crisp Neroli Portofino type, then layer sparingly.
• Vanilla is getting cleaned up. Less cupcake, more wood and smoke. If you are vanilla-curious, sample Vanille Havane by Les Indémodables for grown-up texture.
• Musks are transparent and fizzy, not laundry-flat. I caught soft trails that felt like skin after sun, not dryer sheet fatigue.

A bit of provocation, since you asked:

• If you are still overspraying BR540 to an awards dinner, sit at the end of the table. Let your seatmate taste their dessert.
• Aventus is back in the wild, but the sharpest guys in the room wore mineral woods with a saline twist. Think Ganymede by Marc-Antoine Barrois if you want the belt without the buckle.

One irresistible moment:

• Backstage, an indie founder pressed a tiny vial into my palm. Green, bitter, narcissus and moss with a lick of pear skin. It made me forget the entire dessert course. I will report back once the label goes public.

The facts for your map: Saturday, June 28, 2025, Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa, a ballroom humming with niche perfume talk and the kind of sillage that writes its own headlines. If awards season has a scent, it is citrus-zest confidence over a clean wood base. And a pineapple grin you can smell from the lobby.