Bath & Body Works baffled customers with their unexplained declaration of a “tomato girl fantasy” achieved with a line of saucy products.
Reviews of the new scent line are mixed, to say the least.
What is a tomato girl fantasy?
In May, signs began appearing at malls telling people to “live your tomato girl fantasy,” confusing those who had never thought to fantasize about such a thing.
According to Bath & Body Works, their new product line Off the Vine “evokes the feeling of an Italian-summer with notes of heirloom tomato, garden geranium and Mediterranean moss.”
They further promise that the scent “gives gourmand-lovers the chance to be whisked away to a sunny garden straight from their living rooms.”
The press release alludes to an alleged “viral tomato trend,” but few on social media seem to know what they’re talking about.
Back in May, before the company made the announcement on June 13, X user @skeletass posted a photo of one of these displays, asking “what the f*ck is a tomato girl fantasy.”
@spam.cgwaffle.for.fans i laughed out loud😭 #fyp #viral #forupage ♬ original sound – Lvvvndr
TikTok user @spam.cgwaffle.for.fans felt equally confused, saying that he doesn’t “know a single person who wants a tomato girl fantasy.”
@thatgenzwife what is a tomato girl summer? 🍅🍅 and what if tomato girl isn’t quite your aesthetic? i spent way too long on pinterest breaking down the vibes of each of the summer fruits for each type of girl🍓🍇🍉🍒🍋🍑 #tomatogirlsummer #tomatogirl #fruitsummer #summertrends #summer2025 #summer2025 ♬ original sound – grace | that gen z homemaker
On June 3, fellow TikToker @thatgenzwife attempted to give her take on the fantasy, listing tomato girl traits as:
- Hosting outdoor dinner parties
- Getting up early to go to the farmers market
- Basically an Italian nanna in the making
- Always in the sun
- Fueled by espresso
- Eldest daughter vibes
X user @DekkuBlock, however, had something creepier in mind.
What does it smell like?
On May 10, TikToker and scent reviewer @plsmells tried out the Off the Vine products “so you don’t have to.” He didn’t dislike it, exactly, or it at least outperformed his expectations.
“I’m sure you’re filling in the blanks with all the horrible things I could say about this liquefied salad, but I, shamefully, kind of like it,” he said of the fragrance mist.
@plsmells Replying to @Stephanie Falcheck I’m smelling Bath & Body Works Off The Vine so you don’t have to 👀🍅 Everyone’s so creative. #perfumetiktok #perfumetok #perfumes #bathandbodyworks ♬ Club Penguin Pizza Parlor – Cozy Penguin
“On first spray, you get an earthy green tomato leaf that almost immediately becomes a synthetic suggestion of tomato, but it’s not as repulsive as I predicted. It’s sweet and almost citrusy.”
He liked the candle and body cream better, as the fragrance was more “soft and subdued” than the mist. The scent in these products remained closer to the initial fresh green tomato leaf vibe instead of souring into a lingering memory of SpaghettiOs.
The scent reviewer predicted that 99 percent of people wouldn’t like this unusual fragrance, but a lot of commenters seemed eager to try it.
User @itsmargaretdanielle said, “Many gardeners use tomato leaves as fragrance,” adding that “Reddit is going crazy over it and it doesn’t smell that bad.”
Commenter @miranda_writes114 compared this tomato girl fantasy push to “when actors get to do the really weird movie they actually want to do after doing a big budget Marvel movie.”
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