EN 
TH 
From the new wave of ‘edible’ perfumes to smelling ‘expensive’ and ‘loud budgeting’ with dupes and affordable formats: perfume is captivating consumers at every level
From budget to blowout, fragrance is booming across price points as consumers shop across a variety of brands, from premium to private label.
In 2023, the $64.4bn global fragrance market recorded double digit growth across both premium (+12.2%) and mass (+10.8%) according to Euromonitor International.
Trend 1: Edible perfumes
Vanilla mainstreamed as the big fragrance obsession last year, and it turns out it was just the start of our renewed fixation with scented sweet treats.
In 2024, vanilla will continue as a main character, albeit with some surprising twists, as the latest launches set forth.And the menu of gourmand fragrances is expanding and turning deliciously complex.
Brands are offering unique blends of ‘edible’ notes, as the trend wafts through bakeries, patisseries and sweet shops, picking up delectable accords and balancing them with woods, musks and elements of the unexpected.
Trend 2: Smelling expensive
Consumers want to smell rich.‘How to smell expensive’ has 28.3m views and counting on #PerfumeTok, and with this, the trend branches off into different trails.
Whether it’s smelling ‘rich like a millionaire’, or smelling like ‘old money’ and ‘generational wealth’, the trend also moves into specific aesthetics: ‘how to smell like a mob wife’ has been circulating on social media.
This is value-seeking behaviour at its peak: consumers don’t just want generic value for money, the value they want is specifically for their purchases to smell of money, and in turn to feel as wealthy as the fragrance makes them smell.
Trend 3: Loud budgeting: the fragrance edition
Quiet luxury is out and loud budgeting is in.
2024’s biggest #MoneyTok trend, ‘loud budgeting’ involves openly talking about why you might choose not to spend money on something, even if you are able to.
The fragrance equivalent of this, according to #PerfumeTok at least, is bagging a dupe that smells just like a luxury designer scent but for a fraction of the price.
But it doesn’t stop at dupes: fragrance consumers are also finding money-saving hacks through other affordable formats from minis to body sprays, and proudly talking about them on social media.
Being frugal is fashionable, but this trend explores why in perfumery, loud budgeting is a mindset that is clearly here to stay.
Trend 4: Navigating difficult emotions through niche fragrances
Mood-boosting fragrances continue to take a place in the spotlight, and nostalgic, comforting scents have reached peak popularity, but perfumery is not just a fair-weather friend.
A counter-movement is being increasingly explored within artistic niche perfumery in which fragrance navigates difficult or suppressed emotions, or even triggers or unlocks feelings of discomfort.
Perfume that helps us grieve, makes us reflect on the human experience, or even identify with our ‘shadow selves’ is the unexpected niche movement on the rise, as consumers grow increasingly attracted to perfumes that offer greater individuality and self-expression.
Trend 5: Gatekeeping fragrance
Celebrities do it, influencers do it, and there are reams of TikTok posts stating why everyone else should.
‘Gatekeeping’ fragrance – keeping your signature perfume secret to prevent others from copying it – is a trend gaining momentum.
On TikTok the phrase ‘Gatekeep perfume’ has 45.6 million posts as content creators share tips on everything from which fragrances are ‘worth gatekeeping’ to what to tell people when you don’t want to reveal your signature scent.
Cr: cosmetics business
