What is a perfume trend? Do trends in fragrances exist?

First things first, is there such a thing as a perfume trend? I don’t think so. The word “trend” has come to mean a very short-lived and fickle phenomenon. Something that fast-fashion companies that completely replace the contents of their racks every two weeks do, proclaiming this turnover the new normal, always on the mission to increase their revenue.

Fragrance world has much longer product development, production and marketing cycles. Things are accelerating there here too (for example, at this year’s Esxence perfume industry event several brands have prominently featured new releases with packaging using 2024 Pantone colors), but we are still very far away from weekly and monthly “trends” as seen in make-up and apparel. So no, I wouldn’t yet use the word to describe what’s happening with fragrances.

It doesn’t mean, however, that the fragrance world is ruled by total randomness. As with every area of culture, scents speak the language of their time. And there indeed exist broader perfume styles that reflect the zeitgeist. The scope is measured in years and maybe even decades though, not in months as with fashion.

The beginning of skin scents: what skin scents used to be like

One such style I’ve seen gaining momentum for the last couple of years is a new generation of skin scents.

The quiet, comfortable close-to-skin perfumes have been around since the discovery of the synthetic musky molecules, so the idea is not new (the chemical compound Iso E Super, first mentioned in 1958 and patented in 1973, is often cited as especially characteristic for skin scents, but it is just one of many molecules this style can feature).

For a long time, “skin scent” was a code for a barely-there olfactory experience that suggested not so much the use of fragrance, as a general feeling of polite groomed cleanliness. The scent signal of being tidy. Nice, easy and uncontroversial, but generally nothing to write home about.

Comparisons of skin scents with “no make-up” make-up have been and continue to be thrown around a lot in magazine editorials. I don’t they work very well. Make-up is always about visibility to the world (show me an active user of color cosmetics who didn’t scale the application back during the long waves of covid quarantine and I will show you a liar), yet according to these articles skin scents are something used exclusively for yourself in a way that prevents others from smelling you. Sounds like two opposites to me.

Instead, what I see in those texts are different ways to articulate the allure of a scented invisibility cloak. Skin scents are always presented as something to hide in – unassuming to the point of invisibility.

It seems that for a long time this fragrance genre really served the need of people who wanted to dabble in perfume to hide their olfactory taste and enjoyment of the process from the society out of fear to offend or “be too much”. A way to partake in the perfume ritual without showing the public your true colors – an option for the shy and the insecure. To each their own, and I have no intention to criticize this approach. I do find it quite boring though, and the shifts in the demographics and perfume landscape seem to confirm my opinion.

Past and present roles of perfume: how reasons for using fragrance change

Today, skin scents have evolved. What makes me think their modern iteration is one of the new hallmarks of our time is the changed sentiment behind the many launches and the consumer love for the skin scent style. Let me explain.

It used to be that one wore a perfume to become something else. During the era of designer scents, one put on a fragrance to participate in an identity. The designer name on the label (from Dior to Calvin Klein) was a very big part of the appeal. People chose between Boss, Chanel or Tommy Hilfiger because wearing their scents made them feel like they belonged to a certain crowd with specific values, goals and aspirations that rallied around the personality of the designer, their fashion and ad campaigns.

By spraying, one entered into a two-way relationship with the designer. One became part of the brand’s storytelling, thus contributing to the brand’s expansion and appeal. And while welcoming the designer’s story, aesthetics and lifestyle into their life, the customers also changed it, made it their own, helping the story come alive and evolve.

Choosing between Dior Fahrenheit and Fierce by Abercrombie & Fitch, or between Tommy Girl and Boss Woman was not so much about the scent, as it was about the message one’s scent trail would be sending into the world. What these iconic perfumes offered was an identity to wear and project, which meant that whole generations went through periods of their lives smelling of one or another.

This identity-building property of fragrances never went away. I bet that at least half of people wearing Paco Rabanne 1 Million, Xerjoff Naxos, something from Roja Dove or Parfums de Marly today are doing it for the brand as much as the scent. Nothing wrong with that, by the way. These brands have managed to build a strong and desirable image that attracts customers even before they smell the perfume, kudos to them.

But the role of perfume changes. The younger the people, the more often they use fragrance as a way to reveal their true self instead of becoming something else or concealing their identity. The scent projects the way the person feels in that moment. People surround themselves with fragrances that reflect their own moods, not the storytelling of the brands.

Forces driving the change: individualization and community

This evolution is rooted in two coexisting and seemingly contradictory social developments. On the one hand, we have an ever-increasing drive for individualization. In the individualistic society you do you and the self-worth is derived not from outside, but from within – from accepting and celebrating one’s uniqueness with all its strengths and weaknesses. Today brands and their stories play the role of accessories – one mixes and matches them on a whim.

There was a time when one could either be a Chanel or an Adidas girl, so strong was the image projected by these names that accommodating both styles on a daily basis would have been a sign of bad taste.

Today, the stronger the contrast of the brand messages, the better. Life is not a carefully orchestrated and planned symphony relying on a limited number of pre-selected solo instruments, but a meandering remix of styles, products and symbols with endless combination possibilities. Brands don’t dictate the lifestyle, they are used, played with and dropped according to what one feels in the moment. One of the most visible displays of this new attitude is TikTok, with its never-ending stream of self-expression, often pushed to extreme.

As individualistic as TikTok is, it is at the same time a result of the other development – striving to build and participate in meaningful communities. The world where everything is possible needs orientation, otherwise one can drown in the overwhelming ocean of information and choices. Communities built around interests and causes offer just that – orientation and guidance, a way to be both yourself and part of something bigger. Communication is increasingly digital, but humans still need the sense of belonging and closeness.

New skin scents: characteristics of the new style

And here is where skin scents come in. The main feature of their modern versions is the almost tactile hugging sensation, not the fleeting lightness. In fact, modern skin scents are not shy at all, many of them are able to announce their wearer and even fill the room. What matters is their feel-good, hugging quality that reflects the desire for comfort in our uncertain times. Skin scents are non-aggressive by their very nature. The opposite is true – they invite others in. And so fit today’s appreciation of community.

At the same time, they have become much more individualistic than their elder brothers and sisters. In the past, the term “skin scent” used to mean something easy and clean. A brand epitomizing this idea is Clean Reserve, founded around 2000. Their whole concept revolves around the different scent aspects of cleanliness and freshness with perfumes names like Simply Soap, Fresh Laundry or Air and hits like Rain and Warm Cotton. While not all skin scents of the past were so bent on imitating the spotless, scrubbed and washed feeling of emerging from the shower, this was the general direction in the majority of cases.

This is changing. In many of the skin-scent-y launches of the past 2-3 years (and I’m smelling hundreds of new releases every year) I’ve been noticing a newly found freedom and a departure from the need to project purity. The new generation of skin scents is much more diverse and not afraid to set foot on the floral, woody or even gourmand ground, adding much more sensuality and, well, substance and clarity of concept.

Cleanliness is basically the absence of anything potentially contaminating and disturbing, and so “clean” scents were bound to be about the (impossible) transition to nothingness. Unlike in the past, today’s skin scents often have an identifiable and “real” subject matter – take the image of ink touching the paper in L‘Eau Papier from Diptyque, the sensation of white unglazed porcelain in Iris Porcelana by Ex Nihilo, the summer morning air filled with flowers and coffee shop vibes in Paris Cheri by Astrophil & Stella or the sensual gourmand harmony of Musk Complexity from New Notes. They are never direct. Paris Cheri does not smell of black coffee, Musk Complexity has no straight-up chocolate and L‘Eau Papier does not bring you back to the first grade with its chunky ink pens. But you can catch their echoes as parts of the abstract iridescent whole these fragrances project.

What characterizes skin scents today is not clean nothingness, but a pluripotent abstraction with some recognizable elements anchored in reality. They express not absence, but presence of things without ever getting literal in their depictions. Like hints coming to you in a dream – almost there, yet impossible to pin down, all wrapped in the sensual hugging feeling.

This way, skin scents have again become a perfect tool of self-expression for the new generation – both individualistic and inviting for others, between abstraction and reality, offering a million stylistic options to fit every mood, as well as comfort and reassurance of a friendly hug.

What’s your take on skin scents? Have you gotten on the skin scent train yet? And what are your favorites?

Best skin scents to try in 2024

Let’s take a look at some of my favorite skin scents, both old and new, to get a better idea about this style’s evolution. (When I say “old” it doesn’t mean that the fragrances are in any way bad or outdated. They are still great perfumes, and if you like them – don’t hesitate to wear them!)

ALSO INTERESTING