Younger consumers and men also are increasingly buying perfumes and colognes, and are shifting toward pricier, more potent fragrances as well, Ms. Nabi said. “You have a new generation of consumers entering the fragrance market since the end of lockdowns,” she said.

— Read more in The Beauty Industry Is Defying Inflation at The Wall Street Journal.

At Liberty, fragrance sales are up 82 per cent compared to last year, despite the financial pressures on people across the country. “While fragrance is a luxury, we have seen that people are willing to invest if they can,” she says. “Scent can hold a lot of meaning for people, it’s transportive, storing memories and boosting mood. It really is a feel-good product, and one that people savour and truly enjoy when they use it.”

— Read more in A Recession Is Looming, So Why Are Luxury Fragrance Sales Booming? at Vogue UK.

However, with the development of the market, the size of the niche fragrance sector has been growing since 2019 and welcoming the middle classes. In 2020, Stockholm-based Byredo officially landed in China and recorded tens of millions of RMB in sales within eight months, indicating a boom. Just as Chinese consumers are embracing niche fashion labels, they are also beginning to invest in lesser-known perfumes. They like the unique notes of indie ventures but also consider fragrances as their “olfactory cards” — an extension of their personality and taste.

— Read more in Why Niche Fragrances Like Diptyque And Byredo Are Booming In China at Jing Daily.

Powered by these young consumers, China’s fragrance market is expected to maintain double-digit growth in the years ahead, with Mintel projecting sales to double between 2020 and 2025 from 6.9 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) to 15.4 billion yuan ($2.4 billion). Euromonitor International, meanwhile, expects fragrance sales to reach 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) by 2025. Growing fragrance demand and usage isn’t just benefiting the biggest names with the longest history in mainland China — among them Chanel N°5 and Dior J’Adore. In recent years, the evolution of consumer tastes has brought a greater willingness to experiment with lesser-known brands from both overseas and domestic producers.

— Read more in Niche Fragrances Are Booming In China, And Global Brands Are Taking Note at Jing Daily.

First there was the lipstick effect. Now Coty Inc.’s chief executive officer Sue Nabi is all about the fragrance effect.

Despite recession fears and sky-high inflation, Coty’s prestige fragrances have been flying off the shelves, with particularly strong performances from Hugo Boss, Burberry, Chloé, Calvin Klein and Gucci Beauty, which delivered 20 percent growth in the fourth quarter and helped the overall prestige sector to grow of 16 per cent year-over-year, to $662.8 million.

— Read more in Forget the Lipstick Effect, It’s the Fragrance Effect at Coty at Women's Wear Daily.