(by Alessandra Magliaro) - The perfume is in the air, we spray it on the skin, we want to smell it at home, we wear it.
Fragrances are clothes that we change every day, even more than once a day, they follow the mood of the moment.
We are crazy about it, especially in Asia, especially young people who can't do without it.
And the market went crazy, with growing numbers to testify to this boom.
The fragrance market is experiencing an extraordinary surge, with a +13% in 2023.
"There is a historical reason - says Karine Lebret, head of Scent Science & Fragrance Design of the L'Oréal group, in an interview with ANSA - Covid was a watershed, a before and after that changed us profoundly with an awareness of many aspects of life that perhaps we didn't have, so today we want to smell smells because having the sense of smell we know that it is life, 'I smell, I breathe therefore I live'. This is why we want to smell perfumes everywhere and the young people of GenZ have 'discovered them' 'right after Covid."
Scent is a powerful way to connect with yourself, others and the environment.
It is a signature, a sign of our identity but unlike the past in which we were faithful to a perfume perhaps for our entire lives, today we change it often and even from one day to the next.
How come?
Here there is another great transformation to tell, a change of pace.
Perfume certainly represents us but above all it is part of the system of our well-being.
Barbara Lavernos, number 2 of the L'Oréal Group and head of Research, Innovation and Technology, explains to ANSA: "Perfume today must make us feel good, it is a sign of care, of loving ourselves, before being a way to make ourselves recognized by others Today, perfume is the emotion for ourselves, an expression of us but for us, like many other things that we have learned in recent years that have changed us inside. For this reason we also often change it according to the harmonious vibration that it arouses in us." .
The green revolution of fragrances
In the fragrance sector there is now a path towards sustainability, for example with all the packaging and bottle refills, and then there is the great driver of natural perfumes, which means not only flowers but in general vegetal and the fruit on which there is great rediscovery because fruit is a fundamental ingredient in some cultures, even an identity and therefore putting it in a fragrance is a way to bring cultures together.
"The 'noses' - underlines Karine Lebret - always start from the idea of an emotion to be aroused, something that attracts us, that evokes something familiar, a memory - which has always been the driving force behind the choice of a perfume - and also something which pushes us beyond an already known territory. There are no secrets and ultimately no rules, because everything in the creative field is possible."
Then there is science and technological innovation: Cosmo, the latest arrival, promises great changes in the creation of perfumes.
It is a machine capable of capturing the scent from hundreds of flowers with an air extraction, in a process completely devoid of water, a sort of dryer which however leaves the 'used' flower soft, intact for the following 24 hours.
Tuberose, which has a scent that has always been an olfactory note in fragrances, is the starting flower, in 2024 we continue with the queen of roses, the pure centifolia from the Domaine de la Rose in Grasse in Provence, harvested only in the month of May at its maximum power.
"We no longer want synthetic things, we all want to do our part in the green transition - adds Barbara Lavernos, Nicolas Hieronimus' deputy - every nose's dream is to reproduce the scent of flowers like when you are in the middle of nature, with the tuberosa in Cosmo let's start this realization".
In nature there are silent flowers, a despair for fragrance creators because although they are very fragrant they are unable to release their potential with extraction processes (steam or volatile solvents).
It happens with violet, wisteria, gardenia, lilac, lily of the valley: it is impossible to have a natural scent but it must be reconstituted to restore it in the perfumes through many components which are a mix of synthetic and natural.
"In some perfumes there is up to 97% natural substances, the road is underway", he adds on the occasion of the event in Paris, the immersive journey The Art & Science of Fragrance.
From the crisis of 1929 to today, a century of society in perfumes
The Covid crisis is not the only crisis that has brought epochal changes in history, without going back through the centuries, less than 100 years ago it was the 1929 crisis that caused a tsunami.
Staying on the topic of perfumes, after '29 it becomes an invitation to dream like the five brought by Lancome in 1935 to the Brussels fair, Tendres Nuites, Bocages, Kypre, Tropique, Conquete.
Like fashion and culture in general, fragrances also reflect the era, so the post-war period was a golden age, in which perfume became a social statement, an accessible luxury for the middle class.
In 1960 it became the scent of freedom, a new desire for freshness for the 'baby boomer' generation.
1970 opens an era of democratization of perfumes and at the end of the decade, as with social movements, perfume is rebellious, 'scandalous' if we think of Opium, launched by YSL in 1977, as intense as anais anais (1979) by Cacharel , to name two that marked an era.
The 80s are excessive even in fragrances that are provocative, mark power and emancipation such as LouLou (1987) by Cacharel, mysterious, sensual.
The 90s begin a season of authenticity, minimalism and in an increasingly globalized world the desire for nature rises as represented by Acqua di Gio' (1996) by Giorgio Armani or Tresor (1990) by Lancome or for new sensual expressions, one on all the iconic Angel (1992) by Mougler, the first 'gourmand' perfume in history, a trailblazer because it was born refillable!, while the second is Flowerbomb (2005) by Viktor & Rolf.
In 2000 other models were reinvented, the haute couture lines of the great fashion houses (Armani, Maison Margiela and many others) arrived.
The decade 2010 is the time for change and optimism, at the heart of the best seller La vie est belle (2012) by Lancome or Y (2018) by YSL.
GenZ goes crazy for perfumes: these are the current years around 2020 of the testimonials they love like Zendaya for Idole (2019) or the contradictory complex fragrances of beloved brands like Paradoxe (2022) by Prada.
In Myself by Yves Saint Laurent launched in 2023, the whole well-being concept applied to perfume.
The global perfume market is worth 50 billion euros
The fragrance market is experiencing an extraordinary surge, with growth of 13% in 2023 and globally worth 50 billion euros.
The perfume sector of L'Oréal Luxe (one of the 4 divisions of the giant containing 24 prestigious brands from the latest arrival Aesop to Maison Margiela) outperforms with a growth of 17% in global turnover of the number 1 luxury beauty company in the world which was 14.9 billion euros, with a profit of 22.3%.
Fragrances, a dynamic market in great competition
For the market, great competition and great opportunities.
"The new consumers are open, curious, explorers - observes Karine Lebret, the woman involved in the creation of historic perfumes such as Lancôme La Vie Est Belle, YSL Black Opium and Libre, Armani Sì - until 10 years ago you could know and guide the trends now it is very different, unpredictable but for this reason it is a favorable era to always invent new agreements, to meet the expectations of a market that is very dynamic for everything, the beauty and perfume sectors in particular".
How do you go about this?
"Perfume is art and science, innovation, technology and free creative emotion, a challenge. "We are not afraid - says Lebret - it is challenging to create new perfumes and everything that surrounds a concept".
The patisserie trend
For further information, ANSA Gourmand Profumi Agency, the fragrance is sweet and super delicious - Beauty and Fitness - Ansa.it Emotional rewards such as a visit to the pastry shop, vanilla, cream, candied fruit, nougat, caramel (ANSA)
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