Perfumer & Flavorist

The Sephora launch introduces a tiered entry point: the full-size fragrances retail for $140, with $35 travel sprays and an $18 discovery set. The Villainelle and Painted Petals launch September 14, while Wild Cousin is slated to follow.

Anecdotes by Artists Brings Perfumer-Led Storytelling to Sephora With Sept. 14 Launch

ScentFest SF Makes a Big First Impression

More than 4,000 fragrance lovers, 100+ niche brands and a who’s who of perfumery converged in San Francisco for the inaugural ScentFest SF, signaling the growing appetite—and cultural momentum—behind independent and niche fragrance.

From Piña Colada to Electric Daisy: The New Faces of Gourmand Scents and Flavors

Effects that expand the boundaries of flavor and fragrance creation.

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Research suggests that odors below the threshold of conscious detection can still shape perception, influence behavior and alter emotional responses.

The Invisible Influence: Why Subthreshold Odors Deserve More Attention

Overall, this year’s Esxence signaled a category at a crossroads: expanding rapidly in scale and creativity, but increasingly challenged by oversaturation and the need to sustain meaning in an overcrowded fragrance landscape.

Esxence 2026: “Sensing the World” Signals a New Era of Scale, Storytelling, and Scent Saturation in Artistic Perfumery

Consumers' proactive approach to health is unlocking vast market opportunities, but it comes with a dramatic twist for product formulators. For decades, flavor was an uncompromisable king; however, today's health-conscious public is opening the door to distinct sensory trade-offs.

The Sweet Compromise: How the Longevity Boom Is Rewriting the Rules of Flavor Development

The work identified molecular weight, size, shape and polarity as the dominant drivers separating weak from powerful odorants—findings that align with long-established mass-transport principles governing volatility, sorption and receptor access.

AI Takes on Odor Strength: New Study Maps the Molecular Drivers of Fragrance Impact

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Can Fragrance Help Cure the Loneliness Epidemic? Givaudan Innovates to Boost Belonging.

Scent can communicate presence, attentiveness and openness at a time when consumers are experiencing what the company describes as a “pandemic of loneliness.”

October Product Roundup

Sweeten the Vanilla Profile with Natural Vanillyl Ethyl Ether

Micadelva delivers a clean, fresh orange-peel character with subtle metallic and floral facets.

BASF Future Proofs Citrus With New Micadelva Ingredient

Introduced in spring 2026, the bundles each combine three individual IFEAT Academy units covering natural and synthetic materials, their creation and evaluation, and their application in either fragrance or flavor.

DEADLINE: IFEAT Academy Adds Flexible Fragrance and Flavor Bundles

For professionals weighing further training, IFEAT is also offering 20% off individual Academy units through August 31.

In Ha Mood, the first-ever fragrance from Ice Spice, was launched nationwide at Ulta Beauty.

Ulta’s Next Growth Wave: Fragrance, Hair Care and Global Expansion

Ulta is signaling confidence, raising its full-year comparable-sales growth forecast to 3.2%-3.7%.

'Hand-harvesting delicate flowers cannot be easily automated; to produce just 1 kg of rose oil, you need approximately 3,500 kg of hand-picked petals,' says Petkov. 'However, labor costs continue to rise sharply year over year. As younger generations migrate to urban centers or move abroad, rural communities face severe labor shortages.'

Bulgaria’s Natural Ingredient Crisis Is a Warning for Fragrance

The decline of small-scale agriculture could ultimately leave the global industry with fewer authentic natural materials and less supply-chain resilience.

Bath & Body Works Finds Growth Beyond Its Stores

With portions shrinking dramatically—some consumers reporting a shift from three or four chapatis to one or two, or from multiple bowls of rice to half a bowl—the sensory and nutritional payoff of each bite becomes increasingly important.

GLP-1s Are Changing What “Good Taste” Means

There is an opportunity to engineer better-balanced flavor experiences that deliver satisfaction without overwhelming altered sensory perceptions.

The current µBites formulation still relies on conventional additions: after the yeast produces the core ingredients, researchers add fiber, starch and sweetener, then use a 3D printer to form the mixture into cookies.

Yeast Turns Plastic Waste Into a Better-Tasting Cookie

Baker’s yeast has been engineered to produce vanilla flavoring from plant biomass, giving the otherwise highly unconventional cookie a familiar sensory profile.

Between June 30 and July 13, 2026, I travelled almost 4,000 km through Assam and Nagaland—by train, car, rickshaw, motorcycle and bicycle, and many more on foot—for my Ph.D. research, “Designing Transformative Tourism Experiences: Agarwood, Territory and Heritage in Assam (India).”

Sanchi, the Wood of Transformation

In this field report from Assam, India, author David Hidalgo explores the journey from a larva moving through a living Aquilaria tree to an oud oil valued at as much as $80,000 per liter and inviting questions about what the fragrance market ultimately calls oud.

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Amandolide: Musky, Powdery Depth with Earthy-Mossy Appeal

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Seatolide: Musky, Powdery Powerhouse with Ambrette Appeal