Forward Thinking: 3 Fragrance Trends Happening Now

Aug 1st, 2025

Amy Marks-McGee, Trendincite LLC

From ingredients to packaging, the barrier to entry is lower for body sprays than fine fragrances.

bernardbodo at Adobe Stock

According to Circana¹, for the first quarter of 2025, fragrance continues to hold its place as the top-performer in the U.S. beauty industry, with dollar sales up 4% in the prestige channel and 8% in the mass market. In 2024, Circana² reported that fragrance was the fastest-growing category with an increase of 12%. In prestige, fragrance accounted for 28% of total prestige beauty sales. Value-based and layering-type products such as body sprays jumped by 94% and hair fragrances increased 32%.

Gen Z is driving fragrance growth fueled by social media. According to PiperAmy Marks McGee, Trendincite LLCCourtesy of Trendincite Sandler³, in 2024, teenage boys drove 26% of this increase. In the U.S. alone, 44% of boys ages 12 to 14 (Gen Alpha) and 57% of boys ages 15 to 17 (Gen Z) report using fragrance up to three times per week. Circana’s data revealed that TikTok ranked number one for influencing Gen Z to make fragrance purchases (66%), followed by Instagram (64%) and YouTube (41%).

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Spate’s research⁴also indicates that fragrance is currently the fastest-growing segment in global beauty. Fragrance’s popularity is growing by 26.8% year-over-year (YoY) with 66.7 thousand average monthly searches on TikTok. Top-performing fragrance subcategories include long-lasting perfumes (75.1% predicted YoY growth), mini perfumes (78.4%) and perfume gift sets (68.7%). Consumers’ interest in mini perfumes and perfume sets contributed to the growth.

“Two key behaviors are a desire to build curated collections and a preference for sampling high-end fragrances without committing to full-size bottles,” states Yarden Horwitz, Spate co-founder.

More Than A Body Spray

Body sprays have made a comeback as discussed in Trendincite’s Perfumer & Flavorist+⁵“Forward Thinking: 5 Trends Shaping The Bath & Body Industry” article, which appeared in the October 2023 publication. Body sprays are evolving. In addition to smelling good, many recent launches serve more than one purpose, such as hair and body mists enriched with skin care ingredients and alcohol-free water-based formulas. From ingredients to packaging, the barrier to entry is lower for body sprays than fine fragrances.

In 2024, hair and body mist sales in the prestige market reached $474 million, according to Circana⁶. Further, 55% of consumers aged 18-34 have changed their fragrance behavior over the past six months and now buy more body sprays, per Circana⁷. Euromonitor’s research⁸ echoed this sentiment, stating, “Body mists are gaining popularity as an economical alternative to fine fragrances. Premium body mists, which combine affordability with quality, are particularly appealing in a cost-conscious climate.”

For example, hand sanitizer brand Touchland entered the category with Power Essence, an eight SKU line of body & hair fragrance mists infused with skin care ingredients including hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and panthenol. Kitsch, known for its hair care and accessories, introduced five hair perfumes that can be layered and are formulated with a patent-pending “odor-eliminating technology” to neutralize unwanted odors. The “multi-tasking hair mist can refresh your hair, act as a body spray, or be spritzed on your satin pillowcase.”

Blake Lively has extended her Target-exclusive Blake Brown line with new Hair and Body Refresh Mists using the brand’s signature hair care scents. After multiple requests from the brand’s community, Blake Lively created three standalone fragrances: Bergamot Woods, Sandalwood Vanille and Wild Nectar Santal. The package is designed to look like a “retro, classic perfume bottle.”

Skylar’s Boardwalk Delight Scent-Screen SPF 30 mist is formulated with red algae and copper peptides, known to help support skin hydration, smoothness, and visible signs of aging.Courtesy of Skylar

A noteworthy launch is Skylar’s limited-edition summer exclusive Scent-Screen fragrance-infused SPF 30 mist. Featuring the brand’s popular scent, Boardwalk Delight, the notes include cotton candy, coconut milk, and vanilla. According to the brand, the ultra-fine mist is water-resistant for 80 minutes and easily layers over makeup and skin care products. The formula is vegan and contains red algae and copper peptides.

On Solid Ground

Solid perfumes are not new; however, they are trending. Consumers, particularly the younger generation, are interested in new scent formats. Solid perfumes meet many expectations: they are portable, sustainable, affordable, skin-friendly and layerable for personalization.

For example, Glossier debuted a waterless solid edition of Glossier You in 2018 and discontinued it in 2019. The innovative packaging features a magnetized and weighted swivel compact sculpted with a thumb print for ease of use. In 2022, the brand relaunched Glossier You Solid in a vegan formula, and the swivel compact is now refillable.

According to Verified Market Research⁹, the solid perfume market was valued at $1.42 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $2.56 billion by 2032 with a CAGR of 11.3%. From compacts to sticks, solid perfumes come in a variety of fun, alcohol-free, skin-friendly, and refillable formats.

Soaked The Solid Perfume by Sidia features an alcohol-free formula with olea europaea fruit oil, vitamin C and jojoba seed oil. Housed in a luxe, matte black portable compact, the fragrance is designed to be layered and highlights juniper, lemon, cypress, cedarwood, amber and musk.

The Noyz Solid Fragrance Bag Charm works with any of the brand’s solid fragrances and can be personalized with Noyz stickers.Courtesy of NoyzLast year, Noyz released The Solid Fragrance Pair featuring the genderless fragrance brand’s two bestselling scents: Unmute (Vanilla) and Love Club (Floral). Now, the brand offers solid fragrances in six scents, including Detour, its most recent launch. The alcohol-free scents are packaged in a refillable stick case. Additionally, Noyz added a Solid Fragrance Bag Charm that works with any of the brand’s solid fragrances and can be personalized with Noyz stickers.

Miss Dior introduced three mini solid refillable perfumes in a concentrated translucent pink stick. The alcohol-free scents are formulated with rose wax and are available in Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet, Eau de Parfum and Parfum. The fragrances are packaged in an elegant silver tube that looks like lipstick.

Chanel has launched a limited-edition All-Over Fragrance Balm for men, featuring its Bleu De Chanel fragrance. The multi-use solid is designed for use on the hands, hair, and beard and is “positioned as both a fragrance and grooming product.” Not a solid perfume, but a notable new product is Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum Intense Purse Spray. Described as a “piece of jewelry that adorns the wrist,” the accessory features a double-strap string of pearls and a golden chain and comes with three 7-ml refills.

Music To My Nose

Perfumers and musicians are both artists, each using their craft to create experiences for consumers to enjoy. Music is the latest fine fragrance muse, with new fragrance launches inspired by a variety of bands and genres.

The Rolling Stones Subversive Collection features five unisex scents that are “elegant yet wild, sensual yet raw, that pays an olfactory homage to the rebellious soul of rock’n’roll.”Courtesy of Nirvana Brands

At the end of 2024, the Rolling Stones expanded their RS No.9 brand with the limited-edition fragrance launch of RS No.9. Designed in collaboration with Nirvana Brands and Bravado, 999 bottles were created and the fragrance sold out at the flagship store on Carnaby Street, London. The scent has notes of bergamot, lemon, worn leather, oud, musk and patchouli. The fragrance is an homage to the place where it all began and is described as an “olfactory journey through The Rolling Stones’ legacy.”

This year, Nirvana Brands released five unisex fragrances under the Subversive Scents by The Rolling Stones brand. Available in Paint It Black, Satisfaction, Sticky Fingers, Urban Jungle and Wild Horses, “each fragrance has been developed to reflect a different moment in The Rolling Stones’ history or a song, album or tour.”
The six SKU Marley fragrance collection is a tribute to Bob Marley, 44 years after his passing. Shown: Satisfy My Soul fragrance is designed to make you feel happy and features notes of sea salt, neroli leaf, ambrette, Immortelle, orchid, cashmirwood, benzoin, vanilla absolute, and musk.Courtesy of Marley Fragrance

The Marley Family introduced a six-fragrance collection as “a tribute to the legacy, love and heritage of [Bob Marley] Tuff Gong and the late icon’s Jamaican roots.” The six scents - Lights Down Low, Mellow Mood, Place of Peace, Satisfy My Soul, Soul Rebel and Simmer Down “are inspired by Marley’s timeless message of love, unity, and peace, and designed with mood-enhancing technology to arouse feelings of happiness, relaxation or invigoration.”

Duran Duran partnered with Italian perfume house Xerjoff to develop two unisex fragrances, NeoRio and Black Moonlight. NeoRio is “a nod to the band’s seventh hit single, Rio,” and features candied fig, elemi absolute, rum, Spanish cistus oil, maple syrup, rose oil, saffron, balsam of Peru, patchouli and tonka bean. Inspired by the band’s “darker side,” Black Moonlight highlights bergamot, cardamom, mandarin, saffron, lavender, myrrh, sambac jasmine absolute, ylang-ylang, labdanum, patchouli, tolu balm and tonka bean.

Italian fragrance house Jusbox launched Sisters B4 Misters, inspired by the Spice Girls. The scent is designed with “five distinct ingredients, each corresponding to one of the Spice Girls’ alter-egos: Ginger for the fiery and bold, Lime Heart for the athletic and energetic, Orris for the poised and polished, Sugared Milk Accord for the innocent and whimsical and Amber for the fierce and fearless.”

Day Three Fragrances and Christian pop artist Megan Woods have teamed up to launch the Royal Reflection fragrance. Inspired by the lyrics of the song “The Truth,” the fragrance contains passionfruit, French rose and white musk. Grammy-nominated rapper Ice Spice and Revlon announced a new partnership to develop a bespoke fragrance line, expected to be released in 2026.

Alexander Yashin is a blind Russian perfumer who works at Pure Sense, a Moscow-based fragrance house. Yashin draws inspiration from music and his time as a member of a folk travelling ensemble.

He says, “Perfumery is like music: we have notes – separate elements of perfume; we have chords – a combination of perfume notes.”

Fragrance Going Strong

Fragrance sales ebb and flow but currently, fragrance is going strong. The younger demographics are fueling growth with their interest in new formats, including body sprays that do more than scent and solid perfumes that are portable and sustainable. Both formats are more affordable than traditional fine fragrance, which enables consumers to experiment, such as layering and creating a personalized fragrance wardrobe. Expect more hair and body mists enriched with skin care ingredients and alcohol-free water-based formulas.

Pop culture and music are common muses for fragrance launches. Perfumers are currently creating scents that take consumers on an olfactory journey through various bands and their histories. Watch as the fragrance market evolves with multipurpose fragrances, new formats, and inspiration from pop culture.