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Why we need more than 800 new perfumes a year

Posted by Robin on 20 March 2008 21 Comments

The new fragrances are not to everyone's taste. That's because the trend is going in the direction of distinct fragrances that don't necessarily appeal to the masses.

"Fragrances that everyone likes are always a compromise," said Hariegel of the perfumery association.

That's why currently so many completely different perfumes - from strongly floral to very fruity to powerfully oriental - are coming on the market.

— From Sweet fruit and flowers are basis of summer fragrance trends, a round-up of recent fragrance launches, in The Earth Times.

Filed Under: perfume in the news

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21 Comments

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  1. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 10:25 am

    Kind of strange article. It reads like a long advertisement. And “completely different” is the last phrase I would think of using to describe the annual onslaught of fumes!

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  2. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 10:29 am

    Uh, yeah! I would have said the opposite — they all seem more desperately similar than ever.

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  3. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 12:02 pm

    What you said!:-) I just did a quick breeze-through the local dept. store and was astounded at the sameness of all the 'new' offerings. None particularly gorgeous but none really offensive, either. I'd rather something striking that was off-putting than something just…blah. I think it's the need to appeal to the broadest consumer spectrum and also to allow the marketing message to drive sales. A very distinctive scent is more difficult to sell to a broad market, which is why niche perfumers don't do these huge marketing pushes (well that plus adrastically smaller budgets than the behemoths). It's a shame and it seems to be the norm now (not to mention that none of the SAs anywhere ever talk about fragrance notes. All they talk about is “NEW” as if that has any merit at all)

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  4. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 12:36 pm

    It is dispiriting to shop in a mall for perfume any more…and sort of thought the fruity florals were on the wane, but they sure seem to be back with a vengeance in the new spring offerings. NEW doesn't mean NEW, does it, LOL…

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  5. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 12:39 pm

    Absolutely they do seem more desperately similar than ever!

    What a strange article…the writer must be smelling a different set of new launches.

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  6. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 12:47 pm

    Same scents, R, just a totally different take. I mean:

    “This can convey, for example, a retro touch, which is the case with Marc Jabobs' fragrance Daisy, which consciously places the violet, once derided as old-fashioned, in the centre.”

    Marc Jacobs Daisy, retro?? I don't think so.

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  7. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 4:16 pm

    I really love a good fruity floral. Unfortunately most new releases are not good fruity florals. I would love to see a mass market fragrance come out that just screamed “fruit! flowers!” but in a new way. Like if Ralph Lauren Wild had actually been wild instead of weirdly flat and mauve smelling (for lack of a better descriptor), I would have really liked it.
    There are also some fruity scents that are really ageless to my nose. Mure et Musc- I wore a cheap version when I was eleven, I wear the Extreme now, and I think I will still find it pleasing when I'm eighty years old, of course, when I'm eighty I'll probably be wearing the Escada limited editions and chasing after the nursing home orderlies.
    Black orchid Voile de Fleur really stands out for me in this article. It has guts, and one would never confuse it for Chloe or Dreaming.

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  8. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 5:18 pm

    Oh, so that explains it, huh?

    Glad they summed it up for us. I feel so much better and less overwhelmed now.

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  9. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 5:23 pm

    I don't know where they got their information from. “The fragrance My Insolence by Guerlain is the first to place raspberry in the spotlight.” Oh, really? Without even trying, off the top of my head, I can think of four raspberry-heavy scents which predate My Insolence–the original women's Byblos, Givenchy Hot Couture, and two CSP scents, Coeur de Raisin and Fruits Sauvages. There's even a raspberry-based men's scent, Lacoste Elegance, which was released at about the same time as My Insolence.
    It does kind of read like a PR piece: it seems as if the writer hasn't even tried any of the scents in question, but is merely regurgitating press material.

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  10. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 5:27 pm

    Violet? I don't think so, either, R! I purchased this Daisy fragrance for my 18 year old. It does not smell retro, and it certainly does not smell like violets!

    Really weird!

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  11. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 9:05 pm

    Agree w/ all of that, and yes, TM BOVdF has guts, Dreaming, no way. Wonder if this author actually smelled any of the scents in question.

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  12. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 9:10 pm

    LOL!

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  13. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 9:22 pm

    I agree — I don't think they've smelled anything, and the raspberry thing was very curious

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  14. Anonymous says:
    20 March 2008 at 11:37 pm

    This is true, I think. So many fruity florals. I miss good spices.

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  15. Anonymous says:
    21 March 2008 at 9:15 am

    Yep.

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  16. Anonymous says:
    21 March 2008 at 11:42 pm

    I agree, I don't think the writer actually smelled any of the perfumes. But after reading the article and then everyone's comments, I must say I laughed out loud at all of us! Can you say Perfume Obsessed?! I think it's funny how people get so involved with seemingly obscure topics. I'm a culprit when it comes to perfume just like all of you – but when I read this stream of comments it just struck me as funny. 🙂

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  17. Anonymous says:
    22 March 2008 at 4:49 pm

    LOL — so true!

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  18. Anonymous says:
    22 March 2008 at 9:29 pm

    Nowadays, it seems that they launch more the bottles and the advertisement than the fragrance itself. It's like they invest so much in these two parts that sound like they don't have money enough to develop creative and appealing fragrances. This is very sad.

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  19. Anonymous says:
    23 March 2008 at 9:10 am

    Yep!

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  20. Anonymous says:
    28 March 2008 at 5:44 pm

    So *everything* is in?

    Great! Because I only want perfumes that are *in* HA HA

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  21. Anonymous says:
    28 March 2008 at 8:58 pm

    HA — then you'll have to try all 800 of them 😉

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