Consumer preferences in the fragrance market are shifting once more. Cool credentials and heavy marketing spend are no longer enough. Instead, successful fragrances are emphasising innovation, tapping the wellness trend and promoting a commitment to sustainable values.

In the 2010s, celebrity-fronted perfumes and fashion house brands lost ground to a boom in niche perfumery as challenger brands such as Byredo and Le Labo became wildly popular. These brands defied the concept that fragrance giants could simply pay their way onto consumers’ dressing tables.

— Read more in What’s the next blockbuster fragrance brand? at Vogue Business.

Estée Lauder snapped up Le Labo and Frédéric Malle in 2014, and Puig acquired Penhaligon’s and L’Artisan Parfumeur in 2015. In 2016, Estée Lauder was back with the further acquisition of By Kilian, then L’Oréal stepped in with the purchase of Atelier Cologne. The following year LVMH took the plunge, with the acquisition of Maison Francis Kurkdjian.

They were wise strategic moves. The latest 2019 financial results from these companies reveal that not only are luxury artisanal brands experiencing some of the strongest growth in their portfolios, they are, in some cases, offsetting weaker performances in designer fragrances.

— Read more at Cosmetics Business reveals the 5 biggest fragrance trends in new report.

Despite the daunting competition, Michael Edwards, publisher of global perfume database Fragrances of the World, says some consumers are favouring niche and artisan fragrance brands like Gallivant because they offer something special that none of their friends will have.

He believes that innovation in the sector is coming from smaller brands because the big players are afraid of taking risks.

The big brands want a new launch to appeal to as wide a range of consumers as possible, meaning they often produce something "bland", he says.

— Another article on the challenges faced by mainstream fragrance brands. Read more at Why big brand perfumes may be losing their allure at BBC.