Fragrance is getting freaky.
Over the years, fragrance has become synonymous with sex thanks to ultra-provocative ad campaigns, musky scents and the simple intimacy of smelling someone. Now, a new crop of brands and houses are approaching the intersection of fragrance and sex with new narratives, notes and technologies.
“[Sensuality is] part of our DNA in the industry, the whole idea of wearing perfume. We’ve been anointing ourselves with fragrances for millennia, [starting] from ancient Egyptians,” said Julia Brooks, Givaudan business support scientist.
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The connection between sex and scent is also a result of human evolution.
“[Scent] has been developed for us to detect whether something is safe to eat, for hunting and also for mating. There’s this very primal aspect of scent that is ingrained in us,” said perfumer and founder of Heretic Douglas Little, who in 2019 kicked off a whole new conversation when he collaborated with Gwyneth Paltrow on the Goop x Heretic This Smells Like My Vagina candle.
Little noted that fragrances have become increasingly connected with sex for over a century, as people rejected the strait-laced ideology of the Victorian era and headed into the Roaring ’20s. “Perfumers were reacting to that, and they were creating fragrances that were designed to be flirtatious and to have an aspect of sexuality to them,” said Little, adding that’s when animalistic notes like civet and castoreum — still used in sex-inspired juices today — first came into play. “The stories that the fragrances were telling were stories of smoking cigarettes and going out and about, flirting,” Little said.
Just as perfumers responded to the societal upheavals of the ’20s, the fragrance industry is responding to what’s going on in the world today. “We’ve seen this strange return to conservatism through our political statement right now,” he said. “Women are feeling more than ever a threat against their reproductive rights. There’s all these discussions about the idea of one’s sexuality being on the chopping block.
“Fragrances are entering into this space of taking control of sexuality, of owning sexuality and sensuality in a way that’s extremely personal,” he continued.
With this, brands and houses are approaching sexuality in new and innovative ways. For example, Jouissance, a fragrance brand created by Cherry Cheng, offers scents inspired by erotic literature from feminist trailblazers. For Cheng, employing these voices in her products is an intentional pivot from how the fragrance industry has historically approached sex.
“Traditionally, in fragrance marketing, a lot of the strategy has been focused on targeting female customers but to cater to an image of male desire. Marketers had always been men who try to guess what they think women want,” she said. “We come from a place that’s coming from female desires.”
According to research from Dsm-Firmenich, consumers are increasingly seeking a more realistic approach to sex versus the hyper-fantasy previously displayed in fragrance, making the narratives from Jouissance even more impactful. While consumers, of course, connect with certain scents, more and more are gravitating toward these narratives reflected in the fragrances.
For example, Jouissance’s bestseller En Plein Air takes inspiration from art critic and writer Catherine Millet’s 2002 erotic memoir “The Sexual Life of Catherine M.”
“We decided to take the direction of creating a fragrance that evokes the smell of outdoor sex,” Cheng said. “She had numerous adventures she wrote about in her memoir.” Therefore, the fragrance includes notes of lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, grass and fresh flowers. While Cheng said many customers gravitate toward certain scents, more and more are coming to the brand, identifying with a specific woman’s narrative.
“It’s more about the identity. By wearing a certain perfume, what does it say about me, the customer,” she said. “They want to see a little bit of a character being developed in a fragrance.”
As Cheng was inspired by erotic literature, L’Objet’s newest fragrance Blindfold was inspired simply by the word, which subtly evokes notions of sensuality and intimacy. It features go-tos for sex-inspired juices, including a synthetic civet, which is a pheromone that animals put off when mating.
“It turns everything a little sexier. It has a little bit of a woodsy, dirty note to it,” said L’Objet founder Elad Yifrach, adding that he wanted the fragrance to evoke the concept of a blindfold causing other senses to heighten.
Little has taken a similar approach of “dirtying” things up when it comes to his Heretic fragrances. For example, he dialed up his Dirty Rose fragrance with cumin seed oil, which he said adds a “funkiness.”
“It takes that beautiful rose lady, and it smudges her lipstick, and it gets her shoes off, and she’s been out all night, and it really, it roughens her up a bit,” Little said.
Little has also been eyeing some more unexpected notes that he said will begin to dominate the sensual fragrance world. He specifically pointed to notes that are surprisingly found in fecal matter, such as indole.
“There is such a draw right now to fragrances that are so peculiar,” he said, adding that suppliers are bringing him new and unexpected materials. “It’s all been quite polite. We’ve had exploration of vaginal secretions and the blood and semen fragrance, but there definitely seems to be more of a curiosity around fragrances that don’t necessarily appeal to a broad audience.”
Although the actual scent of a fragrance is crucial, the product names have become increasingly important, as consumers want to identify with a certain narrative or attitude. These naming conventions exist on a widening spectrum. For example, there’s the more direct approach with scents like Goop x Heretic’s This Smells Like My Vagina, Tom Ford’s Vanilla Sex, Charlotte Tilbury’s More Sex and Cyklar’s Sex Musk. Then there are those with a subtler approach like Snif’s Naughty Nonna and L’Objet’s Blindfold. Experts say both approaches will continue to exist to reach a variety of consumers.
Little, who says he likes to “poke the bear” when naming scents, said: “It really depends on the person… There’s a lot of people out there that like to be a little provocative and that like to push the envelope, but perfume is a safe place to do that. It’s a fun place to give people this aspect of dreaming and of exploration.”
While well-known brands and houses are tapping into the consumer’s interest in sexuality, a lesser-known crop of perfumes have gained traction across social media and Amazon, primarily for pheromone-based products.
According to data from Market Defense, the category, which is not new to Amazon, reaches average monthly sales of more than $30,000 for women’s pheromone fragrances and nearly $90,000 for men’s pheromone fragrances. Search data from Spate shows that the category receives 10.8 million average weekly views on TikTok. Key brands include Pure Instinct and RawChemistry. With this increased interest around pheromones, brands like L’Objet are also playing in the space.
Similarly, new body care brand Mienne has infused aphrodisiacs, like ashwaghanda, to its scents to further enhance the sensorial experience, as they boost circulation and relaxation. Per data from Market Defense, aphrodosiac-based massage candles, which Mienne has launched with, are also gaining traction.
With its scents, the Mienne team intentionally opted for more subtle iterations, focusing instead on the sensations of applying product and the concept of leaning in to smell someone.
“We think about fragrance as a way to invite people to come closer, so the idea is that it’s not overpowering,” chief marketing officer Julia Casella said. “The fragrances are very nuanced, and they focus a lot on the mid notes, rather than strong top notes… We want people to experience the world turned on.”
Experts at Dsm-Firmenich similarly predict that this more subtle approach will make up a significant portion of the category going forward.
“Sensuality today is something quieter and more grounded — it helps people feel fully present,” said Dsm-Firmenich global marketing director, fine fragrance experience, Justin Welch. “Global research across our Magic Moments and emotion program studies reveals a clear shift: sensuality is moving away from fantasy and into felt reality. It’s not about being seen —it’s about being near.”
While pheromones and aphrodisiacs have promised sexual benefits for decades, there’s new technology rolling out that validates specific notes and formulas, proven to boost feelings of sensuality. Givaudan, for example, launched a new technology in May called CheriScentz, a tool that can decipher whether a note or composition will boost feelings of sensuality. The company defines sensuality as “the capacity to experience pleasure and connections through the senses.”
According to Brooks, the technology showed that longer-lasting scents were often associated with sensuality, including musks and gourmands. By using the CheriScentz palette, Givaudan’s marketing manager science and technology Marion Coureault said “[the perfumer] can check their fragrance [to see] if it’s compliant or not.” If not, the platform will guide them on how to modify the formula.
As perfumers have more tools at their disposal than ever before and an increased interest in sexual fragrances, experts predict a wave of new and unexpected notes will take hold.
“Because of the boom in the fragrance industry right now, there’s more money that’s being put into the development of new odors,” Little said.
That being said, with more extreme versions to subtle iterations, sexual fragrance is becoming a sort of choose-your-own-adventure category.
“Fragrance, for so long, has just been a commodity that had to be appealing to such a broad audience. Now, we’ve got this Millennial, Gen Z customer who’s really up for anything,” said Little. “It doesn’t all have to be vanilla.”
SIDEBAR:
Jouissance En Plein Air, $206
Jouissance’s bestselling En Plein Air is inspired by art critic and writer Catherine Millet’s erotic memoir. The scent takes inspiration from retellings of outdoor orgies, with notes of citrus, grass and fresh flowers.
Mienne Massage Candle, $75
Mienne’s Massage Candle, which can be used like a body oil, features bergamot peel oil to “relax and heighten pleasure,” per the brand.
L’Objet Blindfold, $250
L’Objet’s Blindfold taps into the world of intimacy with skin scents and pheromones, meant to evoke the idea of heightened senses due to sight deprivation from a blindfold.
Heretic Nocturnal Discovery Set, $35
Heretic’s Nocturnal collection explores night-blooming flowers and features notes of indole, found in florals like jasmine and orange blossom, as well as human feces, which Little predicts will be a new go-to in sensual juices.