With less than a month until Esxence, the art perfumery event, now is a great time to explore the origins of the term "niche fragrance".

Firmenich has launched Firmenich Studio, a customized digital platform designed to help customers build their future fragrance, food and beverage creations. The platform provides customers with easy and instant access to detailed information about the company's products, as well as updates on designs, sample requests and key regulatory documentation.

The "What's Next-Insight into Culture Drivers on Tik Tok" report defined the 5 most popular hashtags during 2021: #selfcare, #transformation, #blackgirlmagic, #asmr #oddlysatisfying. Based on the research conducted, it was identified that consumers also use Tik Tok for beauty advice and that 73 percent of consumers feel a deep connection with brands they can interact with on Tik Tok.

Niche perfumery brand Le Jardin Retrouvé has chosen Sorga's blockchain technology to guarantee the authenticity of its products to distributors and consumers. Le Jardin Retrouvé is riding the Asian wave. "Sales are definitely as high as expected, and we should multiply our global sales three to four times this year, with China being the driving factor," says Michel Gutsatz. "We realized there was a big problem with counterfeiting and gray markets in China. It's actually a problem in France as well," explains Clara Feder. "Brands and distributors all face the same problem in many key markets: how can we authenticate our products?" Blockchain is a technological solution that is increasingly being adopted by brands in a variety of industries to ensure product traceability and against counterfeiting.

There is strong interest among Chinese consumers in premium products and the moves that major brands have made toward digitization. The interest in premium segments is exemplified by the fact that in more than a year, Shiseido has sold 15 masstige brands in order to move toward more prestige and premium business segments. The Japanese giant attributed the growth of its business in China to the growth of its high-end brands, according to its annual financial report for 2021.

German cosmetics brand Barbara Sturm is launching a line of microbiotics dedicated to Generation Z. The products, designed for the 12- to 25-year-old age group, include cleansing balm, a hyaluronic anti-imperfection serum, a face cream and an anti-imperfection treatment, made with innovative new formulations and sustainable packaging. Sturm has always aimed to speak to Generation Z; in fact, during the pandemic, it launched an online skin-care school with weekly classes dedicated to Generation Z and celebrities in that age group (such as Hailey Bieber, Emma Roberts, and Ashley Graham) to teach consumers how to take care of their skin.

In this interview Ilsa Manning, founder of the Ilsa Fragrances brand, explains the 5 things you need to know to be successful as an entrepreneur.

In this interview Trinny Woodall outlines the strategies her direct-to-consumer brand adopts to target women who are no longer young.

Photo credits: https://travelinghobby.com/2018/07/02/can-trinny-woodalls-personalized-makeup-minis-disrupt-the-532-billion-cosmetics-market/

In addition to often having an original proposal, emerging brands have interesting foundation stories and make a shrewd and modern use of digital. According to Fashionista, the definition of indie is not unique: if we asked six people to define what “indie” means, we would have six different definitions. The fact remains that indie brands, besides being numerous, are setting trends in the perfumery sector thanks to an attention to sustainability, to genderless, to women entrepreneurs, often owners of brands, and to a curious focus on the memories of founders. Among the trends, the search for consoling, functional and anti-stress fragrances is confirmed.