Millennials are the driving force behind the trends reshaping the sector. Their tastes are very different from those of their parents and peers of past generations: they want to smell different. Now they ask for more transparency and more gender-neutral scents, preferring synthetic perfumes over the strand of natural ones that are still obtained through animal or land exploitation, and they love citrus perfumes.

It is now a known fact that anosmia (loss of smell) and ageusia (loss of taste) are some of the most prominent COVID symptoms. So as a result of this new piece of information, a preliminary self diagnosis, which will certainly turn into a benefit for the community, should now become a much easier task for everyone. To facilitate this step forward some Fragrance Houses have collaborated with hospitals and research centres in order to create a number of extremely intelligible and accessible tools that will allow patients, or anyone suspecting of any symptoms, to access a preliminary diagnosis through a questionnaire.

Quoting some of the statements of Philippe Ughetto (President of Fragrance Foundation France), this article highlights how, despite the growing number of brands certified as natural in the last few years, the actual achievement of a fully "green" brand is an extremely complex and effortful challenge in the olfactory industry.

One of the largest essence houses, Givaudan, opened its first pop-up in New York, offering customers a different store experience.

History is known to be cyclical and, as such, tends to repeat itself… From the birth of perfume and natural extraction methods, we have passed on to the use of synthetic ingredients and artificial or automated extraction processes. However, due to a new growing need for global sustainability, we are now, in a way, travelling back in time as we witness a rediscovery of the natural element, preferring sustainable fragrances, organic elements and non-invasive extraction methods.

The article describes some variations in the acquisition strategies: how private equity firms will acquire smaller and smaller cosmetic brands (or related companies regarding technology and production) and also take on greater risk profiles, entering with minority interests in order to intercept their growth first, testifying how the growth of cosmetics brands can be faster and faster in the case of brands that have direct access to the audience or that have the ability to build a community of followers.

To be sustainable, a perfume must be cruelty-free, it must not contain raw materials derived from soil and flora exploitation and it must be as transparent as possible in indicating its ingredients and their origin.

This survey lead by BW Confidential in the period between April 27th and May 3rd, received an answer from 392 industry professionals (between distribution, brand and supplier communities).
49% of them stated they are expecting a very conspicuous decrease in sales. The majority, 57%, also said that despite shops might be now opening again, they will need more than three months in order to recover their sales. 43% also highlighted the lack of clarity surrounding the new rules and hygiene protocols that retailers should adopt.
Having a large leftover of products still in stock, 74% of them is considering applying a discount operation, whilst only the 2% stated they won't consider such option.
Moreover there's also a visible disagreement between the 38% of professionals that believe the online sales will continue to excel and the 30% of whom estimates the online sales will actually follow a descending trend.