Looking Forward to Doing My Weekly Laundry.

Imagine a new laundry life. Doing laundry would become an intense and personal scented pleasure. Let me tell you that this fictitious experience is entirely possible and is actually available. Niche fragrance brands have created high-end laundry scents.

A New Laundry With My Perfume Identity.

The new type of laundry fragrance does not belong to the universe of mass market fabric detergents that we are very well acquainted with and stocked up on our house’s shelves. Don’t get me wrong. Those scents have been carefully developed by expert perfumers with specific briefs from manufacturers to provide a clean, bright, and fresh-smelling clothes experience. Since the 1960’s, the scents have been tested and have evolved to ensure a memorable (the instant recognition of the brand product by the customer), and enjoyable feeling of cleanliness. In fact, some families stick to one brand as a change would destroy their house ‘clean’ identity. For others, price remains the essence of the laundry game; they are fickle, switch products depending on the offers and can even choose a ‘no brand’ detergent. In addition to the smell of the laundry detergent, the choice of the perfume softener adds another level of complexity; vanilla, peach, or lavender scents will blend with the fabric fragrance. The end result can also vary depending on the washing machine, fabric type, water quality and quantity of product one chooses to use. In short, even if the fragrance experience is not exactly constant, it is clearly not based on a personal choice. What we live with is a standardized fabric olfactive experience. On the opposite side, one can also choose sensitive skin fabric detergents with no scent at all. That may solve the matter for some. No scent is better than a scent that one does not particularly like or one that is too overpowering. In this instance, it can clash with the fragrance one has personally chosen. Well, I have good news as there are solutions within our grasp.

The Story of a Beautiful Laundry. A Scents Treat.

A true delight for our senses is now available since many niche perfume brands have developed exquisite laundry scents. What they have done seems simple when in reality it is not as they are multiple options to be selected. Some brands have chosen the most iconic scent from their perfume collection and produced one fabric detergent with that perfume base. The Maison Francis Kurkdjian is a pioneer as it was the first to introduce a linen care ritual in its product range. Today, the Aqua Universalis aficionados can indulge in the delicate and subtle fragrance in their cleaning ritual. Le Labo went for a partnership with the Laundress, the exclusive US brand, to create a fabric scent for Santal 33. Other brands have chosen to develop a specific laundry scent that does not mirror a perfume in their collection. This is the case for BDK perfumes.

The laundry detergent typically comes as an ancillary product, an add-on like a body cream, wash or soap and is usually developed once the fragrances are well established. A perfect example of a brand perfume range extension is Juliette has a gun. Its famous ‘not a perfume’ scent has also become ‘not a detergent’.

In some occasions, young niche brands decide to launch the fabric fragrance right from the start. The young founder of the ‘young’ Dutch brand, Fugazzi Scents, chose to immediately create fragrances and fabric detergents. He picked parfum 1 and goudh from its fragrance collection. It is quite unusual for fabric care to have oud in its composition. Fugazzi goudh fragrance is divinely translated into a fabric scent. One finds its unique blend of Lily of the Valley, grapefruit, jasmine, patchouli, and oud notes.

Other brands go all the way. They decide without hesitation to have their whole fragrance collection available as fabric detergents. This was the choice of ph fragrances. Five years after its launch, the brand has forty-five product references covering three segments: home interior, fine fragrances, and body care. Camille Le Feuvre, the female founder, explains to me that her original business intuition was right; once the client tries her laundry scent, there is no way back. Repeat purchase is thankfully extremely high and nicely amortizes the long research and development investment. Before launching her brand, Camille had acquired an extensive product development expertise working at Givaudan. Her independent sustainable brand is successfully growing and opening stand-alone boutiques for a full and beautiful expression of the brand universe.

The rise of fabric scents holds a simple explanation: a substantial amount of customers who are attracted to niche brands want to experience their beloved fragrance all the way. They want to experience their perfume in any shape or form possible. They want to feel it as much as they can and whenever they want. They are determined to maximize their scent pleasure and do not want to betray their olfactive signature. They can be referred to as authentic perfume ‘fanatics’.

Niche Laundry is For Absolute Fragrance Lovers.

For niche fragrance lovers, the matter at stake is not about enjoying an exceptional fabric care experience but indulging in their personal scent in an exponential way. Their definition of a beautifully clean laundry is different. It has to carry their perfume identity. ‘Smelling like myself’ is their mantra. This is a beautiful laundry, for people who love their fragrance without restraint.

A Simple Positive Gesture. Machine after Machine.

There are also great positives in the new perfume laundry formulas developed by most of the niche brands. The clean and sustainable dimension has been well addressed. Their gentle and vegetable oil scent formulation is usually made of 98% natural, 98% biodegradable, vegan, contains 0 nocive ingredient for the environment (tensioactive from petrol, optic azurant, colorant, palm oil, controversial conservative, sulfate, EDTA, anionic surfactant, parabens ...). Other advantages are that there is no longer the need for a softener, the product quantity required is far less than with the other mainstream detergents and the temperature of washing can be as low as 30 degrees. Last but not least, the packaging bottle is recyclable and even refillable in some stand-alone boutiques like the one of pH fragrances.

Our Laundry Indulgence Carries a Cost Difference.

Given the completely different production and product composition, the small-batch and high-quality laundry formulas of the niche fragrances usually cost between three and four times more than the regular mass market ones. It can be seen as a luxury purchase reserved for special items or occasions. The founder of pH fragrances tells me that her regular clients use her brand fabric detergent mainly for their beautiful bed linen, fine tablecloths, expensive underwear, special shirts and most delicate fabrics… Her client’s feedback is incredible: her brand fabric detergent gives them a simple, yet immense pleasure in their daily life. A small luxury they can afford.

Laundry Offers Five Moments of Pure Scent Pleasure.

This is standard knowledge if you have experience in fabric development. I therefore asked Camille Le Feuvre to shed some light on the sequence and nature of the five moments. All of them are linked to our sense of smell. The first moment of pleasure comes from the opening of the fabric detergent bottle. The second is when the clothes are taken out of the washing machine. The third is about hanging the clothes for drying. The fourth one is folding and putting the items back in the cupboards and drawers. The fifth is the moment when one put the clothes on one’s skin. At every stage, there is a strong connection to scent and a feeling of pleasure. If I were to keep only one, for sure it would be the last one. This is the moment of truth. Pure luxury on skin. The unique moment of fragrance delight.

I believe there is a strong reason to indulge into one life’s exquisite laundry moments. Five simple pleasures in small measures. It is easy to be seduced by a new laundry and to explore a different scent way. Today. It is my laundry day. Hurray!