Can an 11-year-old have such a clear idea of what his days will smell like? Is it possible at that age to have such an educated sense of smell to choose a favorite fragrance?signature fragrance They say on TikTok—and that isn’t exactly commercial, cheap and easy to wear? Georgie Yatzkan (11 years old) is clear about it. Hers is Silver Mountain Water, a fragrance from the house of Creed (275 euros, 100 milliliters). Before that, she had a fleeting phase of infatuation with Aqua Universalis, by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (250 euros, 100 ml.), but that’s over now. Her signature fragrance is definitely from Creed. She decided on it two years ago, when she was nine.
The assertiveness of pre-teens and their unexpected fondness for fragrances with woody notes, incense and leather, designed for people two decades older and with a high purchasing power, has surprised those who pull the marketing strings in the beauty industry. Also surprised by the mastery that boys have of terms such as “top and bottom notes”, “chypre”, “fougère”, “gourmand” – the classic olfactory families – or “sillage”, a French term from professional perfumery that describes the trail left by a fragrance. Words that belong to the technical jargon of an adult and sophisticated universe, proper to noses and experts.
Daniel Figuero, author of Counter perfume (Editorial Superflua, 2021), discovered a few months ago that some of the chapters of her book, a compendium of the history of perfume, were being translated into the “fast and absorbing discourse of TikTok”. “In Spain, I was tagged more frequently and my editor confirmed to me that from 2022 to 2023, sales of the book had tripled, something that seemed strange to me since literary novelties move almost as fast as those in the fragrance market.” Figuero, who works training Dior fragrance salespeople, asked her store teams and found that very young customers, almost children, approached luxury fragrances “without fear and with very specific questions.”
A few weeks ago, the newspaper The New York Times The article was titled “Need a good cologne or perfume? Ask a teenage boy for his opinion.” The author, Callie Holtermann, asked the sales departments at Sephora and Nordstrom in Manhattan, and they all agreed with the perception of the Dior sales teams in Spain. They specifically mentioned that they had to replenish the sample bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir several times because groups of teenagers were bathing in it.
Although he does not have a definitive theory about the phenomenon, Figuero believes that marking social status and distinction from the rest of their peers may be what stimulates the unusual interest of pre-adolescents and adolescents in designer fragrances. “These perfumes position them as people closer to the adult world than to the childish one, and they also help them control body odors caused by the hormonal changes of adolescence.”
“In some places we sell more €350 fragrances to 15-year-old boys than €150 creams to women,” he confirmed. The Country WeekRodrigo Menéndez, CEO of Grupo Isolée, which distributes designer cosmetics and fragrances in Spain. His corner at El Corte Inglés in Puerto Banús forged the global virality of one of the favorite fragrances of teenagers: Layton, by Marly Parfums. Two summers ago, Bad Bunny stopped by, took it with him and posted it on his social networks. The rest is history.
TikTok, a social network where the sense of smell is absent, seems to be at the heart of teen nose sophistication. The dark academia aesthetic or trend has taken hold there, a gothic subculture whose attributes are leather-bound and coffee-stained books, fireplaces in old libraries, the stuffy atmosphere of Edinburgh, grey trench coats, fog, intensity and melancholy as vital attitudes. The Portrait of Dorian Gray and Dead poets society These are two of the inspirations that impact the audience with 10-second videos. To be a true dark academic, you have to smell like a signature perfume: Bibliothèque, by Byredo. A dense, fatherly fragrance that until a few years ago would have been classified as old-fashioned.
“An aesthetic is an aesthetic pattern that allows you to build a custom identity and universe, to get hold of references without having to read a book. Now that there are no urban tribes, adhering to a TikTok aesthetic is very useful for a teenager to create a sense of belonging,” reflects Victor Ant, a journalist and public relations specialist in luxury hospitality. “The Chinese network’s algorithm is very precise and its impacts are very fast. Teenagers are constantly exposed to very defined impacts, it is not very difficult to build an identity around a type of product.” Note the abuse of the word “impact” in this paragraph. According to the RAE, “emotional shock produced by disconcerting news.” Intensive TikTok consumers emerge stunned from the endless scrolling, with learned jargon, fragile but reproducible knowledge, and the desire to smell like their tribe.
Then there are leaders like Jeremy Fragrance, a influencer German with 8.8 million followers, dressed in white, with his Rolex and his Ferrari, pontificating in favour of his signature fragrance, Bleu, by Chanel. Of his ostentatious lifestyle, his perfume is the only thing that a teenager could copy with some effort. “Fragrances have always had the function of being the gateway to luxury. It is almost impossible to buy the Ferrari, difficult the Rolex, but by saving up or asking for it as a Christmas present, the perfume could be a success,” says Ant.
The network is full of influencers who are as young as their audience, including 15-year-old Tristan Rodriguez from Arizona, who records his videos against a backdrop of dozens of bottles of expensive fragrances. According to the advice he gives his followers, to pass a math exam you should wear citrus scents, and for a date, it’s better to go for spicy notes.
After days, hours and weeks on TikTok, it seems a natural consequence that the teenage sense of smell has become more sophisticated and expensive. A semi-annual survey by investment bank Piper Sandler on youth spending patterns showed a 26% growth in the amount spent on fragrances up to March of this year, with a drop in mass-market brands and a rise in consumer brands. premium like Valentino and Jean Paul Gaultier. Pollsters consider luxury fragrances on boys to be the equivalent of endless grooming routines. skincare in girls. A symbol of social status that allows them to stick out their chests and be heard as prescribers in an adult matter.
McKinsey’s report values the fragrance category at $70 billion by 2022, and notes the race by niche brands to win over Generation Z. A demographic segment that the Piper Sandler report describes as “disloyal and elusive.” “While older men are stuck on the same fragrance for years, even decades, Gen Z consumers are constantly switching and switching between one and another,” the study states.
“They collect Byredo fragrances as if they were trading cards. They don’t want one, they want 10!” says Victor Ant. The prices of this brand range from 150 to 350 euros. “They have a purchase order: they start with Gypsy Water; they continue with Blanche, and so on until they complete a collection that ends with spicy and woody notes, and then they classify them for daytime, nighttime, party or everyday use,” adds Victor, who says that in his adolescence he was that old child who confused adults with his perfumes. “When I was eight years old I asked my father for the Loewe men’s cologne, the one with the leather cap, which cost 3,500 pesetas at the time, and when I was 14 I was wearing Fahrenheit, by Dior, while my friends used Adidas cologne. Perfume is a tool that helps you create an identity; when you mature you no longer need to be so explicit to define yourself,” he reflects.
This apparent democratisation of designer fragrances is part of the mirage of social media. Most TikTokers probably haven’t bought their Byredo or Frédéric Malle collection, but have benefited from the brands’ free shipping to create content as part of their digital strategy. “Talking about high-end perfumery distinguishes not only the person who buys it, but also the person who reviews it because it’s not so easy to have access to high-end fragrances,” says Daniel Figuero, who cannot hide a certain fascination with the talent of many young people to define a fragrance in 15 seconds.
The desire and taste for designer fragrances has driven the dupe phenomenon on the internet and in real life. Cheaper duplicates with slightly changed names—Red Tenptation by Zara, for example, is reminiscent of Baccarat Rouge by Francis Kurkdjian—but easily recognizable and comparable to a high-end fragrance. From Inditex to Mercadona, many respectable companies have jumped on this bandwagon, which outrages the authors of the originals, but is a relief for the pockets of younger consumers.
“Niche perfumery is the most interesting, but it is expensive. Before, you had to jump through hoops; now there are very well-made equivalents,” reflects Victor Ant, who believes that the phenomenon can have a positive interpretation. “These teenagers will be the great consumers of tomorrow. Now they buy the equivalent but they will go for the original as soon as they can afford it.” Desire will always be desire, said Jacques Lacan.
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