From haircare to hand sanitisers, brands are riding the olfactive wave as our collective obsession with fragrance hits high tide. Whether it’s Gen Z reshaping the luxury beauty market with their discerning noses or our shared desire to ritualise the smallest gestures, scent has become beauty’s stealth power player. What once elevated a spritz of perfume now lingers in lipsticks, blushers and bronzers, layering self-expression on self-expression.
Fragrance is no longer confined to the dressing table; haute perfumers are being enlisted to scent every swipe of make-up, transforming it into an invisible accessory to bolster mood and define identity. The allure is subtle but deeply transporting: scent defines not only how we want to be perceived, but also how we want to feel while wearing it. It’s no longer enough to swoosh on luxury pigments; we want to feel luxurious as we do it, and that’s where fragrance comes into its own.
"Brands know that scent triggers emotional memory"
"Today’s luxury brands understand that scent triggers emotional memory more powerfully than any other sense," says the make-up historian Sara Long, noting that cosmetic scents once served only to mask unpleasant odours of early formulas made with mercury, lead and animal fats.
"The psychology is quite deliberate – brands choose signatures that align with their heritage, narrative or aspirational lifestyles. Clean, barely-there scents speak of modernity and skin-consciousness, while opulent florals signal old-world luxury."
That language of scent is being rewritten with every generation. Guerlain’s cult Météorites Light-Revealing Pearls of Powder for example, has had its famous fragrance reimagined by the perfumer Delphine Jelk, with a woody facet of sandalwood, musk and vanilla bringing sensual depth to a powdery classic.
Meanwhile, Byredo leans into its emotional DNA with moody, gourmand facettes. "Scent has always been central to Byredo’s identity, so it was natural to collaborate with Jérôme Epinette to weave olfaction through our make-up, too," a spokesperson for the brand says. Its lipstick, liquid formulas and latest Lip Care line hum with a symphony of juicy red fruits and powdery florals, wrapped in vanilla cream and pink sugar.
By the 1920s, scented make-up had already become a hallmark of quality and sophistication – a lineage that luxury houses continue to draw on today. Louis Vuitton recently launched its first make-up collection infused with bespoke fragrances created by the master perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, transforming each compact and lipstick into a fine-fragrance calling card.
"What’s clever about Louis Vuitton’s approach is that it’s creating olfactory cohesion," Sara says. "When your make-up shares DNA with your perfumes, it reinforces brand identity at a near-subliminal level. It’s a luxury that whispers, rather than shouts."
Chanel has long mastered this art, weaving fragrance savoir faire through its skincare and make-up lines, with every collection carrying a distinctive olfactory thread tied to the brand’s universe.
Similarly, Celine imbues its lipsticks with the same rose and rice powder accord found across its Haute Parfumerie collection. Prada’s Infusion d’Iris, meanwhile, subtly scents its Optimizing Care Lip and Cheek range, extending a timeless signature across every touchpoint.
Few things have the ability to transport us from the mundane to the sublime quite like fragrance – and when it’s paired with pigment, make-up becomes not only about who we want to portray, but also where we want to go in our minds while wearing it.
Brands know this well, which is why different scents are often used to evoke distinct places. Take Guerlain’s legendary Terracotta powder, which has been whisking wearers off to sunnier climes for years with its sun-warmed blend of ylang-ylang, orange blossom, vanilla, tonka bean and white musk.
Or Terry de Gunzburg’s coveted Tea to Tan collection, featuring a jasmine and monoi scent that recalls long summers on the Riviera. "For me, beauty is always a sensorial journey. When I created the Tea to Tan formula years ago, its signature scent quickly became a favourite," Terry says.
"As the collection grew, it was important to me that this much-loved fragrance remained at its heart, from the Sun Powder bronzer to the Blush Powder. The scent is woven through each product to transform every application into a ritual, and a moment that transports you back to summer."
Woven into each stroke of powder or swipe of lipstick, fragrance elevates makeup from cosmetic to ritual. It transforms the everyday into something transportive; an invisible accessory, a story told in colour and scent.
