"My sympathies: never before has smelling good been such big business. Fragrance was the fastest-growing category among mass beauty retailers over the first half of 2025, continuing a years-long perfume boom that's conditioned consumers to eliminate their own natural odors with full-body deodorants; stink themselves up again with specially made scents for the body, hair, vagina and/or testicles; and drench their clothes in multi-product laundry cocktails for good measure."
"The hashtag #PerfumeTikTok boasts 4.8m posts. Atomizers are status symbols. People pay $4,000 for discontinued formulas and pray for brands to release bigger bottles. The market's so hot that Sephora, Ulta and TikTok Shop are engaged in an all-out fragrance war and consumers are losing. We've collectively flushed $85.6bn down the toilette this year, cost of living crisis be damned."
A 47-year-old experiences new sensitivity to fabric softener and perfumes that cause nausea and sickness. Strong scents on visitors or a children's playmate make the home uncomfortable. The person does not want to refuse children's socializing but wants to prevent bringing scent-exposed children into the apartment. The fragrance market has rapidly expanded, encouraging heavy use of multiple scented products and laundry practices. Odor molecules access the brain's emotional center, which can drive illogical scent obsession. Pandemic-related reduced exposure to others' natural odors may have de-acclimated people, increasing sensitivity to common scents. Some individuals pay high prices for niche fragrances, contributing to widespread scented environments.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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