Sweet scents and classic revivals will be big in future fragrance market

The familiar and comforting nature of home baked desserts and candyfloss has led to a large number of recent fragrance releases attempting to recreate the reassuring scents.

According to perfumers Pierre-Constantin Gueros and Kevin J Verspoor, writing in the Pierce Mattie Trend Forecast Volume III, these fragrances create fun and young scents that are not too sophisticated but can be found in large numbers of the shelves of department stores and perfumeries.

However, the perfumers do not expect the trend to last forever, predicting a slight subsidence of the sugary treats as consumers' tastes continue to evolve.

Another trend to watch out for in 2010, according to Gueros and Verspoor, is the increasingly unisex nature of the woody scents.

Notes such as sandalwood and patchouli, have been traditionally used in men’s fragrances but will be seen in more and more assertive and strong scents for women.

“Eventually woods will no longer be considered solely a masculine family,”​ they claim.

Recapturing glamorous past​

In addition, the perfumers expect more revivals of classic scents over the coming months, linked to a need in the industry to recapture fragrance’s glamorous past.

Indeed, a number of recent launches have harked back to the glory days of perfumery, including the revival of the classic London fragrance house Grossmith which re-launched a number of its signature scents in autumn this year.

The company, founded in 1835, enjoyed its heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but has not traded for over 30 years.

Its newly re-launched luxury offerings retail in selected perfumeries in the UK, although international expansion is planned, for between ₤95 (€106) and ₤425.

And it isn’t just finished products that are being revived, according to Gueros and Verspoor a number of ingredients have come back into fashion.

White flower notes often associated with heavy fragrances have been rediscovered, according to the perfumers, and transformed into sensuous and crisp scents. In addition, certain elements of the iris flower have been seen in recent perfumes, reviving the classic ingredient for the modern market.

A final trend highlighted by the pair in the Pierce Mattie Trend Forecast is the green movement, encompassing not only natural ingredients but also fresher, greener feeling scents inspired by grass and leaves.