The gourmand family, warmly comforting and tinged with nostalgia, will be the scent style consumers seek out for support and reassurance, according to the British Society of Perfumers’ (BSP) New Fragrance Trends of 2023 event. Members, non-members and friends gathered for the London stage of this hugely popular presentation, introduced by Julie Dunkley and hosted by Virginie Daniau at the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Related: BSF, BSP & SCS Host Bringing the Senses Together 2024
The turnout, as usual, was impressive, with every seat taken on the testing tables and eager students lining the hall waiting to grab a spare blotter to inhale where they could. Although most attendees had probably tried many of the fragrances on offer already throughout the year, the event offers a welcome chance to network and hear what other colleagues had to say about each new launch.
The trends were presented by past president Virginie Daniau who explained that comforting gourmands, from Akro’s Bake, with its cake-and-citrus accords to Jean Paul Gaultier’s Divine, featuring salty meringue aquatics, via the almost edible Yum Pistachio Gelato by Kayali, have become the biggest influence in every sector, category and gender, from mass market to niche brands.
There is welcome sustainable innovation within the gourmand family too, with Burberry’s Goddess, a lavender gourmand, using Firmenich’s Vanilla Caviar for the first time in a launch, where its innovative and highly sustainable extraction process offers a sweet, rich vanilla closer to the natural source.
While members blind tested the selection of all gender, masculine and feminine new launches, Virginie talked us through the year’s developments, including how, as result of all-gender fragrances gaining momentum, there has been a shift towards a more strategic use of florals for women and woods for men.
Rose is revisited as a defining floral for women, worked with six different types of musk in Narcisso Rodriguez’s All Of Me and with a piquant vibrancy in Cerruti’s 1881 Rêve de Roses. The trend is also tipping into all genders, with Dom Rosa Millesima by Les Liquides Imaginaires featuring a champagne note alongside the Damascene rose. This classic note revival, claims Virgine, comes in response to an unsettled economic situation, with consumers seeking out reassurance in familiarity.
Woods are becoming even more important in defining the men's category, alongside soft powdery notes and gently spiced, warm ambers adding a mellow vibe, as seen in Carolina Herrera’s CH Passion For Him, which includes soft incense and powdery orris alongside soothing tonka. Orange flower is a key floral for men, as seen in MYSLF by YSL and Grey Vetiver by Tom Ford. Not forgetting the ubiquitous gourmand, as seen in Le Male Elixir by Jean Paul Gaultier.
Incense and myrrh are also key notes across all categories, often offering a touch of warmth, grounding and comfort. Tom Ford’s all-gender Myrrhe Mystere is a super-saturated hit of myrrh essence and myrrh retinoid Orpur, layered over an ultra vanilla accord.
All attendees had the chance to vote on their favorite new launch within each category, with results published in early 2024. But the evening really isn’t about finding winners, instead it’s a chance to appreciate yet another exciting and innovative year in fragrance, while catching up with friends old and new within the industry. Some even say it’s the event that kick starts their festive season, and who are we to disagree?
Award Winners
- Lineage Amouage by Karine Vinchon Spehner, Robertet
- CH passion for Him C. Herrera by Antoine Maisondieu and Christophe Raynaud, Givaudan
- Goddess Burberry by Amandine Marie, Firmenich
