Beauty media platform Cosmetics Business has revealed the top 5 fragrance trends of 2025.

• Fragrance is up 8%, while skin care and make-up are declining by 9% and 13% respectively (source: Daash Intelligence, year-on-year April 2025, week two).
• The Fragrance Shop reported that it has seen 70% year-on-year growth in younger shoppers this year, while Piper Sandler said that teenage boys’ annual spending on fragrances has grown by 44% y-o-y.
• And a Circana survey found that 55% of consumers aged 18-34 have changed their 'fragrance behaviour' over the past six months - the difference being that they now buy more body sprays.

Trend 1: Boozy notes

• The sugary sweet, ‘edible’ trend inspires a wave of new scents, with notes such as cherry - and increasingly, strawberry.
• There is also a growing interest in more savoury scents, and a refined and elevated twist is being provided by the rise of boozy notes, such as Cognac, whisky and rum.
• A shot of new alcohol-inspired launches started to pour in at the end of 2024 and has continued to flow through 2025.

Trend 2: Bedtime fragrances

• Sleep has nestled to the centre of beauty and wellness trends, and for many companies, it has evolved into a core focus.
• Functional fragrances have become an important part of our nighttime routines, and TikTok has been instrumental in popularising this trend, attracting a new generation of fragrance consumers.
• This trend reflects shifting consumer attitudes towards why they wear scent and for whom they wear it.

Trend 3: Solid fragrances

• One of the key growth areas for the industry’s valuable Gen Z consumers is a growing interest in new scent formats.
• Solid fragrances tick several high-ranking priorities in younger consumers’ purchasing considerations, ranging from sustainability to personalisation.
• In addition to this, they offer benefits such as portability and competitive pricing compared to typical eau de parfum or eau de toilette fragrances.

Trend 4: Lickable perfume

• While gourmand fragrances continue to captivate consumers, with luxury and affordable brands across the market creating scents inspired by food-inspired flavours, the increasing appetite for “edible” scents is giving way to a whole new category of foodie fragrances that customers can actually eat.
• This trend explores how brands are creating truly multisensory experiences, hoping to entice consumers.

Trend 5: Modern aldehydes

• Aldehydes provide a dazzling freshness to fragrance.
• And it is this “tremendous fresh and clean” facet - reminiscent of crisp white linen - that is particularly well positioned to appeal to young consumers who may be discovering aldehydic fragrances for the first time.
• This trend explores whether the latest aldehydic launches, which offer radically clean, hedonistic and vintage ideas, can give Gen Z the comfort they crave.

For the full report, visit cosmeticsbusiness.com.