The ailing allure of perfume: Women ditching signature scents

Young women are ditching the perfumes of the past and opting for more personalised fragrances, a new study has found.

Unlike their mothers and grandmothers, many females don’t have a signature scent, instead turning to the new process of creating their own.

According to research published in Bloomberg, women are quickly losing interest in celebrity-branded perfumes with customised and possibly more pricey scents becoming all the rage.

Throughout Australasia, people are far more likely to splash out and purchase an expensive premium fragrance over the mass marketed types. As long as it’s personalised or natural and organic, women will be lining up to grab a bottle.

This is a far cry from the way Baby Boomer women grew up — showing their loyalty to one brand and wearing it every day. Many probably switched their perfume brand once or twice throughout different stages of their lives. Woman usually had a brand they used in their early 20s and into motherhood, before switching things up in their later years. Still, there was always a favourite.

A number of beautiful scents entered the market throughout the ’60s and ’70s, with the likes of No 19 by Chanel and Calèche by Hermès first hitting the shelves. No 19 was worn by thousands across the country with its hints of jasmine, galbanum, citrus like bergamot and relaxing neroli tickling the senses. It was mixed with orris which is derived from irises for the perfect perfume. 

Calèche used similar citrus notes such as bergamot, mandarin and lemon as the basis of the perfume, adding other elements such as vetiver, sandalwood and musk to complete the scent.

Read more: That scent takes me back: Classic perfumes that spelled pure glamour

For many Starts at 60 members, going out without a perfume on is not an option and their favourites take prime position in the bathroom.

“My earlier ones were Tweed and 4711, the the first of J.Los perfumes. Now I use Amor Amor for every day use and Daisy for fancy,” Dorothy Stumer explained. “I don’t feel fully dressed, even for the doctors or shopping without deodorant and perfume.”

While Nancy Muldoon Gregory added: “My favourite perfume for good is Youth Dew – Estée Lauder, wore her perfume on my wedding day 43 years ago. Every day favourite is Red Door or Marushkia”.

However, things have really changed over time with a 2016 report by Medium revealing overall perfume sales are going down despite serving up more options. It was actually the extensive choice of fragrances that was blamed for the decline as most scents were fairly similar and there was little differentiation.

“With so many new releases, manufacturers are running the risk that consumers will become increasingly confused and frustrated by the never-ending choice,” Euromonitor International Senior Industry Analyst Diana Dodon told the publication at the time.

In 2016 celebrity perfumes were all the hype, while the classics like Chanel No.5 were struggling to keep up. Elizabeth Arden blamed its 18 per cent decline on the introduction of so many celebrity scents from famous faces such as Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. Two years on it seems neither the celebrity or the classics are impressing women and so they have turned to the alternative of creating their own.

Do you have a favourite perfume? Do you wear perfume every day?