The Covid-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it. Beyond the catastrophic human impact, the pandemic also had a significant influence on the beauty industry.
 
Global beauty companies were challenged by sudden brick-and-mortar retail closures, the shutdown of international travel, and supply chain disruptions. Many of these issues still linger around the world, but for the first time in a long time, people are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
 
The world will never return to exactly the way it was before the pandemic, but we now have the tools—vaccines and treatments—to turn Covid-19 into a manageable virus, similar to the seasonal flu. As a result, more and more people are deciding to resume their old activities.
 
Amid this shift to a “new normal,” fragrance is making a comeback in a big way, with strong sales, flashy innovations and high-profile launches.

Fragrance Returns in a Big Way

“There is something about the past year that makes us want to find ways to boost our moods and create our own happiness. This is perhaps one of the strongest reasons people are turning to fragrance more than ever, and why the market is booming,” says Jacquelyn Wenskus, director, Fragrance Category Analyst, Beauty at NPD.
 
According to a newly released NPD Fragrance Consumer Study, most U.S. consumers who wore fragrance less often in 2020 have returned to their normal usage.
 
In fact, nearly one-third of consumers are buying fragrances for themselves more often these days, and three out of four consumers feel that fragrance helps lift and enhance their moods or bring back memories of happy times, places and experiences. According to the NPD data, this sentiment is stronger among Millennials, who are growing even more engaged with the category and are willing to pay more for scents they really like.
 
Furthermore, The NPD Group has found that fragrance is outperforming other segments, with Q3 revenues not only up year over year, but also increasing by a whopping 38% versus pre-pandemic 2019.

Along with the fragrance boom, comes a fragrance packaging boom: According to a report from Research and Markets, the Global Fragrance Packaging Market size was estimated at $9,563.78 million in 2020 and is expected to reach $10,231.34 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 7.41% to reach $15,776.78 million by 2027.
 
Here’s a selection of some of the latest notable fragrance launches (see the images in the slider above):

1. LR Soul of Nature

LR Health & Beauty is expanding its range of fragrance products with LR Soul of Nature, a new brand that links “natural fragrances” with an emotional aroma-wellness component and uses recycled plastic and waste glass as packaging.
 
The LR Soul of Nature product portfolio comprises eight 100% pure and natural essential oils and four aroma mood worlds with four to five care products each.

2. Eilish by Billie Eilish Fragrances

Billie Eilish’s highly-anticipated signature fragrance, made in partnership with Parlux, launched in November.
 
The Eilish fragrance opens with sugared petals, accented by juicy mandarin and red berries. The heart unfolds with soft spices, rich cocoa and creamy vanilla. It’s anchored by base notes of warm musks, tonka bean and sleek woods.
 
Eilish stated that she wanted the scent "to feel like a warm embrace." She explained, "Like what it feels like to feel your blood rushing through you. It's a scent that I've been chasing for years and years and years. It's my favorite smell in the world."
 
The body-shaped bottle features engraving, and a woman's face. It is inspired by Billie's favorite parts of the body, she states—the chest, neck, and collarbone. Also, the bottle features a glamorous finish—it’s gilded in amber-bronze.

3. The Bubble Collection

Michael Perris and Gregory Cole, the creative team that helped launch the blockbuster fragrances Romance by Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors Fragrances, Marc Jacobs Perfume and Tom Ford Black Orchid, are rising to the occasion with The Bubble Collection - their own brand now making a splash on Indiegogo.
 
“Our fragrances are like bubbles - genderless, ageless, boundless,” said Gregory Cole. “They are clean, vegan and cruelty-free, and we are proud to be certified as such by PETA and Leaping Bunny. We are also very proud to be a certified LGBT Business Enterprise by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce."
 
“Bubbles have always been a delightful part of our lives… blowing bubbles, celebrating with  bubbly, relaxing in a bubble bath,” added Michael Perris.  We love bubbles, yet they are often overlooked. Like bubbles rising, we decided to elevate the bubble for the first time as an aspirational lifestyle fragrance brand.”

4. Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme

Italian Skiwear brand Moncler has unveiled its first-ever fragrances: Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme.
 
A floral woody musky fragrance, Moncler Pour Femme is the work of perfumers Nisrine Grillié and Quentin Bisch. Moncler Pour Homme, on the other hand, is a woody aromatic fragrance created by perfumers Antoine Maisondieu and Christophe Raynaud.
 
Both the Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme fragrances are showcased in a ‘borraccia’ flask-shaped bottle encircled with a ribbed silver case and cap – a utilitarian echo of Moncler’s mountaineering origins and the quilted construction of a Moncler jacket.
 
This bottle design marries a bold silver finish with clear glass revealing the light amber liquid of Moncler Pour Femme, while the Moncler Pour Homme bottle features a silver-dipped effect.
 
An LED screen adorns the bottle of the rechargeable 150ml edition of the Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme Eau de Parfum, with an illuminated message panel customizable via a Bluetooth-powered smartphone app. This innovation allows consumers to write a personal note that appears in scrolling red letters across the bottle’s mirrored façade.
 
The Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme bottles are packaged in a premium matte card box emblazoned with the iconic Moncler logo as an oversized tonal graphic device, as well as the signature ‘feltrino’ fabric patch.

5. The House of BŌ

The House of BŌ is a line of gender-neutral fragrances where self-expression discovery is explored through the sensory world of scent.
 
The newly launched line of fragrances was founded by Miami-based perfume enthusiast Bernardo Möller.
 
The first scent selection features Agua De Santos, Espíritu and La Mar and is a “Bōllaboration” curated by world-renowned Mexican perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux.
 
Handcrafted from sustainably sourced ingredients, the collection seeks to bring a new meaning to those yearning for a more experiential interpretation of scent; “one that empowers your true self.”
 
All perfumes are hand-assembled, as each bottle is carefully encased in recyclable glass and is decorated with a stunning cap made from reclaimed travertine marble that is hand-made by local Mexican artisans.
 
Packaged with an air of simple sophistication, the scents contain minimal labeling, sleek design and a chic aesthetic which honors the brand's roots of gender neutrality and elevated minimalism.

6. For The Love Of Paris Idôle Eau de Parfum by Lancôme

This sophisticated, yet unapologetically modern parfum brings a sense of power and sensuality with bursts of inviting florals, energizing citrus and sultry white musk.
 
The fragrance is included in the Lancôme x Emily in Paris collection, which celebrates the Parisian joie de vivre and the charm of Netflix’s hit show Emily in Paris.

7. Estée Lauder Luxury Collection

Estée Lauder has introduced a new Luxury Fragrance collection featuring eight fragrances designed to take the wearer to “enchanted, undiscovered places.”
  
Estée Lauder claims that each of the scents in the Luxury Collection were demonstrated in independent neurosensorial testing to evoke specific emotions in those who were drawn to them.
 
Each fragrance is housed in a heavy weight, fluted glass bottle with the collar adorned with a gold rope detail, inspired by archival Estée Lauder packaging. The gold cap features a monogram inspired by an original Estée Lauder logo uncovered from the Leonard A. Lauder Estée Lauder Companies Archives.
 
Also, each bottle features a plaque with a unique symbol representing the hero ingredient in the fragrance.

8. LilaNur Parfums Attar Absolu

LilaNur Parfums has collaborated with the Firmenich innovation lab in Grasse to develop a proprietary process in which the highest quality, natural Indian floral absolutes are macerated for months with traceable, sustainably sourced natural sandalwood oil. These alcohol-free, modern infusions - called Attar Absolus - are “cradled in a high-performance formulation with a deeply luxurious texture.”
 
LilaNur’s Tubereuse Attar Absolu aims to capture a floral fragrance at its truest and most resplendent. It features flowers, heady tuberose and creamy jasmine sambac.

9. Prada Candy

Prada has unveiled Prada Candy, a new collection of four feminine fragrances featuring a virtual muse as the face of the campaign.
 
Prada Candy’s olfactory balance combines a joyful and addictive caramel accord with noble and warm benzoin resin, which “brings sophistication and elegance, to creatively fuse with a silky and enveloping cloud of white musks.”
 
The Prada Candy bottle designed by Fabien Baron is a “trigger of creativity, just as joyful and free-spirited as the scent contained within, as it embraces an unexpected mix of colors and finishes.” A version of Prada's signature Saffiano leather hugs the top of the bottle in a band of pink while the flacon bears the refined Prada logo in sleek, gold lettering. The pump is perched on its golden neck like a futuristic black half-moon.
 
To coincide with the campaign, Prada introduced Candy, a virtual muse as the face of the fragrance.

10. Wellfounded Eau de Parfum

Wellfounded Botanicals, an eco-friendly and woman-owned cannabis wellness brand, has launched a luxury CBD Eau de Parfum in partnership with Scent Beauty Inc.
 
The parfum combines luxury fragrance with the soothing aromas of CBD. It’s a modern lush green fragrance that opens with the fresh smell of the sea enhanced with citrus notes of mandarin, grapefruit, and crisp green apple. Cooling notes of Sariette and Thyme enhance the green heart. A soft warm woody base of vetiver and ambrox create “an addictive nuance.”

11. Meadow Bloom by Oldvine Fragrances

Oldvine Fragrance is a global luxury fragrance brand from a Black female floral designer.
 
Founder Itika Oldwine-Grimble worked with Firmenich to develop the brand.
 
The first of the fragrances to launch is an eau de parfum called Meadow Bloom inspired by the natural beauty of the San Francisco Bay area where Oldwine-Grimble grew up.
 
“I love the smells of the fog and the ocean, and the wildflowers that cover the rolling hills,” she says. Meadow Bloom features freesia, water and vanilla orchid.