Everything is going rosy for the fragrance category.
After years of decline, fragrance sales are on the rise again, providing consumers befuddled by the pandemic with a much-needed shot of luxury and luxury. In the US, the category posted double-digit growth over both 2020 and 2019, with sales of perfumes, colognes and other elixirs up 61 percent, according to NPD Group.
What better time to ask the people who know fragrance best – beauty industry insiders – to vote on the top 100 fragrances of all time.
In early January, we sent more than 300 ballots to industry insiders, including founders, marketers, retailers, influencers, editors, perfumers, analysts and C-suite types, then Answers were tabulated. (Below is a full list of those who wish to be recognized as voters, although, of course, the votes they cast are for their eyes only.)
The parameters were wide. Voters could single out their top 10 to 20 fragrances, and were asked to use the following parameters when making their choice: originality of concept; olfactive origin; retail performance; marketing innovation; Quality of ingredients, and packaging and bottle design.
The resulting list of 100 fragrances (over 480 nominees) is a fascinating microcosm of the past, present and future of fragrance, with countless firsts, from the first celebrity fragrance (Chanel No. 5, of course) to the first Psychic benefits, containing THC The Herbalist by Heretic.
Interestingly, on the women’s side, there’s a close correspondence between the best sellers and those voted on the list: seven of the top 10 selling women’s fragrances in the US made it. But only two of the best-selling men’s fragrances made the final 100.
Based on the votes received, we have ranked the top 20 fragrances. The remaining 80 are listed alphabetically. Here, the 100 greatest fragrances of all time, as voted by the beauty industry.
Related: World Best Perfume For Women
Channel No. 5
Launched: 1921
Perfumer: Ernest Beaux
Olfactive Family: Floral aldehydic
“The gold standard,” said one voter. “The beginning of everything we think of in modern fragrance,” said another, of the best-selling fragrance of all time, which contains 1,000 jasmine flowers in every 30ml. flacon “It not only endures, it wins.”
Le Labo Santal 33
Launched: 2011
Perfumer: Frank Woelkel
Olfactory Family: Woody aromatic
One voter said what started out as a candle has become one of the most “cultish scents” of all time. “The first major niche fragrance,” said another. “It helped make the niche relevant and was the scent for all millennial opinion leaders for over 10 years.”
Thierry Mugler Angel
Launched: 1992
Perfumer: Olivier Crisp
Olfactory Family: Gourmand
“A milestone in the modern history of perfumery,” wrote one voter, echoing the sentiments of many, of the scent that made the luscious category. Its popularity has not waned: in 2021, 27 units were sold every hour.
Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady
Launched: 2010
Perfumer: Dominique Rupion
Olfactive Family: “Mysterious Beauty”
Malle made two final attempts at the fragrance that would become Portrait of a Lady. He perfumed his wife with one of them and asked her to go for a walk. When she returned 10 minutes later, she said she had been asked four times on the streets of Manhattan about the name and origin of her perfume.
Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
Launched: 2001
Perfumer: Jacques Polge
Olfactory Family: Amber Fresh
Chanel commissioned Polge to create a fragrance that Coco Chanel herself would wear. Today, it is the fourth best-selling prestige fragrance in the US, and it helped “relaunch Chanel as a top fragrance player and set a new aesthetic trend,” said one voter. .
YSL Black Opium
Launched: 2014
Perfumers: Nathalie Laursen, Marie Salamagne, Olivier Crisp and Honorine Blanc
Olfactory Family: Gourmand
One voter said the bestseller, the first to use a coffee note, “took the classic opium structure and reimagined it into a new classic with its iconic top note.”