The Fragrance Industry Is Broken
Confusion is reaping through the fragrance industry. Thousands of fragrances drop every month, which adds to the saturation, and it's not helping anyone. From fragrances priced from anywhere between $50 to $500, there is a fragrance for everyone and their Mum. There are hundreds of thousands of fragrances launched every year, yet only 4 manufacturers control about 60% of the market (Givaudan, Firmenich, IFF, and Symrise). There is a clear problem here, even though there are thousands of brands out there, they are manufactured from only a few, and guess what, a large number of people buy only what other people buy and say smells good. Even though approximately 75% of your daily emotions are evoked by scent, you smell just like the person next door, and if you want to be remembered, smelling like everyone else just isn't going to cut it. To add to the confusion and saturation, fragrance can be complicated, and this is explained by various factors that affect how and when you should wear it.
Saturation Without Distinction
Top, middle, and base notes are not well known, let alone considered when purchasing a fragrance. But here is a brief explanation: top notes are what you first smell within the first 10 minutes or so, middle notes within 2-4 hours and base notes after 4+ hours. These are important stages in a fragrance that can alter its scent over time. This means what you smell at the store might not be accurate, and it may not be the same smell when you get home, again adding to the complexity of fragrance, which no one really talks about.
The Illusion of "Finding Yourself" Through Fragrance
There are so many brands that say "find yourself" with a fragrance, this seems to be the primary marketing plan within the fragrance industry. The truth is, you're not going to find anything about yourself with fragrance, apart from the fact that you may like one type of smell over another. However, what's more important is that it can be used as a tool to express yourself, just like clothing can portray a certain version of yourself to others. If you go for something trendy, rather than smelling it in stores and researching its notes, it might not be completely aligned with who you are, and you might miss the mark completely and under utilise one of your most powerful cosmetic tools.
Removing the Guesswork From Perfumery
However, we at INOX Parfum are working hard behind the scenes to tackle that issue and remove the guesswork from perfumery, so you can build a complete scent wardrobe that encapsulates the best of niche perfumery, without the confusion. Stay tuned as we have something massive dropping in April that provides people with a curated set of fragrances without the B.S., so that you can express who you are to the full extent, and not get drowned out by the mass-produced noise that is easy to forget. Made in small batches for people who want to be remembered, that is the goal for our next launch and we will flesh out these ideas to a greater extent in the future.