The Perfume Boom Explained: Why Fragrance is a $75 Billion Category
- Julia Chang
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
The fragrance boom isn’t just hype — it’s the most explosive beauty category of 2025. GlowJob's Julia & Sasa break down why perfume has become identity, status, and self-expression rolled into one. From Gen Z’s scent wardrobes and blind-buy culture to the rise of unisex perfumes and collectible bottles, this episode unpacks the emotional and economic forces fueling the billion-dollar fragrance wave.
The besties also walk through a full timeline of fragrance history and brand evolution — from ancient ritual scents all the way to today’s icons. They unpack the rise of legacy houses like Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, & Creed to the 2010s dominance of Diptyque and Le Labo to the buzziest brands exploding today.You’ll learn why fragrance carries massive margins, how niche perfumers built cult followings, and why storytelling is everything.
If you’ve ever wondered why the world is obsessed with perfume right now… this is your episode.
00:00 — Why fragrance is the hottest category of 2025
00:44 — Fragrance giveaway announcement
02:20 — From demonized to desired: why fragrance is back in skincare
05:00 — How fragrance became a $75B global category
06:10 — The economics: margins, packaging costs, and “the juice”
07:10 — The most expensive fragrance ingredients (Oud, Ambergris, Iris, Rose Auto)
08:30 — A 5,000-year history of perfume (Egypt → Greece → Grass → synthetics)
10:52 — Legacy fragrance houses: Creed, Guerlain, Floris London
12:00 — Chanel No. 5 vs Dior — the wild, dramatic backstory
13:10 — Jo Malone, Amouage & modern powerhouse brands
14:15 — The 2010s “everyone smells the same” era (Santal 33, Diptyque, BR540)
15:45 — Storytelling masters: Byredo, Maison Louis Marie
16:40 — Sephora fragrance leaders in 2025 (Kayali, Sol de Janeiro, Touchland)
17:20 — The Gen Z fragrance universe (Phlur, Dead Cool, Noyz, Dossier, Cyklar, Lore)
19:00 — Niche brands: Heretic, Boy Smells, Ellis Brooklyn, Seven Virtues
21:30 — Cool tech: biotech scents + primers, extinct-plant extraction (Future Society)
23:45 — 2026 Fragrance predictions
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