Why Celebrity Fragrance Lines are on the Rise

Beauty and fragrance tend to work in partners, and the skincare industry with celebrities is on the rise as well. But, what about the celebrities whose branding do not fit into the skincare category. Enter the power of scent. From candles, incenses, perfumes, and colognes, women, and men celebrities are entering the market space again.

 

Celebrities’ partnerships in fragrances had a rise and fall 10 years ago. You may have purchased a fragrance from Beyonce, Rihanna, Brittney Spears, Justin Bieber, and more at department stores. The goal was to either smell like them, what they wanted their fans to smell like, or inspired by a scent story. It was a quick and easy return on investment for celebrities during the glitzy glamour of the ’00s.

 

Welcome Home

The latest launches of celebrity fragrance brands have brought interest in the home category. What exactly does this mean?

As more consumers are staying at home, there has been a rise in home goods from loungewear, bedding, and furniture. Loungewear has had a growth of 270% this year alone for global searching. It translates to sales with the home goods category with $192 billion in total sales this year. 

 How does this translate into fragrance? Fragrance based brands rely on the experience of the product to immerse the consumer into its world. Now, you have people that are staying at home from 9 to 10 months out of the year. They want to feel comfortable and begin to invest in items that change their environment. 

 

Kasey Musgraves and Boy Smells’ Award-winning collaboration, Slow Burn

 

Why Candles?

Candles are one of the ways that customers can feel immersed in this experience. Even better for celebrities that have a brand that followers’ desire to know someone special as their scent. Drake is one of the latest celebrities to get into the candle industry. 

Launched at Revolve in October in partnership with the Givaudan perfumer Michael Carby, the soy wax brand, Better World Fragrances, has launched four different candles range from $48 USD to $80 USD. One of the candles called Carby Musk (named after the perfumer himself) is Drake’s signature scent with Musk, Amber, Cashmere, Suede, and Velvet that’s priced at $80 USD. 

Better World Fragrances _ Why Celebrity Fragrance Brands are on the Rise
Drake and Michael Cardy’s candle collaboration, Better World Fragrances

Why it works

This partnership with Carby works because Drake’s target audience is women. Drake is seen as 39% more positively with women according to YouGov. The mystery behind what the smell of Drake like makes this launch great. It has been sold out on Revolve for the brand. The market desires products like this to feel close to the artist. It works in the favor of Better World Fragrances.

 

According to the US National Candle Association, 90% of people that purchase candles are women and the average person will take one week to burn through an entire candle. Another reason why the celebrity, Travis Scott, quietly launched a candle with his space-like Eau de Parfum collaboration with Byredo.

 

Hayley Williams of Paramore, ‘Sanctuary’ candle collaboration with Apotheke

Bring back the Celebrity

The effects of Fenty Beauty have been felt throughout the beauty industry to home goods. The return on investment for celebrities to re-enter the beauty market, especially musicians, to increase their investment in other industries. I have discussed the history of celebrity partnerships in a previous article called, How the Celebrity Brand Endorsement Isn’t New. 

 

Last year, we began to see it returning with the launch of Kasey Musgraves and Boy Smells candle collaboration in honor of her song ‘Slow Burn.’ Hayley Williams follows in her footsteps with her ‘Sanctuary’ candle launch with Apotheke. From the private, seductive smells of Gwyneth Paltrow and Erykah Badu to the curiosity of what Drake smells like, the fragrance is becoming a worldwide phenomenon that you need to pay attention to.