Smelling expensive is the new quiet luxury

Quiet luxury is undoubtedly one of the year’s biggest trends and by now, we all know what it looks like. White and navy basics from The Row, slicked-back Sofia Richie buns, minimal leather bags — nothing ludicrously capacious in sight. But what does it smell like?

It’s a question that’s got the internet by the neck, or rather, by the nose. On #PerfumeTok, creators are sharing tips on how to “smell expensive” — through videos where fragrances are recommended based on their ability to, apparently, make you smell like a member of the 1%. 

And the fragrances discussed are, in fact, pretty expensive. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Gentle Fluidity and Baccarat Rouge 540 are favorites — priced at £175 and £235 respectively for 70 ml, while creator Emily Claire Bell opened episode two of her series ‘The art of smelling expensive’ with a scent from Parfums de Marly (a brand inspired by the “Perfumed Court” of Louis XV — you can’t get more luxurious than that) which will run you £230 for 75 ml. Other fragrances mentioned include Initio Musk Therapy (£240) and By Kilian Love, Don’t Be Shy (£220). So, what do these scents have in common, besides being on the pricier side? Which shared olfactory notes make passersby think you have a house in the south of France and a black American Express card that makes a status-symbol-clink when the bill comes?

Suzy Nightingale, fragrance expert and co-host of On the Scent Podcast, explains that musks and aldehydes (vibrant, champagne bubble-like notes) can “boost the projection of a fragrance, and therefore how many people get to smell it in your trail as you want past” and that “heavier molecule notes such as patchouli, agarwood and sandalwood ground the base and add to the power.” Basically, smelling expensive has something to do with wearing a perfume with ingredients that linger on your skin and in your wake. However, she notes that it all still depends on your definition of expensive, and that “ethereal” scents like citrus, which fade quicker, can be “a ‘quiet luxury’ nod to those in-the-know, who prefer their scents not to shout.”

If smelling expensive can’t be defined by a singular scent, it can be defined by shared brand positioning and shifts in consumer attitudes when it comes to fragrance. Premium fragrance sales have boomed the last few years, in line with “consumers doing their homework online, reading about luxury designer and intriguing niche scents, sampling them or smelling on friends,” Suzy says. As predicted in a Digiverse trend forecast last year, consumers are gravitating towards unique scents, redefining the concept of a signature fragrance to be more signature than ever — as shoppers eschew luxurious yet mainstream names like Chanel and Dior for more obscure perfumes from brands in the niche luxury fragrance market. Suzy explains that both the boom in high-end fragrance sales and an increased interest in niche scents are underpinned by a “thirst for individuality [and] smelling unique” with quality ingredients that ensure longevity.

Fragrant Nerd, whose videos on fragrance have reached millions on TikTok, agrees that smelling expensive is more than how much a fragrance costs or what it smells like — it’s about what a scent symbolizes. Fragrances and notes that are promoted within the smelling expensive trend “have brand positions that become associated with the signification of luxury,” they say. “This may be through the brand’s marketing, its trade dress, flacon, etc., or may be due to contingent external factors like celebs being associated with the scent.” In episode one of Emily’s ‘The art of smelling expensive’ series, she names Rihanna as one of the best-smelling celebrities and says that it’s rumored that Rih wears Love, Don’t Be Shy from niche perfume line By Kilian. She then analyses a By Kilian perfume in her own collection, describing it as smelling like “old money” and “not rich, but wealthy,” which she illustrates with a vintage Ralph Lauren ad in which models lounge in sumptuous furs and gowns on what appears to be the stone steps of a chateau.

Emily explains that Rih’s alleged fave Love, Don’t Be Shy is a gourmand scent with a strong marshmallow base note. The fact that marshmallow, along with other oft-cited “expensive” notes like vanilla and sandalwood, are smells familiar to most is important. Fragrant Nerd says that the fragrances on the actual top end of the market — and we’re talking bottles from £750 (Roja Dove Semi Bespoke) to £1k - 2k (Frederic Malle The Night and Henry Jacques) — aren’t the fragrances that come up in the smelling expensive trend. They explain that these “don’t smell anything like what people think ‘expensive’ smells like” as “most people don’t have access to these smells, so they never form the association.”

Wanting to smell expensive could also be a symptom of economic downturn. Fragrant Nerd notes that “for a certain segment of the market [economic downturn] drives a trend in aspirational shopping,” seen in wanting to smell and look expensive, via the quiet luxury trend. The lipstick effect seems to be at play — in times when discretionary income is lower for the average consumer due to economic decline, people are more willing to buy less costly luxury goods, like expensive cosmetics. While this is historically associated with products that can be conspicuously applied in public — think lipgloss in luxe packaging over a similarly high-end liquid foundation — in the age of constant image-sharing, every product can be conspicuous. You may not pull a full bottle of Baccarat Rouge out of your bag to respritz in public, but you’d probably post a photo of it on your Instagram story, even if it’s just casually placed on your wardrobe. Plus, there are the unseen elements at play — feeling like you smell expensive (and that others think you do, too) can provide a psychological boost when the rest of your life is literally way too expensive thanks to inflation and the cost of living crisis.

So, does smelling expensive have the same staying power that the perfumes in its TikTok canon are said to possess? Suzy believes that because fragrances that tend to suggest wealth fall within a larger, ongoing trend towards bolder, longer-lasting fragrances, it’s likely that consumers will continue their quest to smell expensive. But “perfumed paths do diversify,” she says, “and there’s an increasing appreciation emerging for quieter, less overt olfactory encounters, too.” Perhaps, then, tomorrow’s in-the-know fragrances will simply smell subtler and, therefore, even more in-the-know.