There was a time when dousing yourself head-to-toe in fragrance was de rigueur. No outfit was complete without a liberal spritz of your signature scent, and we often went so far as to use the shower gel and body cream in the same fragrance to really hammer home our personal perfume brand.
According to Prince Harry, our King graduated from this school of scent, with the Duke of Sussex writing in his memoir, Spare: "It was hard to smell anything over [King Charles'] personal scent. Eau Sauvage. He’d slather the stuff on his cheeks, his neck, his shirt. Flowery, with a hint of something harsh, like pepper or gunpowder." Sounds pungent.
© GettyPrincess Diana loved a punchy fragrance, too. The late Princess of Wales' perfume of choice was First, by Van Cleef & Arpels, a strong, heady, sparkling scent which is unmistakable when someone walks by wearing it, while King Charles' wife Queen Camilla favours a power scent too, reportedly wearing Bandit by Robert Piguet, a dark, leathery, wood scent which makes an imposing impression.
Despite the royals opting for power scents, the tide has turned in recent years. Thanks to the beauty world's obsession with skin scents (Glossier's now iconic You, and Ded Cool's Milk, to name two of the most popular), we want our scents to be subtle. Whispers of fragrance as opposed to one that shouts when you enter the room.
As with so many beauty trends, K-beauty is ahead of the curve on this front, with Korean fragrances originally seen as closer to the hygiene sector than the beauty industry.
K-fragrances initially weren't seen as a way to express yourself, rather a subtle touch created to go mostly unnoticed – and we're leaning that way with scent in the western world now too, moving away from bold, overpowering signatures toward something softer and more intimate.
Why are skin scents trending?
"People want something that feels personal, not performative, a scent that stays close to the skin and becomes part of them," says Matthew Berkson, co-founder of fragrance house Maison Louis Marie. "It is less about projection and more about presence."
Jamie Shuker, founder of new Japanese-inspired fragrance brand Kida Kyo, believes that our leaning into skin scents is because we've become fed up with heavy, heady scents: "I think people get tired of really loud perfumes. They can feel a bit much day to day. Now, people want something softer and closer to the skin, still with projection but more personal."
© Juliette has a GunKarla Woolley, Head of Buying at The Perfume Shop has noticed the shift, confirming: "Consumers are prioritising comfort, subtlety, and how a scent makes them feel, rather than how far it carries."
Revisiting fragrance past
Founder of Ormonde Jayne, Linda Pilkington, notes that an aversion to heavy scents isn’t new – it's simply been revived: "As a perfumer, overpowering scents that impose themselves into a large room are something I always strive to avoid.
"In the 80s, there was a short-lived fashion for perfumes with a very heavy silage (the degree to which a perfume's fragrance lingers in the air when worn), infamously banned in Beverly Hills restaurants, as they could be detected from 20 metres away and were unanimously off-putting."
© Getty ImagesWhile we're not going so far as to ban heady, boisterous scents from restaurants (yet), fragrance experts are unanimous that these scents are out of favour. But what if we still want to leave an impression, just via skin scent as opposed to an overpowering one?
Making an impression with a skin scent
Matthew points out that while skin scents are discovered rather than announced, they still have the potential to leave an impression.
"Subtle fragrances draw people in rather than reaching out; the impression they leave comes from how they linger in a quiet, memorable way, something only noticed up close. When a fragrance feels effortless and becomes part of your identity, it leaves a deeper, more lasting mark," he says.
Jamie agrees on the power of a discreet scent, explaining: "The funny thing is, skin scents can be more memorable, just in a different way. When someone gets close, that's when they really notice it. It feels more personal, almost like the scent is just for them."
With this in mind, the best way to still leave an impression with a skin scent is in the repeated wearing of the same fragrance. Repetition builds recognition, meaning as soon as people catch a wave, it's unmistakably you, mingling with your own pheromones to create a unique, unforgettable fragrance.
Keen to try the power of a subtle scent yourself? We rate Glossier's latest iteration of You, Soie. It's the most similar to the original Glossier You, but with a more masculine edge, creating the sultriest take on the skin scent yet.
Maison Louis Marie's No.04 Bois de Balincourt is a woody take on a skin scent. The 1975's frontman Matty Healy said he likes it because "You don't smell like every other person at Soho House, which is always a good thing." Intensify it by using the body oil as well as the spray – but don't fret that it'll be obnoxiously strong if you layer, it's eternally understated.
In a rare (pun intended) move for a celebrity fragrance, Selena Gomez's Rare Eau de Parfum is a skin scent, created to be comforting and familiar, with a touch of intrigue. The brand also offers Fragrance Layering Balms in four different iterations, designed to prime the skin for the perfume, intensifying specific notes and helping the scent last longer on your skin.
