2010 Fall Fragrance Trends and Perfume Launches {Scented Thoughts} {Trend Alerts}

The 2010 Fall season of fragrance launches promises to be particularly rich this year with many, diverse universes of fragrance to choose from.

Here is our list of fragrances to watch and give a sniff to (there are and will be more, but you need to start somewhere, right?)

In the Celebrity category, we're expecting to see some ripples made around the launches of Jennifer Aniston EDP (timely US launch for the Holidays although dates remain unspecified), Halle Berry Reveal, and Mary J. Blige My Life.

The latter already launched on HSN to record-breaking sales based solely on the personality of the singer and philanthropist. More than 70 000 bottles sold in the first few days. The real test of perfume popularity will be of course to see how many happy repeat customers there will be. But Blige is already benefiting from a honeymoon effect and fans are creating an I-really-want-to-love-this-fragrance momentum.

Jennifer Lopez will show once more what she has learned as a veteran and marketing trend-setter in the category with Love and Glamour.

Beyoncé will no doubt consolidate her fan base with a new flanker, Heat Ultimate Elixir.

Britney Spears may be past the height of tabloid frenzy regarding her private life but her new scent Radiance is just the right dose of Liberace Kitsch one secretly hoped to see expressed in a bottle. 

One should not neglect recent summer celebrity launches which will carry us into the fall: Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights and Paris Hilton Tease. The first one is clearly a fall and winter companion...


In the Designer Originals category (as opposed to Designer Flankers) Calvin Klein Beauty gets our attention for its name, celebrity spokesperson actress Diane Kruger, its sleek sculptural bottle and perfume-pitch as a "neo-lily."

Chloé Love, Chloé is also noteworthy as an adapted take on an old-fashioned Coty face powder worn by generations of women including probably your own grand-mother.

Lanvin Marry Me will woo with its fresh-intense floral bouquet which aims for quality.

Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia offers the scent of a woody autumnal pear and pays homage to lovely Keats. The Cologne Intense quatuor is also on the shelves to offer variations on the Orientalist theme.

The Universal Beach Trend

Thierry Mugler gets bold as ever proposing a powerful and womanly love-or-leave-it take on a caviar-and-fig theme with Womanity. Like the new Chanel Bleu de Chanel it universalizes the genre of the marine scent instead of confining it to the summer beach season. In the Designer Flankers category the new Hermès Eau Claire des Merveilles will do the same this fall and make the beach an all-year-long motif.

John Galliano has a new scent coming up fronted by Taylor Momsen. 


In the Designer Flankers category Dior Hypnotic Poison Eau Sensuelle offers a floral vanilla composition while gambling on a deep desire for more textured and sensual fragrances which can also be assuaged with Caron Parfum Sacré Intense which came out this summer.

The Vanilla Trend

Vanilla will be honored this fall 2010 with a series of noteworthy releases in the mainstream. Apart from Hypnotic Poison Eau Sensuelle, there is Hermès Eau Claire des Merveilles (cited above) prolongs the Eau des Merveilles collection while offering a different enough twist. Estée Lauder Sensuous Noir might offer you just the right balance of greediness and sensuality on a backdrop of woods. Guerlain Shalimar Ode à la Vanille is going back to its roots and we're wondering what it can do that was not done before when Shalimar was created out of an overdose of vanilla. This is a purely rhetorical question of course, as there is always room for a new idea.

The Lily Trend

Yves Saint Laurent proposes an independent-minded flanker to Opium with Belle d'Opium. Like Calvin Klein Beauty, Mary J. Blige My Life and Estée Lauder Sensuous Noir this fall it features a lily note. Four make a trend without creating a fashion stampede, so you can safely choose the floral note of lily for a discreet touch of in-the-know fragrance fashion savvy.    

In the Niche category, Serge Lutens Boxeuses proposes you to wrap yourself in leather for the upcoming months. Diptyque Eau Duelle is an ode to a dual vanilla panaché. L'Artisan Parfumeur Coeur de Vétiver Sacré and Traversée du Bosphore both sound utterly exotic and escapist. Penhaligon's has a skewer of new releases: Zizonia, Jubilee's Bouquet and Sartorial. Guerlain will also weave the dual portrait of a dandy: Arsène Lupin Gentleman and Voyou. Lubin has a storied quatuor out; Amouage offer an Opus collection and a duo, Memoir Man and Woman. Creed Aventus blends history by paying homage to the life of Napoleon.

In the Historical category, which could still be further developed as there are not too many fragrances inspired by a cultural historicist project, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz brings back to life the perfumes of the Ancient Egyptians while Roja Dove proposes Diaghilev and Ava Luxe resuscitates a Belle Epoque scent, Apple Blossom. Legendary Fragrances has a reenactment of Jacques Fath Iris Gris. As already said, Creed sources the Napoleonic epic with Aventus.

Last but not least, in the Men's Cologne category, gentlemen are spoiled with a series of fragrances which all sublimate the elegance and images of men.

The Gentleman-Dandy Trend

Dolce & Gabbana creates The One Gentleman; Penhaligon's turns to the history of dandysm with Sartorial; Guerlain does the same with Arsène Lupin Dandy (and Voyou).

The Men's Florals Trend

Florals are in for men too thanks to the iris in Bleu de Chanel, the lily of the valley in Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight in Paris, the rose in Rosissimo by Les Parfums de Rosine or the phantom florals in Bang by Marc Jacobs.

The Dark Mood Trend

Dark moods predominate with Boss Bottled. Night.; Midnight in Paris; Bleu de Chanel; Memoir Man.

Stay tuned to the blog and follow more trends with us!