Fine Fragrance
Perfume dupes are in the spotlight
Perfume Dupes are in the spotlight
Roz Wicks
November 5th, 2022
UK consumers are looking for perfume dupes
At of the beginning of October 2022 the term ‘perfume dupes’ had increased 650% in the UK on Google Trends, and Aldi, Zara, Lidl and M&S ‘perfume dupes list 2022’ were all breakout search terms.
This is no big surprise. The UK is in the middle of a ‘cost of living crisis’ so more beauty and fragrance consumers than ever before are looking for cost savings on their ‘luxury’ items.
The perfume dupe market now
These days, tastes for fragrances have changed and lots of consumers are interested in dupes of Jo Malone (there are more Pomegranate Noir types on the market than possible I think), dupes of the latest Tom Ford (Lost Cherry is everywhere) and the runaway success of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 (which, by the way, Arianna Grande’s bestselling scent is very reminiscent of) proves that we definitely have a more sophisticated consumer market than ever before.
However, the ‘classics’ and ‘new classics’ are still very much in demand. Chanel No5, for example, Coco Mademoiselle, plus everyone in the UK’s new favourite (it was the number 1 selling UK scent in 2021) YSL Black Opium, not to mention Marc Jacobs Daisy variants, Lancôme La Vie Est Belle types, Le Labo Santal 33 and many versions of Paco Rabanne’s Lady Million and various flankers.
Men’s scents are also being duped by the plenty too, although mainstream media articles do concentrate on woman’s scents more than men’s. Boss Bottled, Tom Ford Tuscan Leather, Bleu de Chanel, Creed Aventus, Dior Sauvage, Paco Rabanne One Million and Carolina Herrera Bad Boy are all in the dupe spotlight.
The current trends and future of perfume dupes
Over the last year NPD has been talking about ‘premiumization’ and noting that the trend for more potent versions; EDP’s, Parfums and intense versions, is causing an uptick in fragrance spending; “Sales of fragrance juices in the first half of 2022 with a retail price over £125 now equate to 11% of the mix of total fragrance sales compared to 7% of the mix of total fragrance sales in the first half of 2021″.
What this means for the dupe market is that versions of well liked ultra prestige, indie and niche fragrances will be in demand at a fraction of the original cost, so next year I’m fully expecting to see Phlur’s Missing Person everywhere!
Let’s talk scents
So what’s trending in fragrance dupes?
Well first up we have Zara. This brand’s perfumes have been around for a while now, but they’ve been getting more attention lately thanks to TikTok. In fact, videos about the perfumes in the range have 44.7 million views at the time of writing.
TikTokers have identified a similarity between Zara’s Oriental and Viktor & Rolfe’s iconic Flowerbomb perfume, Zara’s Amalfi Sunray and Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino, Zara’s Red Vanilla and Lancôme’s La Vie Est Belle, Zara’s Rose Petal Drops and Parfums de Marly Delina, Zara’s Santal Glow and Byredo’s Mojave Ghost and Zara’s Soleil Decade and Estée Lauder’s Bronze Goddess. The list most definitely goes on!
Then comes Marks and Spencer whose perfumes were a recently featured in The Sun newspaper.
According to fans of the scents; Midnight Blossom is a Black Opium type, Velvet Rose is a dupe of Chanel No5, Warm Neroli captures Paco Rabanne’s Lady Million, Pink Pepper is a Lancome’s La Vie Est Belle type while Soft Iris is the brands take on Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle, oh and if Le Labo’s Santal 33 is your scent signature you could give Marks and Spencer’s Apothecary Warmth a try (maybe that’s why it sold out last year)!
Men’s launches are also getting the dupe treatment and Aldi launched a £7 imitation of Creed’s £285 Aventus perfume in time for Father’s Day 2022.
This launch came a few months after the discount supermarket released Lacura Lady Pour Femme – a rumoured dupe of Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl, Lacura Atom; a dupe of Escentic Molecules Molecule 01 and Lacura Dark Blossom; YSL’s Black Opium.
So, in summary I think we can all agree the dupe market is looking in fairly good shape for the future, especially those scents feature heavily on TikTok and similar platforms. It will be interesting to see what 2023 brings…
Download our quarterly Fine Fragrance Trend Stories to find out more about the latest fragrance trends, concepts, and new ingredients, and get a glimpse into the future of fragrance.
For a category deep dive, with new trend driving products, and future fragrance focused predictions get in touch and ask for a bespoke project proposal.
Let's talkFollow us on Instagram @trendaroma
