“Thomas, AKA The Candy Perfume Boy, predicts the perfume trends of this year with his ‘Top 5 Fragrance Trends of 2020’, a visionary guide that gives you everything you need to know about what’s going to be big this year; here’s how to be a step ahead of the trends.”
We are attracted to a fragrance for several reasons. First and foremost, it is usually the brand that draws us in, whether that be because it’s a brand we know and love or one that has recently caught our attention. Then there’s the juice, of course (aka the most important part) – we know our tastes and will go for something that satisfies or challenges them. But in reality, we all know that the bottle plays a big part in our decision making.
Brands know this too, and they spend a lot of time and money tooling eye-catching bottles that grab our attention. Just take a look around our site, and you’ll find perfumes in shoes, lightning bolts and teddy bears (all fabulous, by the way), to name a few. But what about a more subtle approach, an approach that celebrates the beauty in simplicity? One that allows the perfume to shine from behind the clear glass and without gimmicks or garishness.
I’m predicting that minimalist bottles will be huge in 2020; so to celebrate here are five fragrances presented without fuss.
#1 The Motif Bottle
I don’t know about you, but I do appreciate a brand with a uniformed lineup of bottles. There’s just something so undeniably pleasing about seeing rows of similar bottles all gathered together. Miller Harris is one such brand (although they have shaken things up a bit recently with some beautifully vibrant, coloured bottles). And the fragrances in their main collection are each housed within a simple square bottle adorned with a monochrome floral motif. Without bells or whistles, the perfumes are allowed to speak for themselves, and in the case of Miller Harris, the voices of these fragrances are beautifully clear. If you’re new to the brand than Tea Tonique is an excellent starting point – it’s an uplifting and radiant tea fragrance (think Earl Grey blended with a lemon iced tea) that makes for the perfect relaxing moment.
#2 The Textured Bottle
Serge Lutens has always enjoyed a minimal presentation with his fragrances, housing them in tall, thin statuesque bottles that give the impression of fragility as much as simplicity. The coup with Lutens however, is that the compositions inside are far from delicate or demure – in fact, some of them are downright filthy, and many are opulent orientals born from his obsession with Morocco. For his latest collection ‘Les Eaux de Politesse’ (Waters of Politeness), Lutens has created a series of fragrances that play with clarity, freshness and the purity of water. Their bottles reflect this purity with glass that has a dappled effect, evocative of a moving body of water. A stand out is Gris Clair – a mineral lavender paired with rosemary for an austere feel and tonka bean for warmth.
#3 The Ornate Bottle
Eau d’Hadrien is a fragrance that perfectly matches the simplicity of its bottle and even more so since Goutal rebranded and launched their latest flacon style. Inspired by a summer’s afternoon in Tuscany, Eau d’Hadrien captures the moment the sun scorches the landscape and one takes refuge in the shade. With juicy citrus notes of lemon, grapefruit and mandarin against the warmth of cypress and ylang-ylang, Eau d’Hadrien is a beautifully transportive fragrance that is so much more complex than its simple bottle would lead one to believe.
#4 The Colour-Coded Bottle
Narciso Rodriguez has always celebrated a statuesque simplicity with his bottles. The bottles rise out of the ground like fragrant totems. Elegant, and architectural the flacons pay homage to the contemporary, structural perfumes they contain. Lacquered from the inside to look as if the colour is inside the glass, the Narciso bottles play with different hues, evoking the blacks, greys, whites, pinks and beiges conjured by their respective scents. Pure Musc is an excellent example of Narciso’s inherent consistency of colour. The frosted white bottle holds the soft white floral perfume made from silky petals whipped on a breeze of musk.
#5 The Timeless Bottle
Guerlain’s Vetiver has been in production since 1961 and has had several bottles in that time. Its recent iteration is perhaps the most simplistic and elegant of the bunch, and it shows that a classic fragrance can come in a classic bottle and still feel modern. Vetiver’s current flacon is a flask-like bottle from the Guerlain archives that now houses every one of the brand’s historic masculines. It’s an elegant look for the reference vetiver fragrance. And when I say “the reference vetiver”, I mean it. With its refreshing citrus accord, rooty, earthy Vetiver, spices and tobacco, Vetiver is easily one of the most handsome masculine fragrances ever made – and it comes in one of the most dapper bottles ever too!
Read more from the 2020 Perfume Trends series…
• Almond Scents That Were Big Before The Trend
• Retro Masculine Fragrances That Are Still ‘In’
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