Like a variation on the "I've got nothing to wear" refrain of women whose wardrobes are clogged with clothes, lately I find myself sighing: So many scents, but what to spray.
The malaise is partly seasonal - I've sniffed so many lately in the name of work - but it runs deeper. The modern fragrance industry, with its hundreds upon hundreds of launches every year, is debasing the value of its excessive output.
The so-called democratisation of luxury - essentially a marketing exercise whereby almost anyone can buy into a brand - is at its most obvious in the fragrance and cosmetics industries. You too can buy the logo, access a little of the supposed allure of glamour and wealth that a designer or heritage name brings. But when luxury is commoditised and packaged - albeit prettily and usually still expensively - how exclusive is the offering?
Fragrance fanatics will endlessly debate if their old favourites still smell the same, but what isn't in doubt is that "flanker" scents are clogging the air. That's the practice of launching variations of a fragrance, leveraging of its name and fame, with updates - some of which don't smell much like the original - rather than investing in developing something else truly original. Now there is nothing wrong with having a lighter or richer version of a successful scent to broaden its appeal in different markets or climates, but when whatever is the "in" ingredient is just tossed into the mix as an update I despair.
Right now it's one of a number of woody amber and green notes, following on from an excess of fruity florals, or sometimes they're all slap bang together. Traditional fragrance families are virtually unrecognisable in this stew.
