Highlights February 2026

"I am proud to confirm that we have fulfilled all the commitments made a year ago," said Marc Puig, president and CEO of Puig, while sharing the 2025 data. The company has experienced an upward growth of 7.8% and record net revenues of 5.042 billion euros. The fragrance category has been responsible for this boost, supported by top-tier brands such as Rabanne, Carolina Herrera, and Jean Paul Gaultier, which occupy three of the top ten positions in the global selective perfume ranking.

Older consumers are showing an attraction to dupes (clones of beauty and perfumery products), according to data from Circana United States (March 2024 – April 2025).

Additionally, at the same time, they are less likely to perceive beauty as a whim. The consultancy's data reflects that the feeling of understanding beauty as a reward or whim decreases with age: it goes from 72–73% in the 18–34 age group to 45% in the +65 age group, outlining a more pragmatic, less impulsive consumer.

But the most striking data is the purchase of dupes by senior consumers. Among those who buy fashion and beauty products, the percentage who have purchased a dupe and would do so again rises to 47% overall, with peaks of 52% in the 35–44 age range and 50% among 18 to 34-year-olds. In the older age groups, the rate increases: 47% in the 55–64 segment and rises by 19% to 42% in the +65 group.

These data are a wake-up call for the sector, since if interest in dupes grows with age, it is necessary to pay attention to consumer purchasing criteria, adjust prices, claims, and seek differentiation. In short, the “premium” label must compensate the purchase expense with value.

Osmo, a digital scent design company founded by Alex Wiltschko, has announced a $70 million Series B round.

The company, whose mission is to "give computers a sense of smell" to improve health and well-being, is focusing this new chapter on fragrance design for consumer products. Its proposal combines a technological platform and a dual offering: on one hand, independent brands for which it designs and manufactures fragrances; on the other, large multinational consumer companies, to which it provides data and software to modernize processes and respond quickly to trends.

With the new funds, Osmo plans to expand its team and build a new 60,000-square-foot manufacturing, science, and creativity headquarters, while maintaining a strong R&D effort in smell detection and understanding. The company claims that its native AI approach allows it to analyze billions of potential molecules and anticipate scent, performance, and safety before synthesizing, which would explain a milestone it recently announced: in 2025, they published more fragrance ingredient patents than the entire industry combined.

Givaudan has launched a research program together with Université Côte d’Azur and CNRS (Institut de Chimie de Nice) to address a historic challenge in perfumery: the extraction and olfactory recreation of so-called silent flowers, rich in scent but without utility in perfumery using conventional techniques.

The project combines the work of R&D and innovation experts with academic partners and Givaudan's Agronomy team. According to the company, the initial results are promising and rely on sustainable chemistry approaches aimed at creating ethical and sustainable solutions for the future of perfumery.

The research is being conducted at various locations (Nice, Vallauris, Avignon, and grower centers) and is conceived as a long-term scientific and creative journey.