Focus on fragrance: Huda Beauty and PlusOne enter evolving scent category

Huda Beauty and PlusOne have entered the fragrance category with product launches this week. Global cosmetics brand, Huda Beauty, has unveiled Easy Bake Intense eau de parfum, and intimate wellness brand, PlusOne, has launched its Pheromone-Inspired Perfume Oils and Sensual Body Oils collections.

Fragrance has been steadily growing in the personal care industry. Recent Q3 financial reports — such as Esteé Lauder’s double-digit growth in fragrance — reflect the category’s lucrative output. As such, more brands are entering the category to leverage growing demand.

Pheromones and fragrances

PlusOne’s Pheromone-Inspired Perfume Oils collection is tapping into mood-enhancing and self-esteem-boosting claims aligned with neurocosmetic trends. Its Sensual Body Oils products aim to intensify intimacy and attraction.

The intimate wellness brand’s collection of fragrance oils is designed to enhance confidence and encourage unique self-expression. Formulated using PlusOne’s patented Mood-Boost Technology, the collection is designed to “spark attraction and desire by syncing with your unique body chemistry.”

“Fragrance is one of the most personal ways we express ourselves,” says Maria Warrington, CEO at Beacon Wellness Brands, parent company of PlusOne. “We wanted to create something that helps women tap into confidence, sensuality, and self-expression, in a way that feels modern and accessible.”

PlusOne’s pheromone-inspired oils enhance self-expression and intimacy.In the perfume oils collection, Floral Vanilla Musk is a blend of hibiscus, peony, and vanilla for a “soft, sensual finish.” Amber Gourmand carries scents of amber, lily, and vanilla caramel and offers a fuller, “indulgent” scent. For a lighter and more playful scent, the collection offers Tropical Fruity Floral, which combines passionfruit, orchid, and coconut milk. 

The sensual body oils are available in Lavender Vanilla and Peppermint Eucalyptus, designed to care for the skin and encourage relaxation. Through the launch, PlusOne aims to boost emotional and identity-driven experiences while supporting physical wellness. 

The company launched its Wellness Collective earlier this year, bringing together experts to normalize intimate wellness conversations and address industry gaps. The initiative tackles stigma and misinformation around intimate health, empowering consumers with credible education through a panel of experts.

The pheromone-inspired fragrance category is gaining traction. Last week, Maesa launched its pheromone-mimicking fragrance brand, String Theory, for heightened connection, attraction, and sensuality. 

The company leveraged the increased desire for “authentic” interpersonal connections with its trademarked Phero-Mimetic Technology, a scientifically-backed method that mimics the dynamics of pheromones to embolden the consumer’s sense of confidence, sensuality, and attraction.

The collection responded to growing loneliness caused by digital-first interactions, superficial connections, and dynamics of online dating, such as “endless swiping” and “romantic ghosting,” causing burnout and disillusionment in modern dating.

Huda’s Easy Bake

Huda Beauty’s Easy Bake fragrance is said to bring a glamorous, confident scent.

Huda Beauty’s entry into fragrance started with an April Fools’ Day joke. The Easy Bake fragrance was first introduced as a joke, which was then picked up by the community, with fans of the beauty brand asking for a real product.

Founder Huda Kattan then collaborated with perfumer Hamid Merati-Kashani to create Easy Bake Intense eau de parfum. The product is positioned as the final step in a “glam” routine to help consumers feel confident through a lasting scent.

“Fragrance is the final step of feeling fully glamorous, it’s what brings everything together and makes you feel completely irresistible and powerful,” says Kattan. “I wanted the Easy Bake Fragrance to feel rich, sexy, and intense. Because when it’s truly you, it’s never too much.”

While Easy Bake is the first fragrance in Huda Beauty’s portfolio, Kattan has experience in the category through co-founding luxury fragrance brand Kayali with her sister Mona Kattan.

The fragrance has multiple scent profiles. It carries notes of wild cherry, white florals, cinnamon bark, and caramel milk in its top notes. It is followed by a warm vanilla bourbon base. The food-inspired scent portfolio echoes the Future 100: 2026 recent trend report which noted that while food-flavored cosmetics used to be novelty products, they are now substituting for the sensory experiences consumers seek in an era of appetite suppression with the rise of GLP-1 medications.

Huda Beauty and PlusOne are recent additions to a growing wave of personal care players entering the fragrance arena as the segment becomes an increasingly attractive investment for brands.

H&M and E.L.F. Cosmetics also entered the fragrance market earlier this year in a partnership with a three-piece eau de parfum collection. The line consisted of H&M’s olfactory interpretations of E.L.F.’s best-selling cosmetic products — Power Grip Primer, Halo Glow, and Camo. The launch shortly followed another cosmetics brand, Eos’s, entry into fragrance with its Cashmere Body Mist collection.

Personal Care Insights previously highlighted the consumer movement toward fragrances as part of the new “lipstick effect” or “treatonomics.” As budgets tighten, consumers cut back on major expenditures but still indulge in small luxuries during periods of mass economic volatility. What used to be consumers buying small makeup products, such as lipsticks — which is how the phenomenon earned its name — is now embodied by fragrance purchases. 

While fragrance is addressing the desire for small luxuries through budget-friendly options, LookFantastic’s recent trend report reflects that high-end items in fragrance are also performing well. 

According to the report, fragrances are a gateway product for luxury items. It states that 52% of people experience an uplift in their mood when spraying high-end fragrances, making it easier to justify future high-ticket purchases.