PerfumeTikTok says these are the top 10 viral fragrances to buy for Christmas

Perfume is like invisible ink on camera, which makes it all the more wild that #PerfumeTikTok and #PerfumeTok have amassed 1.9 billion and 506 million views, respectively. After all, makeup and skincare transformations are the types of visual content that TikTok normally eats up. You can’t see or smell perfume notes as they unfurl from the wrist, or experience first-hand their mood-altering effects. And yet, #PerfumeTikTok has become the perfume industry’s closest ally and new playground for digital creators.

Instead of relying on the mystique of perfumes created in dusty old ateliers, TikTok is reinvigorating the fragrance market with content that makes scent cool and, crucially, accessible to a Gen-Z audience. For the uninitiated, #PerfumeTikTok is an engaged community of fragrance lovers who share their best finds and trusted favourites in animated videos.

Rather than focus on a signature soul mate perfume that you have to be monogamous to, it encourages you to flirt with other possibilities – from the expensive to super affordable – all without using fancy poetic perfume words.

In fact, instead of speaking about olfactive families, content creators on #PerfumeTok give you an unfiltered snapshot into how a perfume smells and, all-importantly, whether it’s worth the money. As for their favourites? Well, these they rhapsodise about as if they were the equivalent of shooting glitter onto your pulse points, such is the joy they bring. Enthusiasm, by the way, that is not only infectious but also translates into sales.

Given perfume is, by its nature, subjective, finding a content creator with the same taste in perfume as you and a delivery style that resonates is a good jumping off point. “Each content creator has a unique style for delivering perfume reviews,” says John Gonzalez, who goes by @johngnzzz and has 308.2K followers and 9.7 million likes on TikTok. “I tend to lean more on the educational and less on buzzwords like sexy.”

Transparency is also key, adds John. “I disclose what deals are branded or gifted,” he notes. “Full transparency is important to me and important to build trust with followers.”

Unsurprisingly, celebrity perfume reviews are like catnip for the #PerfumeTok audience. Case in point: sharing his take on Billie Eilish’s debut scent, Eilish, garnered John over 835,000 views. @professorperfume went viral with her recent review of Phoebe Bridger’s favourite scent, Diptyque Orphéon, which has been viewed over 600,000 times. While views of videos about Ariana Grande’s Cloud Eau de Parfum have exceeded 28 billion.

“In general, celebrity fragrances have high tracking on social media but so do commodity fragrances and content on the best value for price,” says John. Other content that translates into views is what he calls “perfumes to match moods, seasons, or aesthetics, like ‘Perfumes To Match The Wednesday Addams Aesthetic’.” Coinciding with the success of the Addams Family spin-off on Netflix, search around the latter has hit 1.3 million views to date.

The appeal of #PerfumeTikTok is that it also allows more niche and Indie fragrances, such as Juliette Has A Gun and Phlur, that would otherwise remain relative unknowns, to enjoy their moment in the beauty spotlight.