Neuroscents - LNE #96

Neuroscents

The beauty and health categories continue to merge with the latest fragrance releases, which enlist neuroscience for emotional impact.

Boutique candle brand Boy Smells partnered with adaptogenic drink company Kin Euphorics in March 2023 for their new line of Emotional Illuminations Prayer Candles. Each of the line’s three candles were designed to elicit a specific emotional benefit, such as bliss and surrender, energy and invigoration, or soothing calm. The candles pair with the drinks to bring the user to “a desired emotional, psychological, spiritual and physical place,” Boy Smells cofounder Matthew Herman told WWD.

“The scents were scientifically designed to activate neural pathways for targeted emotional responses. The brain-triggered technology uses data fielded from both conscious and unconscious responses to different scent notes and their effect on the brain,” Herman told Nylon. “The result is, we can qualify

that these scents will help put your head in the right place for different desired states throughout your day.”

Estee Lauder’s incubation and early-stage investment arm, New Incubation Ventures, took a minority stake in Vyrao in March 2023. Vyrao, which launched in May 2021, describes itself as “the world’s first wellbeing brand to fuse energetic healing with master perfumery.” In other words: “We make good feelings.”

“We are in a new era of scent and how we can use it to feel better,” said Vyrao founder Yasmin Sewell. Vyrao goes “beyond traditional wellness and fragrance,” Sewell said, to “support our spiritual and mental well-being.”

The candle brand Nette is launching a line of perfumes at Sephora, announced in March 2023. The perfumes, created in partnership with fragrance

manufacturer IFF, are meant to evoke the feeling of an evening wedding in Mexico City or an Ivy League campus in September.

“The [neuroscent] opportunity is huge; it’s a merging of beauty and wellness that just makes sense,” Carol Han Pyle, Nette founder, told WWD.

“Consumers are expecting more from their products these days, so why not capitalize on a force that can help bring people a sense of confidence, mindfulness or relaxation to their days?”

These releases push functional fragrance to new depths, spurred by consumers’ growing desire to link their physical and emotional health As Lyn Harris, the acclaimed perfumer behind Vyrao’s scents, told Wallpaper: “It feels like the right time to create a fragrance that is more than a beautiful smell, one that helps you connect with life and yourself.”