Danielle Bernstein is no stranger to putting her name on products. The former fashion blogger has sold everything from swimwear to overalls, with her WeWoreWhat fashion brand now commanding $35 million in annual sales. In November, Bernstein entered the category that has been dominating many consumers’ shopping baskets in the past few years: fragrance. Created by Robertet perfumer Jérôme Epinette, her debut scent, WeWoreWhat 001, was launched in partnership with fragrance manufacturer and distributor Parlux and will arrive at Ulta Beauty in the spring.
“Influencer marketing has really taken over, and we’ve seen the power influencers have and the influence their content creation has on consumers,” said Lori Singer, president of Parlux Ltd. “Consumers are not just enamored with fragrance, but they also want to know the story behind the story. They want to know who the perfumer is, they want to know the notes and the ingredients, and they want to hear how it was created. And with someone like Danielle, they’re able to come along on the journey.”
Parlux is no stranger to converting fame into fragrance, having created perfumes with everyone from Paris Hilton to Billie Eilish. And successful celebrity fragrance lines can be far more than just a side gig. Ariana Grande has surpassed $1 billion in perfume sales since launching her first scent in 2015, while Britney Spears’s 2004 debut scent Curious reportedly reached $100 million in sales in its first year alone.
Influencers and content creators, who have in recent years challenged celebrities as arbiters of aspirational lifestyles, are now asking if their dedicated fanbases can also convert to perfume sales.
Bernstein is far from the only influencer to break into the fragrance category in recent months. Fragrance and beauty influencer Funmi Monet, who is behind her own influxious perfume brand, was named to Sephora’s 2025 Accelerate Program. Sephora is already the home to Forvr Mood, the lifestyle brand by beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina — it launched with candles in 2020 before expanding to fine fragrance in 2024. Dubai-based influencer Mahmoud Sidani, aka Mr. Moudz, launched his ByMoudz perfume line in December. And newer perfume brands like Snif, founded in 2020, have made influencer collaborations a core part of their strategy. Snif’s partners range from perfume content creator Emelia O’Toole to lifestyle influencer Monet McMichael.
Those influencers helped fragrance overtake skin care as the buzziest beauty product in the years since 2020, with fragrance sales expected to continue to rise in 2025. Influencers have a proven track record of converting customers for established perfume brands. However, breaking into the fine fragrance category on their own merit means not only standing out in a saturated market but also overcoming the stigma of an influencer-backed product as a cash grab.
“Sometimes people still think that, because these creator brands happen, there’s somebody else bankrolling it or calling the shots,” said Jonny Eckersley, formerly the chief brand officer of brand development agency Made With Runway and now creative director of Stephanie Ledda’s namesake fragrance brand. “You’ll start to see some more [behind-the-scenes coverage] in Stephanie’s content over the next nine to 12 months. We’re trying to lift the lid on the business and make sure people understand all the hard work that goes into developing these products.”
Some content creators in the fragrance world eschew the term influencer altogether. Since 2012, Sebastian Jara has been reviewing perfume on his YouTube channel, The Perfume Guy, building up close to 300,000 followers. The San Francisco-based vlogger now works in fragrance full-time through consulting and social media, but he said he declined various opportunities to launch his own fragrances over the years.
“There was one brand that actually goes around and creates a lot of fragrances for influencers. I kind of don’t fall into the influencer category myself, and I didn’t want to be associated with fragrances like that,” said Jara.
But Jara found more fitting partners in the Italian niche brand Jusbox. In August, Jara and Jusbox launched Fifty Four, a patchouli perfume inspired by Studio 54. While Jara has not ruled out founding his own line, he said he has a collaboration with another niche perfume brand in the works.
“Some brands don’t know what’s going on out there in the world, so they need the assistance and the help,” Jara said of perfume brands launching products with content creators. “I like the idea of collaborating further with other brands.”
While 2024 saw a bevy of new brands come to the market, the influencer-to-fragrance founder pipeline has been brewing since 2020. In 2021, Addison Rae launched her mood-enhancing namesake fragrance line, which has since expanded to body mists. In 2022, Charli D’Amelio debuted her first fragrance, Born Dreamer, at Ulta. A flanker version launched in 2023, but the line is no longer sold at the retailer.
Eckersley said the Ledda fragrance brand has been steadily growing since its launch in November 2022. The brand reached $1.9 million in sales in 2024 and plans to evolve beyond a DTC brand by launching at retail partners in 2025. Though Ledda maintains her social media presence, she has not posted any paid partnerships with other fragrance brands since launching her own line.
“Ultimately, she’s the majority shareholder, and the brand is something she sees as a business for the future,” said Eckersley. “I don’t think it’s authentic for a creator to launch their own brand and also promote other brands in that space.”
While they may still rely on their social channels to promote their own brand, becoming a brand founder can ultimately mean moving away from traditional influencing as many content creators know it.
“Once you become a founder of something, you need to know that is your title. You don’t get to have a day off from that title,” said Christina Jones, evp of talent at Digital Brand Architects. DBA’s roster includes influencers like Patrick Starrr, who has gone from collaborating with MAC to creating his own brand One/Size. “For every creator that came out with a brand but didn’t fully embrace the founder mentality, the brand hasn’t lasted.”
Content creators have taken various paths to launching a fragrance, ranging from partaking in one-off collaborations to building a full line from the ground up. In choosing a business model, Jones said content creators need to consider how much risk and involvement they’re willing to take on. They could test the waters with a collaboration or offset some of the financial risks of a full brand through a licensing deal.
Whether they launch a product or not, Jones said all content creators need to consider how to reach their audience beyond a single platform. And with a TikTok ban on the horizon, that conversation is as relevant as ever for social media personalities.
“We always talk about the importance of diversifying your portfolio, because you never know when something’s going to fall off or become less relevant,” she said.
Jones said influencers may be even more primed to sell fragrance than traditional celebrities because of their direct connection to their fans. But no matter how big the name behind it may be, all fragrances are ultimately judged by the same criteria: their smell.
“At the end of the day, to have a long-term, sustainable brand, the fragrance itself has to be outstanding,” said Parlux’s Lori Singer. “Consumers will buy a brand for the founder, for the celebrity, for the fashion designer. … They’ll buy all of that once. But what makes them come back twice is the scent itself.”
