I’m late to the ATH game but I’m glad I’m slowly getting into this house. Nice and bright. Clean scent. Opens with a fizzy citrus. Hangs around with green apple, oakmoss and dry wood. Perfect for a sunny, low 80s kinda day. Happy Friday gents.

Here’s the fragrance news worth paying attention to as of August 18, 2026—with the fluff stripped out. - Roja London – Elysium Absolue Pour Femme launches tomorrow, August 19. It was created by Julie Lerendu of Robertet working with Roja Dove and centers on rose, lychee, fig, raspberry, sandalwood, patchouli, and amber. It’s a 75 mL EDP at $330. Early testing from Fragrantica describes very large opening sillage and roughly 12-hour longevity. - Regalien – Hidden Origins Collection is much more interesting from a perfumery standpoint. Three extraits were introduced: Aurora: Halfeti Dark by Dominique Ropion, Anemos: Cappadocia Wild by Hamid Merati-Kashani, and Agora: Golden Horn by Honorine Blanc. They’re 80 mL extraits at €270. Anemos is the one I’d put at the top of the sniff list: citrus, leather, oud, nagarmotha, labdanum and amberwoods. - Rasasi just released Hawas La Mer and Hawas Gold Digger. What makes this news interesting is that the inspirations aren't being hidden: La Mer is described as inspired by Louis Vuitton Pacific Chill, while Gold Digger is inspired by Ultra Male. La Mer uses peppermint, citrus, blackcurrant, jasmine, carrot seed, fig and amber woods. This is another good example of a Middle Eastern brand moving from loose similarity into clearly identifiable interpretation territory. - Gucci Guilty Eau de Toilette Intense Pour Homme is new. The structure is surprisingly simple: sea salt, lavender and palo santo. Rather than making “Intense” mean sweeter and thicker, Gucci seems to be going mineral/aromatic/dry woody. Of the new mainstream men's designers, this is one I'd actually test. - Fragrance continues to carry the U.S. beauty business. Prestige fragrance dollar sales grew 6% in the first half of 2026, while mass-market fragrance sales jumped 15%. More interestingly, prestige unit sales were essentially flat while average prices increased about 5%, and EDP/parfum concentrations posted double-digit growth. Translation: consumers are increasingly spending more per bottle and moving toward stronger concentrations rather than simply buying more bottles.

And that brings me directly into Part 3, because this is where I want to go much deeper into who is actually behind these fragrances. Not just the brand name on the bottle, but the perfumers, the major fragrance manufacturers, the oil houses, the raw-material suppliers, and where these companies are actually sourcing what eventually ends up in the bottle. This is where the perfume industry starts getting a lot more interesting, because the brand selling you the fragrance is not always the company actually creating everything behind it. The Name on the Bottle Is Only Part of the Story One of the biggest misconceptions in fragrance is that every perfume house has a perfumer sitting somewhere in the back room creating every fragrance from scratch. That simply isn't how a large part of this industry operates. There are several different business models. Some houses employ in-house perfumers. Some hire independent perfumers. Some commission fragrances from major fragrance manufacturers. Some work with outside laboratories. Some purchase fragrance concentrates or bases and modify them. Some independent perfumers actually formulate, compound, test, and produce much of their own work. And there are companies using combinations of all of these methods. This is why I think we need to stop looking at perfume as simply brand versus brand. Behind those brands is another entire industry. The Major Fragrance Manufacturers At the top of the fragrance supply chain are companies most fragrance consumers will never see advertised on a bottle. · Givaudan · dsm-firmenich · IFF · Symrise · MANE · Robertet · Takasago These are some of the giants of the fragrance and flavor industry. They employ perfumers, chemists, evaluators, researchers, and technical specialists. They develop aroma chemicals, natural extracts, proprietary ingredients, fragrance bases, and complete fragrance concentrates. These companies can work on everything from a $20 body product to a prestige designer fragrance selling for hundreds of dollars.

🪵 Goldfield & Banks Wood Infusion – 56% OFF https://get.aspr.app/SH1WRx Rich Australian sandalwood with smooth, creamy woody depth. ⚪ Goldfield & Banks White Sandalwood – 54% OFF https://get.aspr.app/SH1hOH Pure sandalwood with clean, milky sophistication — a modern classic. 🌴 Goldfield & Banks Island Lush – 50% OFF https://get.aspr.app/SH1zuU Tropical fruits, coconut, and vanilla — barefoot beach day sensuality. 🌲 Goldfield & Banks Blue Cypress – 46% OFF https://get.aspr.app/SH1hOI Rare Australian cypress with resinous depth — meditative and grounded.

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