A few months ago, I bought a fragrance I had never smelled.
Scary, right?
I had come across an Instagram post by my favorite perfume-forward account, the Gloss Channel, featuring a short interview in London with a stylish girl who talked about the scent she was wearing, Queen of Silk by Creed.
She described it as fabulous, floral, with hints of musk and rose — and I knew I had to have it, as those are the notes (and vibe) I usually go for.
After some deeper research on Fragrantica, an online hub with notes and community reviews, I learned it was a new scent — introduced last year by Creed, a Parisian fragrance house that was founded as a tailor shop in London in 1760 and now is owned by the Kering luxury group. I decided to take the plunge and ordered the scent in its smaller, 30-milliliter (approximately one ounce) size.
I initially disliked it, overwhelmed by the tuberose bomb. But after about an hour on my skin, the fragrance smelled exquisite — warm and woody.
It turns out I am not alone in making fragrance purchases based on social media and then hoping for the best.
Kida Snow, a fragrance enthusiast from Auckland, New Zealand, who posts on TikTok, said that, in general, she prefers to sample before she buys.
“But recently, I blind bought Cream Velvet from Khadlaj, which had been described as identical to the cult favorite Bianco Latte from Giardini di Toscana,” she wrote in an email, referring to the less-expensive Khadlaj scent as “a warm, creamy, sweet, vanilla caramel gourmand.” (While the traditional definition of gourmand is someone who enjoys good food and drink to excess, the perfume industry uses the term for the aromas of edible items such as chocolate or honey.)
“When it arrived, it did not disappoint,” she noted. Comparing the Cream Velvet with the more-expensive Bianco Latte, she said, “it wasn’t as complex in the dry down, and it was a little sweeter, but it made for the perfect everyday gourmand.”
Kuv Ahmad, a perfume enthusiast living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, blind bought Molecule 01 by Escentric Molecules a couple of years ago after seeing a video of someone talking about so-called pheromone-attracting scents on Instagram.
“I really liked the way it was described and felt it was calling out to me,” she wrote in an email. “The cedar wood notes and the interaction with your own skin’s chemistry, as well as it being a subtle and comforting scent, really appealed to me. When I received it, I was surprised at just how subtle it was but I enjoyed using it.
“That was another thing that made me go ahead with the blind buy, because it was described as a subtle and discreet scent, I thought it wasn’t a huge risk to take.”
Social media has been changing the way we purchase fragrances, said Phoebe Jones, 27, the co-founder of the Gloss Channel, during a recent interview at a cafe in the Mayfair neighborhood of London. “I think it’s become a massive thing, whether it’s like a FOMO situation that people don’t want to miss out on something.”
A few months ago, the Gloss asked its Instagram followers whether they had bought fragrances solely based on its videos. Of the 397 people who replied, 227 said yes. “It was quite a big portion of people,” said Tyler Simmons, 26, the site’s other founder and Ms. Jones’s life partner.
Of course, given their platform’s focus, those positive responses are what Ms. Jones and Mr. Simmons would hope to receive — even though they acknowledge they have never done any blind buying themselves.
But Ms. Jones said her choices have been influenced by what she hears on the street. “As I’m interviewing them, I think, I need to get that. I need to wear that,” she said.
Chasing the Scents
The Gloss began on TikTok in February 2024 as a fashion and makeup channel, but soon evolved into a primarily fragrance-focused one that now shares content across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to more than 900,000 followers and derives income occasionally from sponsored posts. (Two channels were recently added to the TikTok and Instagram lineups: the Guys Guide, for men, and the Gloss and Tell, exclusively beauty, skin and hair care.)
Why pivot to focus on scent? “We noticed there was an equally large interest in fragrances as there was in fashion,” Ms. Jones said. “This then became a standard question we asked, and got us noticed by brands. Brands really loved the authentic style and naturally wanted to feature their fragrances on the channel. So we continued with the idea and found a good connection to fragrances and what people wear.”
She even has tried to guess the perfume the person was wearing. “I don’t know why, but I have this special power to guess fragrances and it became an icebreaker,” she said.
How do they select people for their short videos?
“How they’re presenting themselves, and their vibe,” Ms. Jones said. “If they’re smiling, I just know they’re going to bring the best energy.”
Almost every weekend now she and Mr. Simmons spend some time in Central London, particularly in neighborhoods such as Knightsbridge and Mayfair, trying to catch people coming out of stores after trying fragrances.
“If they’re smelling things on their wrist or they’ve got the blotters, you just know,” she said. “And the key of what we do is we create a safe environment for people to be able to chat their feelings. That’s how we get the best out of people.”
Mr. Simmons, who has worked at companies providing visual effect services for film and TV production, is in charge of the video side of things. He uses only an iPhone, with no special lighting equipment.
“People underestimate how good the lighting is outside,” he said.
Rainstorms, however, can be a challenge. “The weather determines how people are feeling,” he said. “We always say we are in the hands of the British weather.”
What’s Happening
After sampling so many, what are their personal favorites? Ms. Jones said she liked Madurai by Memo Paris, with turmeric, jasmine sambac, peach; Orange Crush by Fugazzi, amber and orange; and Levant by Ormonde Jayne, peony, lily, orange blossom and jasmine.
Mr. Simmons’s list included Imagination by Louis Vuitton, with citrus and cinnamon; and Carlisle by Parfums de Marly, green apple, rose and patchouli.
The pair said they have noticed some perfume-specific trends in recent months, such as “fragrances that are marketed as smelling unique on everyone,” said Mr. Simmons, “fragrances like Glossier You, Juliette Has a Gun (Not a Perfume), Le Labo Another 13, Phlur Missing Person. That last one is meant to smell like a person you miss.”
Gourmand fragrances were having a big moment, they added, as were unisex fragrances that can be shared with a partner.
Layering is another big one. “People want to be known for smelling good, but they’re not sharing what it is because it’s a mixture, like a fragrance cocktail,” Mr. Simmons said. “It’s quite an interesting one that seems to be more popular, because I think people want to be recognized for being unique.”
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