FRAGRANCE FOUNTAINS PACKAGING
So how are fragrance brands building on and reimagining the classic fragrance fountain for a new generation, offering today’s perfume enthusiasts not only luxurious experiences but sustainably minded choices?
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“While [refills] is definitely a trend that is on the up, I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s a new proposition,” Mia Collins, Head of Beauty at luxury department store Harrods, tells Cosmetics Business. “Some of the established founding fathers of the perfumery industry, like for instance Caron, have been offering fragrance fountains as a refill method for decades.”
The French fragrance house’s perfume fountains have been a centrepiece of its boutiques since 1982, crafted from Daum and Baccarat crystal, to which consumers can return and refill their distinctive perfume urns. It has paved the way for in-store displays from a plethora of brands and retailers, including Harrods and The Perfume Shop (TPS), with the latter today offering refillable fragrances from 17 brands including Armani, Dior and Lancôme. Gill Smith, Managing Director at TPS, tells Cosmetics Business: “The fragrance fountains and in-store refills help our customers to make more conscious and sustainable choices, so they feel like they’re making a positive contribution. “Having the customer do something and take action means there’s more interaction in-store. “Customers love watching their fragrance being refilled in-store, and we give the bottle a clean and a polish to make a refill feel as special as buying a brand new one.”
The leading brand in the refill space – and perhaps the best-known – however, is L’Oréal-owned Mugler, which today claims 64% of the market share for refillable perfumes, starting with the launch of its 1992 gourmand scent Angel. “Historically, Angel’s bottle is unprecedented,” said Sandrine Groslier, Global President of Mugler Fashion & Fragrances, in an interview shared with Cosmetics Business.
“[The mould] was extremely complex. The parts were expensive, costing three to four times more than any other bottle on the market.” This inspired the brand to launch its Mugler Fountains to allow customers to return and refill their empty bottles, which Groslier described as “a breakthrough, which enabled us to create this costly bottle without making any concession on the aesthetics”.
The Perfume Shop offers refillable fragrances from 17 brands including Armani (left) while L’Oréal’s trailblazer Mugler (above right) today claims 64% of the market share for refillable perfumes
cosmeticsbusiness.com
Today, the brand is said to refill approximately one bottle every 20 seconds, with the service later being expanded to Mugler’s Alien and Aura scents, while the fountains themselves have been continually updated over the years. In 2019, Mugler teamed up with eco-design agency EVEA for a new design featuring lighter, smaller and recyclable glass cartridges made with 25% recycled glass, said to reduce the brand’s environmental impact by 21%.
The three globular chrome-plated air balloons are filled with the brand’s Angel, Alien and Aura scents, while all fountain parts can be removed and replaced, emphasising durability, conservation and reuse rather than manufacturing new fountains, according to the brand. This year, the brand is celebrating its 30th year of refills with the addition of its latest scent, Alien Goddess, to its more than 10,500 fountains worldwide.
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Being refillable from day one resonates more than ever with the Gen Z customers
Every bottle refilled is said to reduce the brand’s use of metal by 100%, as well 88% less plastic, 56% less cardboard and 50% less glass. “Being refillable from day one resonates more than ever with the Gen Z customers, who are very sensitive to eco-responsibility,” added Groslier. Mugler continues to lead the way as TPS reported a surge in refillable fragrance sales; last year, Alien
refill sales soared by more than five times year-on- year (507%) in the first quarter, while sales of Mugler refillable scents overall were up 368%. Elsewhere, Lancôme’s Idole scent saw refill sales almost triple (186%) in the same period, while other refillable bestsellers include Armani’s My Way edp and Dior’s Sauvage.
POUR IT UP With consumer appetite clearly growing for these refillable solutions, innovation is plentiful in creating fragrance packaging built to last and make the refill process easier for consumers. “It’s lovely that brands are going back to that approach that has been part of the industry for so long, but what’s been particularly exciting about it is the new innovation and approach[es],” Collins tells Cosmetics Business. This includes “some really cool innovation that minimises leaks and spills... [because] previously some of those refills were maybe a little bit more manual”. She highlights Tom Ford and Kilian as among the brands introducing more efficient refill methods; the latter, for instance, features an anti-overflow
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