COPING WITH THE BOMBARDMENT OF NEW REALESES, CONSUMERISM CULTURE, INFLUENCERS, DECLUTTERING AND... A BUDGET
Is the perfume industry starting to face the same critiques traditionally directed to the fashion world?
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| Andy Warhol, Perfume Bottles. Source: Minniemuse |
WARNING: Rant post -no factual reporting presented in the following content, just a bunch of unrequested biased opinions of a drained consumer.
As more of us are starting to realize the power of online communities and its profitable scale within our scented bubble, we are also slowly noticing a lot of issues and paradoxes parallel to the industry approaching a new economic boom.
I realized most of the community is not interested in sociological analysis about perfumery or consumerism (and i mean, are they wrong? most of my students can't keep their eyes open when it's time to introduce Bourdieu and French structuralism, why should someone enjoy it for free then?) , so I will try to approach the following themes with a more ditigally accessible and digestive narrative.
The main reason why these problems are only starting to get exposed now, and acknowleged by a small part of the community, is because if we compare it to the fashion world, perfumery is mostly a recent phenomenon on such a big scale and online, with most of its fortune owed to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic - I'll leave the link to the well articulated video essay on youtube covering this topic by Joel Anon.
I additionally have to cite some external thoughts coming from youtubers who have acknowledged some controversial aspects within the community before me:
the Youtuber Zirzilla has expressed her feelings about influencers' decluttering and "hyping" within perfumery
and I have been a big fan of Yve Spiders Smells' take on anti-haul and compulsive consumerism our community perpetuates on a daily scale.
Purpi Upreti instead covered the aspect of the so-called "simps", sexism, female objectification and the lack of transparency by perfume influencers.
A lot of fragrance aficionado and strategic marketers now start an everything-perfumery channel expecting to obtain contracts or PR packages, and there's nothing wrong about it:
social medias opened so many possibilities, so why shouldn't someone be paid for showing a product?
Free Labour? Not a vibe (altought Grimes might disagree).
We are expecting and pretending to be paid, and I am thankful to younger generations for stopping to idolize unpaid labor & exploitation.
Once the influencer earns enough, the next step for them is likely to fund a brand. While I think we shouldn't blindly demonize all collaborations between influencers and perfume houses, the majority of new brands by influencers and marketers underline a lack in perfumery education and any further sincere passion or creativity from loving the 'hustle'.
Influencers' perfume brands are the same phenomenon of celebrities recently discovering the wine or skincare market.
Why bother educating yourself when money can buy immediate access to professionals doing silently the job you should at least have a superficial knowledge about, if you can still make profit on it anyway?
Be it an influencer brand, a corporate fund niche or 'side hustle' brand, you name it, do we need all these new brands and products?
Can our nose and our wellbeing actually handle all the brands portfolio the industry is popping recently?
I feel bombarded by advertisements on Instagram, now even on TikTok, and what really drives my nerves crazy is how most of the publicity is made for free, at its best in exchange of a free tester sent by the brand or PR company to a creator.
And don't get me started with Youtube, my hopes for watching disclosed videos on the platform in relation to the creator and the brands featured have completely vanished a long time ago.
Each time a new perfume brand pops on my online ads, I immediately think that the imaginary presented is one I've already seen used by another company, likely marketed as similarly original, sustainable, 'luxury', artisanal etc (Le Labo & AESOP come to my mind when looking at how much overpriced aesthetically pleasing brands are constantly reproduced by launching companies).
Mina Le 's essay on Tiktok's haul trends, fast fashion & consumerism
I enjoy the virtual entertaining side of the fragrance community.
For most of us newcomers, it's likely through Youtube that we approached perfumery more seriously.
Yet, what used to happen to me at the beginning of my journey as a fragrance consumer was a process of guilt and inadequacy: all these influencers with massive collections and expensive perfumes, while mine was so limited compared to theirs.
And we (Reggie and I) occasionally receive emails from readers on how they feel inadequate for having two or three bottles of fragrances, as if those weren't already luxurious goods.
The costs of samples or decants for a normal working human are always omitted in this community, as if there was a certain kind of shame surrounding not being able to spend costantly hundreds on perfumes.
I remember seeing a video where one fragrance influencer on TikTok said they contacted a retailer shop just to review a fragrance that was currently hyped on a social media platform like Twitter or Instagram and the brand or retailer (I don't remember the exact details) sent them for free a full 100ml bottle.
So cool, right?
But if the product wouldn't have turned out enjoyable for the influencer, what would have happened to that beautiful 100ml MFK bottle?
The package arrived, all unboxed, sniffed immediately and followed straight away by the influencer's review on how sexy, feline, panty dropper, all the most objective and helpful terminologies just to make you feel like you have to buy it in order to be an acceptable human ebing.
Wasn't a sample or a smaller size more convenient, and also able to offer a more educative chance for the followers too on not blind buying?
Also, how professional can a review be if made immediately after the unboxing?
First impressions clearly count, but reviewing a fragrance takes multiple testings when it's done by a reliable person.
I find dangerous that people with such power promote blind buying or so naively request a full size bottle without knowing the product-
while this discourse is oversimplied and blaming the current atrocities of marketing on influencer is partially misleading, it's important also to not become part of the trap, and do not buy the influencers narratives on how they are your relatable freinds, unbiased reviewers, or uninterested in career expansion etc. And they do indeed have more power than a consumer - they have tools to scarily dictate consumeristic behaviors and not keeping them accountable is also wrong and a sort of Stockholm syndrome viewers and consumers develope.
We all bought a bottle for its aesthetic or because our neurons stopped working properly and felt the impulse to buy blindly (''will I have a chance to find this product again? will it be discounted once more?'').
But promoting the idea of receiving so easily products, and in such big quantities when not even needed, is not responsible, especially considering how perfumery is growing mostly within the younger generations (what influencers/collectors with huge followings also don't tell us, is that they often re-sell products they receive).
While I am not specialized in medias or sociology of communication, Youtube essays offer often more interesting and empiric analysis on our society and culture than certain academic articles or books. I highly recommend taking a break from my post and listen to this video essay by Adella Afadi, where she discusses social passing in relation to consumerism. When I started my academia journey, a lecturer used to make short audio-visive interruptions with external materials during a lecture in order to show different opinions and narratives on the same topic. Hope proposing this format here too might arouse new ideas, thoughts or opinions in our readers too.
I still go back to the troll episode and reflect about being called classist as I joked about the absurdity of the marketing and cosmetic industry by toxicly depending on influencers because of brands' own will, while the latter rarely care about the complexity of olfaction and exploit at their pleasure only the end products.
Nothing is political but everything is being politicized: the episode definitely highlighted to me how our society currently exploits sociological terms and discourses, because everything nowadays is classist yet pretty much no one abusing in misleading ways political and sociological theories can define for example class, class struggles or distinguish class from status, classism from elitism, and (un?)consciously reproduces neoliberal narratives on a matter which was initially theorized to provide an escape from the iron cage of capitalism.
I can't pretend the troll episode didn't affect me.
Because Reggie and I never engaged with the so-called fragcom before, we recently learnt about the collective revolt against ''fragrance snobs", apparently users that only wear niches and have to host unrequested Ted Talks on virtual platforms.
Well, I thought, I am one I guess. No matter if the troll and its disciples have an insight on perfumery, or if they have seen my collections which is, shockingly enough, 95% composed by samples, discovery sets and travel sizes.
None of this matters, because apparently to the troll niche is always expensive and making perfumes accessible should mean adjusting the market prices exploiting additionally the human machine behind the final product.
While certainly some brands have questionable price ranges in relation to their quality (just like certain brands are able to manage high quality in reasonably honest retail prices), what we often omit is that fragrances are in our society luxury goods.
We should prioritize perfumery education over consumption when engaging on topics like accessibility within this industry.
I found interesting how trying to do a regular work in showing one product per video, and usually a sample, is still viewed classist in comparison to massive collections showcasing significant amount of stuff in one video.
I noticed how few Tiktok creators I previously interracted with, stopped engaging with me for a bit after that troll episode.
Are they scared, I wonder? They privately shared the same positions with me.
Why can't they just honestly express their opinions? Probably because avoiding certain aspects allows you to grow exponentially and land up that so wanted PR list.
I remember watching Christophe Laudamiel's thoughts about reviewing and who can objectively offer an honest review. As a nose, he's a firm sustainer about how reviewers should have an adequate education in this field too.
One thing is talking about perfumes an individual enjoys, or mantaining a clear statement for the followers on the amateurial level of a review (and there's nothing less meaningful about it! Mantaining a transparent dialogue allows us self-taught fragrance lovers to learn and grow on a regular basis, and it's such a rewarding experience!), but probably what is happening with social medias currently is truly unabling qualified people next to the ability of certain personas to grow a significant following.
Education takes time, and can be done independently. With the advent of internet we have so many wonderful occasions to learn about perfumery in a more objective and technical way without having to pay the prohibitive costs (at least for most of us mortals) for institutional courses and schools.
On this topic, I want to conclude on Influencers and their self-proclaimed/entitled positions, by presenting once again in particular the case of Imen Jane, an italian influencer, web-journal founder and self-proclaimed economist.
Until it wasn't found out she didn't have any title related to her field (aka didn't have a degree), she used to claim fiercely to have a degree in economics and politics. While we all have thoughts and opinions, using our mind does not enable us to consider ourselves experts or professionals.
How to protect the integrity of perfume reviews? by Christophe Laudamiel
So what's next?
What's the point of this post?
Well, I must state in this neverending messy rant, that none of this has been written with repressed anger or targeted towards specific individuals.
While I'm aware of the very confusing and grammatically incorrect storytelling of the post, I find it helpful to occasionally write down some thoughts gatered around the endless hours passed on the virtual fragrance community.
I'm not a police officer and calling out individuals for mere superiority complex is deeply disturbing in my opinion, but summing the content of fragrance 'reviewers'/influencers in relations to marketing is definetely beneficial for the final consumer to look at the fragrance community - based at its 98% on consumerism and purchasable luxury goods-, also from a more aware and reflective perspective.
We need to collectively rethink our CBD as a society, and no one is excused from this, myself first.
We also should demand more accessible perfumery education.
Highlight and share when possible any available resources for the consumer to critically engage with perfumery.
While there's a room for everyone in this industry and community, we need to realize our boundaries and limits:
an influencer or amateur is not a reviewer or critic.
They might become a reviewer if starting to do it more methodologically, and by this I mean also by expanding the fragrance vocabulary and learning about perfumery on various aspects (history of perfumery, chemistry, phytochemistry, marketing etc).
But an influencer or amateur that finds fortune - and we do cheer the fortune if coming from a positive and sincere interest - being paid to show a product or partnering with a brand, is not producing an objective reviewing for the consumer.
As I am similarly not a reviewer or critic: I'm not in a position to understand marketing strategies, or all the steps to make a perfume. I cannot give unbiased and objective perspectives on fragrances; and don't want to.
My knowledge and education is extremely limited to basic introductory phytochemistry and anything related to plants and essential oils when it comes to this industry (and to what extent I might consider my higher education in social sciences and theology useful in this field also haunts me), but I do read and inform myself on what I'm lacking by qualified and trained individuals or institutions.
I am missing a lot of resources and do not understand 99.9% of the technicalities I read or listen to when it comes to perfumery.
It takes time to learn, and the pressure we are putting on ourselves first to always have an opinon, always have an answer, is becoming unsustainable for our own wellbeing.
Perfumery for most of us remains a playground, a safe place to hide when the external world is collapsing.
And there should be no shame in not being able to know exactly what it takes to make that smelly water that uplifts us so easily.
But please, clarify to your viewers your standpoint and background.
Most of us don't even reach social media for extremely technical insights on perfumery, so why pretending to be something we aren't?
Hopefully in this next month I am facing my everyday life, of which I probably lost touch during the past lockdowns and ongoing pandemic, and have tons of exams to submit.
At the same time, I should go back to the UK for university, so August will be for me entirely dedicated to no-buy and staying away from anything that can tempt me or make me feel insicure on a material level.
As a normal person in my 20s, I haven't still reached the level of economic independency I would love to have, so the usual 60 euros I save monthly for fragrances, will probably be invested in an airplane ticket or going back to pay bills, after having spent the last year with my family.
And it's ok.
I am accepting the fact that it's ok if certain months I do not spend a penny on fragrances, even on books or courses related to this hobby.
I have priorities and I need to normalize that for me surviving securely the everyday comes before scented water (perfumers have mercy on me for this final sentence).
EXTERNAL RESOURCES
Youtube Videos cited in this post:
-Adella Adafi, Am I broke or is everybody faking it? The pressure to be rich and stunt
-Christophe Laudamiel, How Can We Protect The Integrity of Perfume Reviews?
-Joel Anon, Perfume?? In THIS Pandemic??? (it's more likely than you think)
-Mina Le, tiktok is kind of bad for fashion
-Yve Spiders Smells, My Anti-Haul ep. 1 , My Anti-Haul ep.2
-Zirzilla, Perfume Rant: Problems with frag community& personal mistakes
Articles on consumerism:
- How the pandemic got us addicted to longing – and why it’s bad for us (2021) by Amanda McCracken on the Guardian
- Niche & mainstream consumer culture, on ScentCulture Institute
-Signature Scents and the Myth of Unique Individualism (2019) by Otherwise
-The psychology of impulsive shopping (2016) by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic on the Guardian
Academia-related articles/books on consumerism etc.:
-Bridging the Gap: Feminism, Fashion and Consumption;(1997) ; Angela McRobbie
-Young Women and Consumer Culture; (2008); Angela McRobbie
-Comorbidity of compulsive buying and brand addiction: An examination of two types of addictive consumption;(2020); Mona Mrada, Charles ChiCui
-Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Exploration; (1989); Thomas C. O'Guinn and Ronald J. Faber
-Rethinking consumerism for the sake of young people’s mental health (and the planet); (2018); Chris Large
- Consuming Youth: Leading Teens Through Consumer Culture by John Berard
-Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste by Pierre Bourdieu
- Consumer Culture and Society:a Critical Introduction by Mark Davis
-Perfume Consumption in India: An Exploratory Study; (2016); David James Bamber, Clay Alex Gransden and Swati Aisha Beg
