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The Fragrance FactorConsumers - who are mostly women in this segment - may be looking for what the product can do for them and their skin, but in specialty bath, fragrance is still the strongest selling point. "Fragrance is the most important attribute in determining a bath and body product's success," resolves Tsumura's Brennan, adding that Vitabath's fruit fragrances perform the best, with peach being a particularly strong performer. Yardley's Nuechterlein agrees that fragrance is very important, adding that peach is also his line's most popular scent. "In our case, the fragrances that are the most popular are the ones that are most universally acknowledged or recognized, like lavender and wild rose, which are our two leading fragrances," reports Windsor's Kalish. "After that, we have other fragrances that are considered very classic, English Garden fragrances that are the leaders after those two. And then our other fragrances all carry their own weight." "We o have products that are just fragrance collections, but that market is much more crowded," says Alida Stevens, president and founder, Smith & Vandiver, a manufacturer of soaps and toiletries. " There's a fashion of fragrance. It all goes along with wideleg pants - it's amazing how the fashion of fragrances has come around. Vanilla was once our second most popular scent, for both fragrance and personal care," and it's back again. Products touting aromatherapeutic benefits are all the rage, even though such products have been around for centuries. But consumers often aren't getting true aromatherapeutic reactions to the products they choose - they must learn that there is more to an aromatherapy product than just a pleasing fragrance. Smith & Vandiver is dedicated to offering products with true aromatherapeutic benefits. Stevens feels it is important for not just consumers - but for sellers as well - to know what aromatherapy entails. "As for aromatherapy we have so much stress in our lives an are all so busy that to be able to combine benefits of aroma in the same amount of time in our personal care routine is really a plus for today's busy consumer," she points out. "It is remarkable to me that our consumer understands aromatherapy, but we run into a lot of buyers who don't. The question that we get the most about aromatherapy is: how can I tell if it is really aromatherapeutic? If he product lists a fragrance as an ingredient, it's not going to work. It negates the physiological response. "There is a lot of confusion between aromatherapy and aromachology," she continues. "Fragrance has many ways it can influence us. Aromachology is a memory tag, a more psychological response. Sometimes vanilla makes us think of cookies, which makes us feel secure and calm - that's aromachology. Aromatherapy is when we inhale peppermint an dour brainwave patterns increase, and circulation is stimulated, which has nothing to do with our individual experiences - it's a universal, physical response." "Aromatherapy is enjoying increased popularity, however it is rarely used in the traditional sense - to create true physiological change in the body. It is more often offered as a way to affect the spirit and senses. This is usually accomplished through pleasing, fantasy fragrances as oppose to using strictly natural essential oils for medicinal purposes. Aromatherapy and the use of fragrance to affect the spirit will continue to be popular, as people continue to face increased stress in their lives and look for non-traditional ways of treating these pressures." "As I see it, aromatherapy will continue to be used as a 'cosmetic' positioning platform," asserts Tsumura's Brennan. "The full potential of real aromatherapy (scents that actually result in physiological changes) will not be realized until maximum performance claims can be made without the product being classified as a drug. I don't anticipate this happening any time soon." "I feel that by now aromatherapy has proven itself to be here to stay," maintains Windsor's Kalish. "With groups like The Fragrance Foundation sponsoring so much research on the power of the sense of smell, it has become apparent that smell, sense and aroma do affect us, and there are tangible scientific studies to prove it. However, the products that carry aromatherapeutic claims are going to have to be results-oriented - it can't just be a marketing tag line on a package. The product really has to produce a result, and then I think it will become an integral part of the category." "Aromatherapy is a trend, but it an important one. People want to not only take care of themselves but they wan to relax - that's really what the aromatherapy connection probably is," offers Bills Everett, vice president of sales, Crabtree & Evelyn, the specialty store known for its fragrances, with roots in England. "We ore any of our competitors are not trying to cure anyone, but our products help our customers relax, and that's the main reason why aromatherapy will last. We are not selling medicine." "Aromatherapy will be an integral part of this category, because there is a great deal of evidence that essential oils and their fragrance truly have a psychological and therefore physiological effect. Awareness of an education in aromatherapeutic products and their benefits is on the rise, so people are requesting these products," contends Borlind's Upton. "In the past, Americans had traditionally been concerned with facial care, but not body care. However, with the new focus on physical fitness and the emphasis on healthy, toned bodies, people are becoming increasingly aware that healthy boy skin is essential to having a sleek, healthy look. Therefore, people are beginning to set aside time and purchase products to care for body skin. With tight time schedules, people are going to want to derive maximum benefit from the time invested and will therefore be looking for aromatherapeutic products to enhance the efficacy of caring products." "At Freeman, the concept of aromatic and appealing fragrances is an integral part of our product make up. The 'feeling' that consumer gets while using a product - scent playing an obvious role in evoking different emotions and sensations, from soothing to revitalizing - plays a big part in the choices consumers make," Burns proclaims. "As consumers expect more and more from each product they purchase, we don't see that there will be a reversal in the demand for products that have such capabilities any time soon. The concept of aromatherapy is more than likely here to stay." "Aromatherapy is not an event in this industry's chronology trend," stresses Caswell-Massey's Hadley. "It is a process by which we, as an industry, will satisfy one of our customers' greatest experiential needs. Aromatherapy, like 'non-comodegenic' and 'no animal testing,' etc., will quickly become a consumer expectation, not a claim of differentiation." |
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