Why are some Perfumes more Expensive than Others?

A while back, I purchased an expensive perfume along with its cheaper clone. Surely, I though, that the more expensive original would not only out perform its original clone, but would leave a better impression on others who would smell it. But, I was wrong.

So, that got me thinking about the question: Why are some perfumes more expensive than others? In short, the main factors which determine a perfume’s price boil down to three things: the quality and complexity of its ingredients, its availability/exclusivity, and its branding and packaging. 

Now, some people may say that the actual liquid fragrance in the bottle costs next to nothing and the bulk of the costs comes from marketing and whatnot. While there is some truth to that in many cases, it doesn’t explain why the big budget designer fragrances (like the ones from Chanel, Dior, etc.) cost significantly less than many of the renowned niche fragrances (like the ones from Creed, Clive Christian, Xerjoff, etc.) which don’t have big marketing and distribution costs. So, what gives?

Factors Which Drive Up the Price of a Fragrance

The three main factors which drive up the price of a fragrance are 1) The ingredients 2) The availability or exclusivity of the fragrance, and 3) its branding and packaging. Let’s look at each in detail.

1. The Ingredients

The ingredients of a fragrance are what makes each fragrance stand out from the others as far as scent goes. It’s also a huge determinant in how the fragrance will ultimately be priced. When we talk about ingredients and price, there are several aspects to the discussion. There is source, quality, quantity, and complexity.

• Source: This is the where. Where do the ingredients come from? How rare are they?
• Quality: This is the how good. How good are these ingredients? Is there an insistence on using only natural ingredients or are synthetic ingredients used? And to what degree?
• Quantity: This is the how much. How much fragrance oil is being used per bottle? What’s the concentration? 
• Complexity: This is the how many. How many layers of ingredients go into making this fragrance? 10? 100?

The first step in concocting a fragrance is to source the ingredients. If a perfumer wants to use rose, for example, the question then becomes: which type of rose? Here is where science meets art. There are inherent differences between, say, Turkish rose, Taif rose (from a small mountain town in Saudi Arabia), and Bulgarian rose. In addition to being different species/cultivar, they also differ in natural environment, soil, topography, and climate as well as distillation or extraction techniques.

All of these differences produce a different result (scent), however so slight, from each other that, when combined with other ingredients, can alter the scent profile of the finished fragrance.

It goes without saying that two or more things sourced from two or more places will differ in cost. That, and the fact that it takes a whole lot of raw ingredients to make a little bit of essential fragrance oil. When you factor in just how rare many of these ingredients are, then it becomes obvious just how costly sourcing them can be. Observe the following highly regarded perfumery ingredients:

• Taif rose: These roses are grown in fertile soil over 1.8 km (1.1 miles) up and hand distilled using ancient techniques. To get 1 gram of oil takes about 3,600 rose flowers. Cost per raw kg of rose petals: $0.19.
• Bulgarian rose: These roses are handpicked from the third week of May to mid June from the Rose Valley in Bulgaria where they’ve been cultivated for centuries. To get 1 gram of oil takes between 4 to 8 kilograms of flowers. Cost per raw kg of rose petals: ~$3.
• Jasmine: It takes over 230,000 handpicked jasmine flowers to yield one ounce of essential oil. Cost per raw kg of jasmine petals: $4-7
• Oud: This oil is distilled from a rare specie of agarwood tree that’s been infected with a rare type of mold. It takes 10 kilograms of the wood to get just 1 ml of oil. Cost per raw kg of oud wood: from $100-$30,000.
• Ambergris: This is a waxy substance that comes from the excreted digestive matter of only 1% of sperm whales. Once excreted in the middle of the deep ocean, it takes years before humans come into contact with it. Cost per raw kg of ambergris: between $10,000-$20,000
• Orris: Considered one of the rarest perfume ingredients, this is derived from the root of the bearded iris flower cultivated only in the Tuscany region of Italy. It takes years of laborious manual labor just to prepare a harvest for distillation. It takes half of a kg of iris petals just to produce 1 gram of essential oil.  Cost per raw kg of orris: $60,000

This brings us to the second aspect: quality. If a perfumer insists on using Bulgarian rose over Taif rose, then the cost will be higher. Also, one can choose to step down quality (and cost) by choosing synthetic ingredients over natural ones. If you are wondering why one fragrance costs significantly higher than another, the first place you should look is the quality of ingredients. Chances are the higher priced fragrance will use more natural ingredients while the lower priced one will use more synthetic ingredients.

The third aspect, quantity, is tied directly to source and quality. The higher the concentration of a rare natural oil used in a perfume, the higher it will cost. The main classifications of concentration in perfumery are cologne (2-4% of the fluid being fragrance oil), eau de toilette (5-15%), eau de parfum (15-20%), and parfum (20-40%). Everything being equal, an eau de parfum (EDP) concentrated fragrance will cost higher than an eau de toilette (EDT) concentrated fragrance.

And the fourth aspect, complexity, is also directly tied to source and quality. The more rare natural ingredients combined, the higher the cost. Some fragrances are what is termed as “linear”, meaning they are composed of a few ingredients from roughly the same fragrance family producing a single scent profile from beginning to end. There are other fragrances, however, which are “non-linear” or “complex/layered” which means that they are composed of many contrasting ingredients from different fragrance families.

The intent is to produce a transitioning and transforming effect of the fragrance throughout its application (e.g from a fresh, cool scent to a warm sensual, scent). Generally speaking, the more complex or non-linear a scent is, the higher it will cost, although, there are instances abound where some of the most pricey fragrances are linear scent with only 3-5 ingredients.

“Each of the Clive Christian perfumes are expertly crafted, sourcing only the rarest and most precious ingredients in their purest forms. Not only do we source the best ingredients when creating the perfumes, but each one contains 100 to 300 raw ingredients with natural extracts, oils, and absolutes. All of the Clive Christian perfumes contain between 20 and 25% perfume, making them linger on the skin longer.”

– Victoria Christian, brand ambassador for Clive Christian

2. The Availability or Exclusivity of the Fragrance

Perfume has been a staple of luxury since ancient times. And, like any other luxury item, the more exclusive it is the higher it costs. With regards to exclusivity, perfumes are classified into three main types: designer, and niche.

Designer fragrances are from fashion houses such as Dior, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, etc. who, in addition to branding perfumes, brand other fashion and luxury goods such as clothing, watches, or even tobacco (Davidoff). Often times, the fragrances from these design houses are the least expensive and least exclusive goods they brand, positioned as entry level goods to their brands.

For example, Versace sunglasses are significantly more costly than most of their fragrance offerings like Dylan Blue and Eros. And unlike sunglasses and fashion wear, the fragrances from these design houses can be found at your run-of-the mill department store or cosmetic boutique, each competing with each other for shelf space. Some can even be found in pharmacies and drugstores.

In other words, designer fragrances are widely available and mass produced. And, as we studied in economics, the more supply you have, the lower the prices. For perfume fans, the more widely available the fragrance, the higher the chance you run of bumping into someone who is wearing the same thing your are. Some people don’t like that.

Enter the niche fragrances. Niche fragrance houses focus primarily on making perfume. Unique, exclusive, and limited perfume. Often times, these fragrance houses have a unique identity that their fans can relate to such as a certain standard on quality, or a preference for certain scent notes, or even a complete theme-based strategy (such as Zoologist, a niche fragrance house themed around…animal scents. I’m not kidding.)

Many of these niche perfume houses are small and/or traditional operations which maintain a legacy of prestige and passion in the art of perfumery. For example, The perfume house of Creed was founded nearly 300 years ago and used to supply royalty including Queen Victoria. Their method of perfumery has been passed down from father to son for the last 8 generations. Oliver Creed, the 8th generation heir and current head, insists that all the components are weighed, mixed and filtered by hand as they were centuries ago.

Whether out of choice or necessity, these fragrance houses limit the amount of bottles of fragrances they produce. Coupled with the cult followings these houses enjoy, prices can at least double or even triple the prices of high end designer fragrances.

3. The Branding and Packaging

Probably the biggest X factor in the final price of a fragrance is the branding and packaging. The bottle, box, and overall packaging typically cost four to six times times more than the fragrance itself. The presentation of the perfume is an immense part of the experience for many. Perfumers are acutely aware that beautiful packaging can elevate that experience, in addition to making the product stand out in the vast sea of fragrances that are launched year after year.

As a result, some manufacturers pay premium prices for special stoppers (caps or lids of the bottles), sometimes as much as for the bottle. Costs are also accumulated in decorating the bottle and for filling, shipping and packing it. Basically, the entire manufacturing process adds huge costs to the perfume.

Then, there is the bottle. Many of the world’s high end fragrance houses actually outsource their bottle designs to a French company called Baccarat. Baccarat creates and sells some of the finest crystal in the world. A fragrance that uses a run-of-the-mill bottle will not cost as much as one that uses a bespoke Baccarat crystal bottle.

And lastly, the brand and perfumer prestige play a role in driving up the price of a perfume. Perfumers see their creations as a form of art. It takes skill, creativity, and vision to come up with a perfume that people will love and cherish. And, like any form of art, creations and works from certain artists demand higher value than creations from others. Take Francis Kurkdijan as an example.

Francis Kurkdijan graduated from the prestigious perfume school, ISIPCA Versailles. When he was only 26 years old, he created Le Male for Jean Paul Gaultier, which still remains as one of the world’s best selling perfumes in addition to being one of the most critically acclaimed perfumes of all time. After creating more than 40 fragrances for other major fashion houses, he decided to open his own house or maison of perfumery to much fanfare and success.

Needless to say, a perfume created by Francis Kurkdijan will be more costly than one created from someone less acclaimed. Also, due to maintaining a high brand prestige, a fragrance from his Maison de Francis Kurkdijan house will be more costly than the fragrance (le Male) which he was commissioned to do for the fashion designer label Jean Paul Gaultier.

How Much Does the Liquid in a Bottle of Fragrance Cost?

We’ve already seen that the cost of sourcing the ingredients of fragrances can be costly. However, there is a difference between the cost of sourcing the ingredients to distill and make the fragrance oil extract and the cost of the actual fragrance oil that is part of the liquid in a bottle of fragrance.