Sol de Janeiro is dominating the fragrance category across Sephora, Ulta Beauty and Amazon.
According to consumer insights firm YipitData, the L’Occitane-owned fragrance and body care brand was responsible for 10 of the top 20 selling scents at Sephora from January through August, and three of Ulta’s top 20 fragrance products, including the No.1 spot with the mini $26 Cheirosa 48 Hair & Body Perfume Mist racking up over $15 million in sales. The mini Cheirosa 48 Hair & Body Perfume Mist was Ulta’s top-selling fragrance during the same period last year, too, although sales were about 37% higher then. YipitData sources its data on an omnichannel basis from credit and debit cards, web scraping and online and store receipts from a consumer panel of 11 million shoppers.
Kayali’s $138 Yum Boujee Marshmallow Eau de Parfum Intense moved up from the No. 2 spot in 2024 to become the top-selling fragrance at Sephora year-to-date, snagging an estimated $11 million-plus in omnichannel sales. Valentino’s $180 Donna Born In Roma Eau de Parfum was the retailer’s No. 1 fragrance in the same period last year. Rare Beauty’s $75 debut fragrance Rare Eau de Parfum is the 20th top-selling scent at Sephora so far this year.
Sol de Janeiro’s mini $26 Cheirosa 62 Bum Bum Hair & Body Perfume Mist, $39 Cheirosa 62 Bum Bum Hair & Body Fragrance Mist and mini $26 Cheirosa 68 Beija Flor Hair & Body Fragrance Mist registered in the second, third and fourth spots respectively for products in the fragrance category at Sephora. Data from beauty e-commerce agency Navigo Marketing also ranks mini Cheirosa 62 Mist in the second fragrance spot on Amazon behind Armani Beauty’s $130 Acqua di Giò Eau de Toilette, and it claims 4.1% share of total fragrance sales on the platform.
Sol de Janeiro gained back several spots on Sephora’s top 20 fragrance list this year. It held three in 2024. Still, the brand’s share of sales at the retailer declined by almost 10% from January to June this year compared to the same period in 2024, per YipitData. Sol de Janeiro was Sephora’s No. 1 fragrance brand in 2024 when it expanded into Ulta.
Fragrance sales at Sephora and Ulta have been on the rise over the past year as the category continues to outperform the broader beauty market. According to YipitData, fragrance was 18% of Sephora’s overall sales from January through August, up from 16% during the same year-ago period. At Ulta, fragrance grew from 12% of total sales during the same period in 2024 to 14% this year.
Navigo estimates online fragrance sales at Sephora increased roughly 7% this year, with men’s fragrance down about 5%. Meanwhile, fragrance at Ulta is on fire, with online sales rising 23% from January through early October over the same year-ago period and sponsorship activity climbing nearly 68%.
Amazon presents a contrasting picture. The number of different bestselling fragrance brands on Amazon fell 17% year-over-year, per Navigo, while the number of different bestselling items dropped 28% as fragrance sales on the platform have started to become more concentrated among a smaller group of well-reviewed brands. Currently, there are 151 bestselling fragrance brands and 438 bestselling individual items that appear among Amazon’s top-performing fragrance listings. Previously, those figures landed at 182 brands and 610 items.
Meredith Matthes, account director at Navigo, says the drop points to category maturation rather than a deceleration in demand. She says, “Consumers are gravitating toward established Amazon-native fragrance houses such as Lattafa, Armaf and Rasasi, which are competitively priced and highly reviewed, rather than exploring as many new entrants as in previous years. Meanwhile, premium discovery is shifting to Sephora and Ulta, where luxury and niche scents continue to expand.”
In fact, total fragrance category sales on Amazon advanced 10.2% year-over-year to hit $3.39 billion. Beauty brands are ramping up spend to maintain visibility as the category tightens, causing sponsorship activity to jump 4.1% on the platform.
While fragrance remains the fastest-growing category in beauty, its momentum appears to be cooling down. Data from YipitData shows that the category was up 14% in the first half of the year compared to the same period a year ago, although it’s been steadily trending down since January, when sales spiked by 20%. Market research firm Circana reports that prestige fragrance sales rose 6% during the first half of the year to reach $3.9 billion, marking a growth dip from the same period in 2024, when the category was up 12%. Mass fragrance grew 17% in dollar sales in the period, the biggest winner among mass beauty categories. New launches accounted for almost one-third of fragrance gains for the period.
Gourmand, tropical and warm scent profiles are driving the majority of fragrance growth across Sephora and Ulta. By format, minis and travel sizes, luxury eau de parfums with stronger profiles and affordable body and hair sprays are resonating with customers. Behind Sol de Janeiro, luxury fragrance brands rule the roost at Ulta, with designer scents from YSL, Versace, Lancome, Prada Beauty, Chanel and Chloe that retail for upwards of $150 dominating the top 20 ranking.
Nest New York, YSL, Sol de Janeiro, Valentino, Dior, Chanel, Ulta Beauty Collection, Burberry and Versace were the top-performing fragrances during Ulta’s recent 21 Days of Beauty promotion that ran from Aug. 29 through Sept. 18, per Navigo, and generated nearly half of the category’s sales for the promotion. Luxury beauty brands dominated paid spend during the sale, with Chanel, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana accounting for a quarter of all sponsored activity in fragrance.
Fragrance trends at retail mirror broader ones defining the industry. Circana reports that eau de parfums and parfums drove the greatest sales impact in fragrance this year so far. At the same time, lower-cost mini and travel size options grew 15% in units sold or almost 4X the rate of other formats.
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