Our business definitely went up in lockdown. Perfume is a sensory experience that can be enjoyed in your living room
Surrounded by thousands of tiny glasses bottles, each filled with everything from ubiquitous to unique raw scents, Euan McCall and Chloe Mullen have spent the past 10 years crafting bespoke fragrances unlike anything you would find on the high street.
Handcrafted in their studio in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, the couple design scents
for other brands, as well as a limited range of luxury, small-batch perfumes under their own name, Jorum Studio, all of which are inspired by everything from childhood memories to daily walks around the city.
As an experienced perfumer, McCall believes carefully balancing different scents has the power to unlock emotions and make people feel more connected – something that has been key to the increase in fragrance sales over the course of the pandemic.
“It is interesting that fragrance sales across the board, globally, are up,” said McCall, who has held a passion for fragrance since he was a child. “There’s always been what economists refer to as the ‘lipstick effect’ but it has really been exclusively for lipstick and other luxury goods – perfume was kind of just thrown into that mix.
“Now, perfume, more so than many other categories, has been performing so highly. The only explanation we can think of is that people, as animals, need aromas more than we think we do. During lockdown, I think, we’ve been trying to find that stimulation.”
Demand from both business-to-business clients and retail customers has boomed for McCall and Mullen. Not only has there been an “exponential” increase in entrepreneurs approaching the pair to design fragrances but sales in-store have soared, too.
“We’ve had people come into the store and tell us they never used to think about perfume, but since lockdown it has become almost an obsession, and they are buying a bottle every month,” said McCall. “People are trying to have some form of sensory experience while sitting in their living room.
“The strange sales upsurge wouldn’t make sense otherwise. I mean, we aren’t going out to bars and restaurants like we were, we aren’t meeting people as frequently, and normal people apply perfume when being sociable. So, I think for the most part it’s about a desire to have experience through the senses.”
Mullen agrees, and says she has even noticed how her own desire for fragrance has changed. “For me, personally, wearing fragrance over the past two years became less about what I’m presenting to other people and more about how I want to feel,” she said.
“Everything exists digitally now,so it’s no longer really about the impression you want to make when you’re meeting someone face to face. You know, I’ll have a Zoom meeting and think, ‘How do I want to feel going into this meeting?’ and choose a fragrance to reflect that, and also work as a mood booster.
“People are becoming a lot more in tune with how scent can change your sense of being.”