In December 2022, I wrote,

“Several times a year, it happens: the fragrance/beauty press announces a trend in the making, with their collective notice of this trend bolstered by a wave of new releases. How and why do trends happen? It’s often a case of “the chicken and the egg” between the press and the brands, and now that TikTok has become a newsworthy source, maybe we’re looking at a three-way dynamic.”

Vanilla perfume was having a moment—it was back!!! in a way that we hadn’t seen since the early 2000s!—and, since I had some thoughts of my own on that “news,” I put together two posts with vanilla-centric recommendations and links to vanilla perfume reviews.

When I said “several times a year,” I meant several different trends…but the joke was on me:

Given all the late-2022 pressure to revisit this blissful bean, you might have tired of vanilla by, say, Valentine’s Day 2023. You might even have raced headlong into the cherry trend, the pistachio trend, the savory trend, and the powdery trend that followed.

Then again, maybe you stuck with a vanilla perfume you purchased last winter, because you don’t use up your fragrances very quickly or just because you actually liked it. Well, you’re in luck: vanilla is BACK. Again.

Yes! There’s a “new wave” of vanilla fragrances for us to buy. Apparently the “waves” are getting shorter and shorter. Once upon a time, 20 years was the rule of thumb for trend cycles—in fashion, at least. The five stages of the trend cycle, in case you’re curious, are introduction, rise, peak, decline, and obsolescence. Fragrance trend cycles very well could be quicker, but…less than a year? Really? Did vanilla even have time to peak and decline in 2023?

I have to say, this headline doesn’t sit well with me. Vanilla is not boring. Read up on its history! And the vanilla perfumes of yesteryear (the early 2000s, that is) ran the gamut from sweet and silly to smart and sophisticated. For every Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar, there was a Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille, a Sarah Horowitz Perfect Vanilla, a Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille Abricot…

And it gets worse. I was unaware until now that there’s a whole vanilla “look”:

“True to its name, TikTok’s Vanilla Girl aesthetic is defined by gourmand scents, cozy knits, and a stealth wealth palette of white, cream, and tan. She’s the Clean Girl’s neutral-wearing sister, the Mall Girl’s chic cousin, and the Coastal Grandmother’s closet-raiding granddaughter.” (from the ELLE article pictured above)

I don’t even want to dig into the subtext here. Others have already done that well.

Is Big Vanilla pushing this re-revival in scent? I’m kidding, of course. Vanilla perfumes contain very little, if any, natural vanilla. Synthetic vanilla aroma-chemicals have been cheap and available for more than a century.

Maybe it’s just been a slow news month for the beauty press, so all the beauty journalists got together and pulled a buzzword out of a hat…and happened to get something they’d already used, less than a year ago? I have no idea.

In any case, please feel free to read my earlier posts:

A Batch of Vanilla-Inspired Perfumes (…That Pre-Date the Year 2000): December 19, 2022
More Vanilla Perfumes (…That Pre-Date the Recent “Revival”): March 21, 2023 (this one is more focused on indie perfumes)

I’ll be over here, wearing my favorite vanilla fragrance.