Is beauty going bananas?
The France-based fragrance house, which also operates manufacturing facilities in the US (Piscataway, New Jersey) and in Hong Kong, produces periodic trend concept reports for the brands and manufacturers the company supplies. And in a January 2020 mini-concept report, Sozio singled out the banana scent trend.
Consumer interest in safety and wellness are making bananas popular
Naturally occurring (and familiar scents) and ingredients align well with current consumer passions for safety and wellness.
“Due to its numerous health and beauty benefits, along with the fact that the scent of bananas is irresistible to many, a surge in its popularity has spiked,” according to the introduction of Sozio’s Go Bananas report.
The report contextualizes the banana trend further by pointing to “the collision of two major consumer moments: the pervasiveness of wellness culture and the increasing fear that most products are dangerous.”
Products across categories can include banana notes
The Sozio report highlights banana-forward fragrances from Demeter, Victoria’s Secret, and L’Aritisan Pafumeur as well as personal care products with either a banana scent, benefit, or both, such as Banana Bright Eye Cream from Ole Henrikson, a Garnier hair mask treatment made with banana extract, and a Banana Lip Balm from Sephora Collection.
The report also sites Mintel data stating the in 2018, some 800 personal care and air care products “with a banana claim” were launched in the North American market.
And more recently, the banana trend continues with products like the Banana Soufflé Moisture Cream from Glow Recipe (launched in December 2019) and the evolve skin care line from the Australian brand Natural Evolution (launched in October 2019), which touts itself as “the worlds first skincare line created from banana antioxidants.”
Banana is a complex fragrance
Sozio looked not only at fragrance and beauty products for its report on the banana scent trend but also at food, beverage, and color trends that intersect with and trade on the appeal and nuances of bananas.
The fragrance maker sees potential to leverage the full lifecycle of bananas: “Green. Floral. Fruity. The wonderful stages of the banana as they make their way from humid, tropical climates to your fruit bowl.”
And the Sozio report breaks down the notes of three key banana scents: Banana Palm, Banana Bloom, and Banana Burst. And each is quite distinct. The top notes of each, for illustration, are green banana and palm leaf for a Banana Palm scent; aromatic greens and coconut water for Banana Bloom; and sun-ripened banana and tropical fruits for Banana Burst.
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Deanna Utroske spots the potential of novel beauty ingredient innovation early. And because of this, hers is a leading voice in the cosmetics and personal care industry as well as in the indie beauty movement. As Editor of CosmeticsDesign.com, she writes daily news about the business of beauty in the Americas region and regularly produces video interviews with cosmetics, fragrance, personal care, and packaging experts as well as with indie brand founders.
Deanna will be traveling next to the Personal Care Product Council’s annual meeting; if you’ll be there too and have beauty business news to share, feel free to contact her at qrnaan.hgebfxr@jeoz.pbz
