Men are not traditionally seen as significant beauty consumers, but that is changing.
The industry is recognising the growth of the male market, with more men taking cues from their partners and becoming increasingly invested in grooming.
Fragrance, in particular, has emerged as a significant category.
A Bloomberg story in May reported that men are being encouraged to layer their fragrances, wearing multiple perfumes or colognes at once to create a signature scent.
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It cited data from Charm, a company that tracks TikTok Shop e-commerce, which showed that the number of videos promoting fragrances to men increased nearly 12-fold between April 2024 and April 2026.
That far outpaced the eight-fold increase in videos marketing fragrances to women, the data showed.
Indeed, brands are ramping up their marketing to men when it comes to fragrance, particularly through high-profile ambassadors.
Tom Holland fronted Prada’s Paradigme campaign last year, with the scent housed in a masculine green bottle.
Jacob Elordi took on the ambassadorship for Bleu De Chanel that same year, appearing in a martial arts-inspired video.
The fragrance, first launched in 2010, has become an icon for the fashion house, embodying its vision of modern masculinity.
Just this month, Jonathan Bailey was unveiled as the face of Armani’s I Will, an intense perfume presented in a gradient flacon that shifts from black to burnt orange.
“In this day and age, you want to be mindful of how you show up. Intention – how you arrive and how you leave – is really important. And I think nothing says that more than a scent,” he told Esquire.
Holland, Elordi and Bailey are some of Hollywood’s biggest male stars, and their presence in major campaigns indicates that brands are increasingly putting men at the centre of their marketing strategies.
As for perfume notes, brands tend to favour deeper, richer and more traditionally masculine profiles for men.
Woody, spicy, aromatic and smoky accords are often used to convey a sense of confidence, strength and sophistication.
In May, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson introduced a line of colognes for his grooming brand Papatui. They feature fragrance accords such as leather, amber and bourbon.
“The right fragrance changes your energy the second you put it on,” Johnson said in a press statement. “We obsessed over every detail to make sure they smell incredible, last, and will become part of how my guys show up every day.”
Last year, Armani Beauty also enlisted actor Hun Haqeem as a fragrance ambassador – a first for Malaysia.
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Even the K-pop world is being harnessed to push the male fragrance market.
In a recent campaign, BTS member Jungkook was featured in a Chanel video in which he has an intimate conversation with the brand’s in-house perfumer, Olivier Polge.
The campaign shines a spotlight on Chanel’s 1957, a unisex fragrance that transcends traditional labels.
Taken together, these moves suggest that men’s fragrance is no longer an afterthought within the beauty industry, but a category that brands are actively investing in and shaping around a new generation of male consumers.
