Adding aromas to cosmetic formulas: what’s best?

Belinda Carli, 08/2026

Adding aroma to a cosmetic formula can be an ideal way to attract a specific target market and leave a ‘message’ about the product or its brand. So, when it comes to adding fragrance or essential oils to cosmetic formulas, we often get asked, what type of aroma is best?

There is no simple answer to this, and the best way to research this is to get a group of your target market and run olfactory or preference tests.

Age, socio-economic background and culture can also have a big influence on which fragrances are preferred. Gender has always been one of the keyways to define a fragrance for a consumer audience in the past, however that has evolved considerably, especially as gender neutral and inclusive products have become more in demand.

While the table below provides some guidance, please remember that the consumer of today is far more individual than consumers of the past – there is now such a blurring of ethnicity and gender, as well as age, that we shouldn’t try to stereotype any group of consumers. You are best to use the table below as a starting point to selecting what might be desirable aromas, and then run evaluations with a consumer group that closely resembles, or is from, your target market to determine their true preferences.

In addition to this table, where your target market is more gender neutral, it is best not to lean too heavily in the direction of either gender listed below, but try to find a happy ground somewhere in the middle – don’t create an aroma too overtly woody (which tends to be more masculine), or too heavily floral (which tends to be more feminine) but instead, a more subtle aroma that pleases the specific age group you have in mind combining the less dominant gender elements.

Age group	Female preferences	Male preferences
<20 years	Generally sweet, fruity and may also favour citrus. Discerning consumers may want a touch of floral notes, but not too much.	Woody and lightly herbaceous notes. Alternatively, marine notes.
20 – 30 years	More subtle fruity notes but still generally sweet. A touch of floral or citrus top notes favoured; along with some green base notes to round out the sweetness/fruitiness. Springtime florals and blossom-like notes start to become favoured as women approach 30. The more discerning and/or bold consumer will often be attracted to more complex aromas with oriental notes or undertones.	Predominantly green notes with some herbaceous or minty complexity and woody base notes. Alternatively, marine notes.
30 – 40 years	Stronger floral notes are favoured with underlying sweetness or oriental notes. Alternatively, marine notes.	Relatively strong herbaceous and woody blends with a touch of musk.
40 – 50 years	Strong floral notes with oriental tones and warm bases (e.g. the stronger aromatic presence of vanilla or amber). For a lighter touch, floral with fresh notes and powdery musk tones may also be favoured.	Woody, warm and sensual notes preferred – not too overpowering but substantive. A touch of floral without being feminine combined with herbaceous and woody aromas may also be favoured.
50 – 60 years	Heavily floral and oriental notes with warm undertones and some musk.	Oriental, spicy and woody notes with warm and possibly herbaceous undertones.
60 years +	Less overpowering fragrances – consumers will typically pick a lighter version of a fragrance they preferred from their 40’s or 50’s. Alternatively, lightly fresh and floral.	Less overpowering fragrances – consumers will typically pick a lighter version of a fragrance they preferred from their 40’s or 50’s. Alternatively, lightly marine or lightly herbaceous and woody.

Gender neutral example: while this area of the cosmetics industry is continually evolving, here is an example of how you might combine the above two tables to define some starting blends for consumer evaluation:

20 – 30 years: fresh citrus notes combined with herbaceous notes
30 – 40 years: herbaceous with a touch of floral or woody notes
40 – 50 years: oriental with herbaceous and woody notes

The importance of testing a fragrance on consumer groups – particularly where it will be an important part of your product range and/or your consumers don’t fit traditional cultural or gender stereotypes - cannot be emphasized enough.

In a future blog, we’ll look at what inputs should be used for fragrance and essential oil blends. You can also get inspired by these fragrance formulating videos:

Learn more with our videos:

For now, good luck with selection and testing, and enjoy the aromatic journey.

Happy formulating!

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Adding aromas to cosmetic formulas: what’s best?

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