Everything you need to know about hair perfume

Calling all fragrance lovers—have you added hair perfume to your shelf of favourite scents? I’d argue that aside from reformulated classics, reinterpretations of singular ingredients, and a recent push in clean compositions, you don’t see much buzz in the fragrance space. That is, until you consider the world of hair perfume—the lighter, less concentrated alternative to regular perfume, with the added benefits of the same conditioning ingredients you would find in your favourite nourishing hair products, like glycerin or aloe vera. Not to mention, hair perfumes are the perfect solution to keeping hair smelling fresh in between washes.

For a long time, I couldn’t stop hearing about Gisou’s Honey Infused Hair Perfume after its 2021 launch—perhaps because I’ve long followed brand founder Negin Mirsalehi, whose family’s bee gardens inspired the sweet floral scent. “I made our signature fragrance into a hair perfume, because I wanted our community to be able to indulge in our iconic scent whenever they pleased to always feel fresh and confident—whether it be to finish off their look or to refresh in between washes,” Mirsalehi explains over email. Described as “playful, fresh, and feminine,” the OG hair perfume was so popular, Gisou debuted a second iteration this year—a Floral Edition, centred around a wild rose aroma.

For a beauty brand that plays in both the fragrance and hair care arena, a hair perfume feels like a natural extension—after all, what many users associate with their favourite hair care products is, of course, a scent. In Mirsalehi’s case, that’s her family’s bee garden in the Netherlands.

Dianna Cohen of Crown Affair, has another hair perfume that’s popular. The scent—a smooth balance of citrus and sandalwood—is the effortless, cool-girl vibe her brand is known for. “When I first started working on Crown Affair four years ago, the first thing I dove into was developing the perfect scent for the line,” she says. “I communicated to the team what I wanted the fragrance to feel like. I asked them to capture the ‘essence of Kate Moss but if she were in Japan in the 1970s.”

Linda Levy, president of The Fragrance Foundation, describes hair perfume as a less expensive investment and a great entry into fragrance for new or younger customers. Plus, it’s an integral step in fragrance layering—the art of combining multiple scents to create a signature scent. “Hair fragrance is the next level of self expression and personalisation,” Levy adds.