You think teenage boys smell of Lynx Africa, musty trainer and gummy bear vape? In 2024, it might be Tom Ford Neroli Portofino or Acqua di Parma’s Sardinian juniper, because, according to the New York Times, they – and younger boys – are becoming high-end fragrance fiends.
This TikTok-fuelled trend is the boy equivalent of 12-year-old girls dropping fortunes on unnecessary retinoids, but apart from the expense (you’d need an extra-lucrative paper round to finance this hobby), it feels cheerier than an obsession with nonexistent wrinkles. Lads who just want to smell nice debating aldehydes, vetiver heart notes and the sillage (lingering scent trail) of fragrances created by or bearing the names of extremely successful gay men? That feels like a breath of fresh (OK, heavily scented) air compared with the fetid misogynistic manosphere they’re also exposed to.
But is it? An afternoon on teen fumehead TikTok left me deeply confused. There’s a lot of talk of fragrances “ladies” go “wild” for, but also, sweetly, ones to “rizz up” your teachers (avoid Jean Paul Gaultier; stick with ozone-y freshness). Some bottles (hand grenade; gold bar) seem precision-tailored for the lad market, but the kids are equally obsessed with Gaultier’s high-camp torso-shaped bottles. The “scentmaxxing” (smelling as good as possible) sub-trend is derived from “looksmaxxing”, which originated in “incel” forums.
Then there’s the dazzlingly white-suited uber-influencer “Jeremy Fragrance”: a Jesus-loving, German-accented, bare-chested fragrance divo, who commands a fanatical following of kids who ask him to sniff their necks and guess what scent they’re wearing. That’s endearing, but being pictured with far-right figures and rambling about his masturbation regimen and a woman who allegedly made a false accusation of rape against him definitely aren’t.
If it all baffles me, what must it be like as a teen or tween boy? Thankfully, better perfume role models are available: @ThatFragranceKid dresses like a natty Florida retiree and exudes touching, exuberant enthusiasm; @TheCologneBoy, a nice, normal-seeming Winnipeg 18-year-old, loves his mum, mocks Jeremy Fragrance and advises followers to wash, moisturise and look after their oral hygiene. Now that’s what I call a good influence.
Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist
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