Did you know that Bath & Body Works releases 250 new fragrances each year? But according to a recent deep dive by The New York Times, “it puts muscle behind just a few…that it expects to carry the holiday shopping season”—and then become an all-year best seller. in 2024, the retailer hedged its bets on the new scent Perfect in Pink, which it spent a full year developing. However, despite all the effort, not all shoppers love the scent, with some going as far as to say it made them nauseous, gave them a headache, and smelled like “children’s cough syrup.”
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Perfect in Pink is the result of serious research and marketing.
As the Times notes, the company arrived at this year’s signature scent after careful market research. Kristie Lewis, senior vice president of merchandising for Bath & Body Works, explained that the idea came from the success of the Barbie movie and its signature pink color, Ariana Grande’s pink sparkly Glinda character in Wicked, the enduring following of Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry perfume, and the more recent decor and fashion trends centered around girly bows.
After perfumers worked on 150 different variations of the scent, they arrived at one that is a combination of 74 ingredients, “cherry, pink camellia and a scent called whipped almond crème,” notes the Times.
Perfect in Pink is available in everything from Eau de Parfum to body lotion to candles.
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But some shoppers are unhappy with the scent, to say the least.
Unfortunately, for a lot of shoppers, Perfect in Pink is anything but.
“Tried it in store, at first it was like children’s cough syrup, then it dried to a cherry powder floral. I didn’t get Jergans cherry/almond at all, which is what I wanted. I didn’t like it, and on the drive home it gave me a headache. It’s really strong too,” shared one unhappy customer in a Reddit thread entitled, “Honest review of perfect in pink?”
“As a sales associate I should probably say I love it but it made me a bit nauseous,” confessed an anonymous employee.
“I was expecting to love it, but I really did not like it 🙁 I didn’t really get cherry or almond from it, just a plastic-y creamy floral note,” said someone else.
In a TikTok review of the scent, fragrance influencer @plsmells also shared his disappointment.
“It’s a sickly sweet synthetic cherry,” he said. “It’s a little better when it dries, but the almond crème note is barely noticeable.”
“The body cream smelled like a cough drop with a sinus infection, and I could not get it off my hand fast enough,” he added.
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Not everyone dislikes Perfect in Pink.
To be fair, not everyone dislikes the Perfect in Pink scent.
“i personally really like it. you get a lot of cherry on the initial spray but after it dries down a bit the almond creme note really comes out and to me it smells a bit like a cherry marzipan! i don’t usually like cherry scents at all but i LOVED this one!! it’s a super girly scent, i don’t think it’s very floral at all tho if that’s what you’re looking for,” shared one Redditor.
“I’m kind of in love with it the more I wear it! The dried down notes really scream almond creme, white florals, light tuberose. It’s really cozy and I think it’ll be really nice in the winter scent. It really reminds me of the good girl supreme, very much dupe energy!!!” another shopper agreed.