Scouted: Why Luxury Brands Want Your Home and Body to Smell Like Tomatoes
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Given the dizzying pace of microtrends, it seems anything can hit virality, then disappear in a TikTok second. So when tomato started trending last summer with flush-faced ‘Tomato girl’ makeup, we didn’t exactly expect to the nightshade to stay on our radars into 2024. But thanks to tomato-fragranced candles, perfumes, and even home cleaning products launched by luxury brands like Loewe, Maison Margiela, Diptyque, and more, the fresh scent has hit peak ‘it-status’ with proven staying power.
“Spate has observed a growing preference for fruity fragrances,” says Yarden Horwitz, co-founder and president of Spate, a consumer trend and data intelligence platform. “Tomato, in particular, has garnered attention through products like Loewe’s Tomato Leaves candle and Tomato Girl Summer, coinciding with the vibrant red color trend in fashion from summer through fall... Tomato’s consistent growth in searches (+55.2 percent since last year) combined with its popularity in the zeitgeist suggests a promising trend for future months.”
The tomato scents put forward by luxury powerhouses aren’t exactly an ode to nonna’s sunday sauce. Instead, the trending scent can be rendered to smell clean and crisp, herbaceous and earthy, or sweet, like fresh tomatoes on the vine. “The smells that are created don’t have to exactly smell like a tomato, but they can be a bit of a fantasy fresh, crisp tomato-y scent,” notes Olivia Jezler, founder of scent consultancy firm Future of Smell. She says the luxury market is backing tomato because “it’s different from the usual florals and woods and ambers. It also fulfills a different olfactive category—it’s more of a crisp freshness without having to be citrus. Plus, the fact that tomato is a ‘vegetable’ but a beautiful looking one that has so many positive associations makes it a win.”
Ahead, find ten ways to freshen your home and body—and uplift your spirit—with the irresistibly verdant notes of tomato.
