My Complicated Feelings Around Art Becoming Product

A fragrance lover’s complicated feelings about hype, retail, and the future of niche perfume

When Art Becomes Product

Last week I learned that the niche fragrance brand Fugazzi will soon be sold at Sephora. And interestingly, my reaction had very little to do with Fugazzi itself.

Not anger. Not excitement.

Something closer to… grief.

From a business standpoint, I completely understand the move. Sephora offers enormous exposure, access to new customers, and the kind of financial opportunity that most small fragrance houses only dream about. For an independent brand, that kind of growth can mean sustainability, stability, and the ability to keep creating.

So, no — this isn’t criticism of Fugazzi.

But the news did get me thinking about something bigger. It made me wonder about what happens when art slowly becomes a commodity.

Can something stay special once it becomes widely consumed? Will the spirit of niche perfumes survive mass retail?

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The Quiet Magic of Niche Fragrance

Part of what draws so many of us to niche fragrance is the feeling that we’ve discovered something a little outside the mainstream.

Not exclusive in a gatekeeping sense — just unique.

Niche perfume has traditionally felt different from the glossy well-lit counters and shelves of large stores. They are often smaller houses, creative studios, rather than mass marketing machines. Many are built around the vision of a perfumer or founder who is expressing an idea, a story, or an emotional experience rather than simply filling a gap in a product lineup.

You find them through discovery sets, word of mouth, or hours lost down fragrance rabbit holes online. The process is slower. More personal. And when you fall in love with a scent from a small house, it can feel like you are finding a piece of art.

Niche perfume used to be discovered.

Now it’s being distributed.

And those are not the same experience!

When niche perfume enters mass retail, it risks moving from art to product. And that tension is incredibly real in fragrance right now.

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The Power of Expectation

Ironically, I recently reviewed Fugazzi’s discovery set myself.

(Sample Before You Splurge - Fugazzi, Vol 05 2/23/26)

I didn’t fall in love with the fragrances the way I expected to. None of them truly wowed me, though I could absolutely appreciate the craftsmanship behind them. The compositions were thoughtful and well-constructed — they simply didn’t resonate with me personally.

What stood out most to me during that experience was the power of hype. Before I ever sprayed a sample, I had already built expectations in my mind. I had seen the praise online, read the excitement, absorbed the energy around the brand.

And when the fragrances didn’t match that imagined experience for me, it was a reminder of how powerful the hype machine can be.

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When Discovery Becomes Marketing

One of the joys of fragrance is the process of discovery.

Sampling something slowly. Wearing it on your skin over a few days. Letting it reveal itself in different moments — morning coffee, running errands, the office, and of course the bedtime sprays.

But the current beauty landscape doesn’t really encourage slow discovery anymore.

Instead, fragrance often enters the same cycle that dominates skincare and makeup:

Launch--> Influencer Content--> Algorithm Expansion--> Consumer Rush

A perfume drops, creators review it, social media fills with “must try” and “I’m obsessed” videos, and suddenly everyone feels like they need to smell it. They need to buy it. They need to… consume it.

And it’s not because they discovered it.

It’s entirely because they were shown it.

I think what I am experiencing is mourning the shift in energy. A scent can transport you across time or hold a moment in place. That’s why the shift toward constant consumption sometimes feels… uncomfortable.

Somewhere along the way, perfume stopped being something we discovered slowly and became something we were sold constantly.

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The Retail + Influencer Ecosystem

And this is where stores like Sephora and Ulta — and influencer culture — become part of the same ecosystem.

Retailers need excitement and constant newness to keep customers engaged. Influencers create that excitement. Algorithms amplify it. Consumers chase it.

None of this is inherently evil. It’s simply how modern marketing works. But the result can sometimes feel like beauty — and fragrance — becomes less about appreciation and more about consumption.

The next bottle.

The next serum.

The next viral launch.

Always the next thing.

I don’t begrudge brands with their success. But I do sometimes wonder what happens when the quiet, artistic corners of fragrance get absorbed into the same system that sells trending lip oils and the “must-have” serum of the week.

Sephora shelves and influencer feeds often tell the same story — that the next product, the next serum, the next fragrance will finally be the one worth having.

But beauty was never supposed to be an infinite chase.

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Loving Fragrance Without Loving the Machine

The complicated part of this conversation is that I’m not outside of it.

I’ve been influenced. I’ve bought things. I’ve participated in it. I can still participate in the same culture I’m now questioning.

But when you step back and look at the whole machine, it starts to feel…

a little gross.

I still love perfume. I still love skincare. Deeply. But I don’t love the feeling that everything beautiful eventually becomes something we’re pushed to buy faster, earlier, and more often.

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Maybe Both Things Can Exist?

Maybe niche fragrance can live on Sephora shelves without losing its soul?

Maybe more people discovering beautiful scent is a good thing?

For now, I still believe fragrance is art. I just hope we don’t forget that while we’re busy selling it.