Of all the beauty products on your top shelf, none is more personal than fragrance. Ephemeral, intimate, and sensual, it has the ability to communicate a highly individual expression. And when it comes to setting your olfactory vibe this summer, there’s a new kid in town: body mists have emerged as the perfume player du jour, and they’re the perfect fragrance for summer.
As with most trending beauty launches these days, it’s impossible to separate the product popularity from the buzz on social media. On TikTok, viral content about fragrance mists from brands such as Sol de Janeiro have led to a major boom in sales. According to market research firm Circana, in 2024 the hair and body mist category reached $474 million U.S., representing an increase of 94 per cent year over year and making the category the fastest-growing section of prestige fragrance.
If you were lucky enough to live through the 1990s and naughty aughties, you’re likely already familiar with the first wave of the fragrance mist boom. Candy-like spritzes from Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, and Calgon instantly transport us back, with Axe Body Spray providing a pungent alternative for the boys. With their lightweight flacons and formulas, body mists embody an easy and fun approach to self-care.
What’s different about today’s sprays is the introduction of a more nuanced sophistication through scent and skin-care ingredients, an approach that’s bringing body mists out of the drugstore aisle and onto luxury perfume counters. Take Chanel, the fashion house behind the most famous perfume in the world. When the French maison launched its N°1 de Chanel collection in 2022, an innovative and eco-friendly approach to beauty, it included a fragrance mist in the mix.
To create the formula, in-house perfumer Olivier Polge used a skin-care base enriched with refreshing camellia water and a revitalizing red camellia extract. As most camellias are odourless, a dreamlike creative approach led him to imagine this fresh fragrance that plays with contrasts. “I started out with a multitude of jasmine, orange blossom, and rose floral facets typical of the house, and then I combined them with sparkling red fruit notes to express the freshness of this fragrance mist,” he explained. What sets it apart from other perfumes is its flexibility to be worn alone or layered with your usual perfume in an expression of individuality.
When Erin Kleinberg introduced fragrance to her lifestyle brand Sidia, she selected body mists as a way to stay classic and timeless while putting a modern spin on scent. “The versatility of a body mist is something you live in, not just something you wear. It felt more aligned with us at the time,” she says. To bring even more to the formulas, Kleinberg incorporated active ingredients including hyaluronic acid and niacinamide so that her mists go beyond fragrance to include skin-care benefits. “The body mist truly became an incredible force of disruption to the industry because of how it blends the line between fragrance and skin care.”
Sidia’s bestselling scent Midas is a blend of black pepper, coconut, fig leaves, suede, and amber that Kleinberg says she likes to apply in the shower while the hot mist is rising and also afterward, while she’s still a little damp so the smell is completely infused into her skin. “There’s a softness to a body mist that I really love. It just sits closer to the skin,” she says. “I’m drawn to the idea of reapplication, because it creates these small pauses throughout the day, a little moment just for yourself. The vibe of a mist is effortless and a little more undone.”
At Holt Renfrew, the body mist approach has translated to major demand over the past 18 months, says Genny Hogg, divisional vice-president of beauty and lifestyle. She explains that both heritage fashion houses and emerging niche brands are leaning into the format, often as part of broader lifestyle or body-care extensions. “Mists offer a lower price point and a more casual way to engage with fragrance,” Hogg says, pointing to examples from brands such as Salt & Stone, Jo Malone, and Kleinberg’s Sidia. “They’re also great to include in layering or fragrance building without being too intense.”
That inherently casual nature makes them the ideal summer fragrance. “They provide a refreshing sensory experience without feeling heavy in heat or humidity, making them ideal for daytime use, travel, and on-the-go touch-ups,” Hogg says, explaining that body mists are typically lighter in concentration than eau de parfum or eau de toilette, creating a more subtle, airy scent. They are designed for more generous, all-over application with a softer projection. In contrast, traditional perfumes are more concentrated, longer-lasting, and evolve over time.
On that note, Hogg recommends taking a more-is-more approach to body mists. “Reapplication throughout the day is encouraged—on pulse points, clothing, or even hair—for a continuous, refreshed scent experience.” Consider it the summer of spritz.
Read more from our Summer 2026 issue.
