Spring's New Fragrances Hope to Grow New Fans

NEW YORK -- Each season, beauty companies launch the next round of perfumes, eau de toilettes and splashes, hoping to attract both the lifelong customer who'll make a new favorite her signature scent as well as the fickle woman looking for the next great thing and then will move on.

This spring, the floral bouquet seems particularly strong, with violet leaf, apple and orange blossoms and frangipani flower as some of the most buzz-worthy notes in an industry that market researcher the NPD group says collected $1.8 billion in prestige, department-store sales last year.

Dior perfumer-creator Francois Demachy says each of those scents will be interpreted differently as people bring their own references and body chemistry to them. "You have to tap into memories to create fragrances. If you think of summertime, maybe you think of the beach and then you'd think about a tanning product, salt and the sand. If you wanted to create a scent of tropical florals, you can't just do flowers. You need all the things around it that make you think of the tropical flowers."

Jane Ford, co-founder with her sister of Benefit Cosmetics, reminds shoppers they need to choose something they're willing to live with all day. She thinks it's better to have a wardrobe of scents that can be selected and layered according to mood -- much like one does with clothing.

Benefit's new three-part collection of fragrances, known together as Crescent Row, launches this summer.

"There is a life and energy that is innate to each fragrance. Once you experience a new scent, you really have to close your eyes, take a moment and look inward to really make that fragrance your own," adds Jean Ford.