This week, I checked in on how niche fragrance brands like Ex Nihilo are driving hype and creativity with limited-edition scents. Additionally, Bath & Body Works joins Ulta, and Sephora expands its quiet hours. ‘It has to generate positive frustration’: How niche perfume brands are playing with exclusive fragrance drops
When French fragrance house Ex Nihilo made its Scarlet Sands perfume available to online E.U. consumers in February, the brand originally intended to sell the scent for a week. Instead, the perfume, first launched in 2024 as a Dubai regional exclusive, sold out in under 10 minutes. Those who missed out on the drop or can’t get to Dubai, where the scent retails for 1,483 dirham, or roughly $400, can try their hand at secondhand sites like Mercari, where a bottle of Scarlet Sands has sold for as much as $850.
“It’s first come, first served. It has to generate positive frustration,” said Ex Nihilo co-founder Benoît Verdier of the brand’s strategy around limited scents like Scarlet Sands. While the fragrance was designed to appeal to the Dubai market with a sweet ambery scent and Arabic lettering on the bottle, online hype around the perfume inspired Ex Nihilo to temporarily release it to a wider market. Verdier declined to share exact numbers for how many bottles the brand produces for a limited drop like Scarlet Sands, but described it as being under 1,000 per run, with fans of the brand given a heads-up about the drop via an emailed newsletter or Instagram posts a few days in advance.
