Have you ever experienced how a perfume you used to wear can instantly bring back memories of a certain period in your life? Scents can hold memories, calm you down, strengthen your confidence and influence how others perceive you. Smelling scents is a physical and sensory experience, therefore you wouldn’t necessarily connect digitalization to the creation of scents.
Yet, there have been brands experimenting with digital innovations in the perfume industry involving NFTs. In 2022 Byredo and RTFKT started Alphameta, creating a wearable digital “aura” for RTFKT’s metaverse. The perfume can be made out of 26 ingredients, available as NFTs. Collectors first customized their scent and then the brand produced the physical bottle. The bottle is identified with a NFC tag connecting to its NFT. This allowed people to twin with their avatars (Bargh, 2022) (Mcdowell, 2022)
Additionally, in 2023 Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) launched a two-part NFT campaign called “Black Opium: The Night Is Ours” . YSL combined the purchase of a physical product with a digital collectible; 2000 original units and 14 ultra-rare editions. Owning these NFTs led to early access of the second drop of NFTs, a YSL gift voucher and exclusive content. The ultra-rare edition NFT owners also received a 90 ml Black Opium le parfum and YSL beauty kit. With this campaign, YSL explored the potential of integrating NFTs into the online shopping experience (Chen, 2024).
Besides, the Scent of the Metaverse came on the market in 2024. Rook Perfumes sold NFT tokens to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and 30 members purchased it, who created the scent. The token gave access to the experience of creating the fragrance digitally with Rook Perfumes, and co-owning the fragrance (Crowe, z.d.) (Graves, 2024).
Ultimately, looking at the various ways NFTs are used, from creating digital aura, to having exclusive treatment or co-creation rights, shows that it can strengthen a sense of belonging to the customer. In YSL’s case it can also strengthen the customer-brand relationship. However, the creation of a digital scent for the metaverse seems extra and unnecessary to me. On top of that, the question is whether NFTs are lasting, as the market has collapsed by 93% since its peak in 2021 (Gherghelas, 2025). Finally, I wonder if some processes such as creating a scent can be done effectively in a digital context. Does it actually smell good in real life?
Bibliography
Bargh, B. (2022, June 13). Byredo’s first AlphaMeta NFT is the ‘scent of the metaverse’. Retrieved September 21, 2025, from Cosmetics Business: https://cosmeticsbusiness.com/byredo-s-first-alphameta-nft-is-the-scent-of-the-metaverse–201456
Chen, O. (2024, april 10). Yves Saint Laurent to Launch “YSL Beauty Night Blocks” NFTs. Retrieved september 21, 2025, from nft evening: https://nftevening.com/yves-saint-laurent-to-launch-ysl-beauty-night-blocks-nfts/
Crowe, N. (z.d.). Retrieved september 20, 2205, from Rook Perfumes London | Unique Unisex Fragrance: https://rookperfumes.co.uk/blogs/rook2020/the-scent-of-the-metaverse
Gherghelas, S. (2025, March 27). NFT Art’s Shocking Collapse: From $2.9 Billion Boom to $23.8 Million Bust—What Went Wrong? Retrieved september 25, 2025, from DappRadar: https://dappradar.com/blog/nft-arts-shocking-collapse-from-2-9-billion-boom-to-23-8-million-bust-what-went-wrong
Graves, S. (2024, January 26). How a Perfume DAO Brought its ‘Scent of the Metaverse’ to Luxury Store Harvey Nichols. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/214283/how-perfume-dao-brought-scent-metaverse-luxury-store-harvey-nichols
Mcdowell, M. (2022, June 10). Retrieved September 2021, 2025, from Vogue Business: https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/a-perfume-in-the-metaverse-byredo-and-rtftk-bet-on-visual-aura
OpenAI. (2025). Image generated with AI. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/
Really interesting post! It’s very interesting to see how these perfume brands are exploring digital spaces. I do agree with you, it seems a bit unnecessary. Perfume is such a personal and physical experience, tied to memory and mood, which, to me, seems hard to translate to the digital world.
That said, I can imagine the value people see in being part of the creative process, like with the Byredo project. I can see why people would enjoy shaping a scent. It could give them some sense of ownership. But I’m not sure NFTs are needed for that. You could probably achieve the same result without them. With other campaigns, like YSL’s, the focus seems more on exclusivity and branding than on the perfume itself. If that’s the role NFTs play, in my opinion it feels like an extra layer that doesn’t add much.
Still, I understand how brands are using this to create new forms of exclusivity and loyalty. I’m curious to see how this will evolve.
Really interesting take on the link between scent and digitalization! I’ve always thought of perfume as one of the most “offline” experiences possible, so it feels almost contradictory to see it tied to something as digital and abstract as NFTs. Like you, I wonder whether a digital aura or co-created NFT fragrance can ever capture the emotional depth of scent, especially when memories and identity are so tied to how something actually smells.
However, I do see how campaigns like YSL’s might work. The exclusivity, the perks, the sense of beloning. But then again, isn’t there a risk that this comes across as more as a marketing game than a meaningful experience?
In the end, it seems that the real challenge is not how digital perfume can look or be collected, but whether it can ever capture the sensory, emotional weight of scent itself. Technology can extend the experience, but it can’t replace the simple act of smelling something that connects with us.