Beauty: Sweet Scents and Edible Emotions: Inside India’s Booming “Gourmand Beauty” Trend
- InsightTrendsWorld
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
What Is the “Gourmand Beauty” Trend?
India’s beauty industry is indulging its sweet tooth — not through confections, but through cosmetics. The “gourmand” beauty trend, defined by dessert- and beverage-inspired fragrances, has carved a delicious niche in India’s $16 billion personal care market.
From vanilla melts and caramel popcorn to masala chai and espresso, beauty brands are transforming the sensory pleasure of food into emotional self-care. Leading the charge are Plum Goodness, Blur India, mCaffeine, and Inde Wild, backed by strong consumer nostalgia, Gen Z curiosity, and venture capital funding.
Category focus: Products that smell like desserts, cafés, and comfort foods.
Core appeal: Evokes nostalgia, indulgence, and self-expression through scent.
Key players: Plum, Blur, mCaffeine, Inde Wild, Bombay Perfumery, The Body Shop.
Growth momentum: Expanding at nearly twice the pace of the overall beauty market (Deloitte, 2025).
Global parallel: The worldwide gourmand fragrance market is projected to hit $32.5 billion by 2025 (Future Market Insights).
Insight: Gourmand beauty blurs the line between kitchen and vanity — transforming taste memories into wearable emotions.
Why It Is Trending: “From Comfort Food to Comfort Fragrance”
In an era defined by emotional self-care, scent has become a language of nostalgia and play. For Gen Z and younger millennials, dessert-inspired fragrances evoke cozy memories while signaling individuality and fun.
Nostalgia + novelty: Vanilla, coffee, and caramel connect to comfort; playful twists like chai and eclair offer freshness.
Emotional wellness: Scent as a tool for relaxation, confidence, and self-expression.
Cultural crossover: Western dessert notes meet Indian classics like jalebi, masala chai, and cardamom.
Social virality: Food-inspired visuals dominate Instagram, TikTok, and e-commerce storytelling.
Insight: Today’s consumers don’t just want to smell good — they want to smell like themselves, and sometimes, like dessert.
Overview: “India’s Sweetest New Beauty Category”
The gourmand segment is growing rapidly across India’s premium personal care space, attracting startups and legacy players alike.
Market size: Beauty and personal care valued at ₹1.41 trillion (FY24), expected to surpass ₹2 trillion by FY30.
Segment growth: Gourmand beauty expanding at 2x the speed of the overall market (Deloitte).
Investor confidence: Backed by heavy venture capital and corporate arms like Unilever Ventures.
Consumer base: Largely Gen Z and millennial women seeking sensorial, mood-driven beauty.
Insight: Food-inspired beauty has shifted from novelty to mainstream indulgence.
Detailed Findings: Brand Spotlights and Performance
Plum Goodness: “Smell Like a Cupcake” Goes Viral
Hit products: Vanilla Vibes, Caramel Popcorn, Smokin’ Vanilla.
Marketing insight: Reframed vanilla as “modern and dessert-like.”
Performance: ₹341.7 crore in FY24 revenue (+22% YoY); 47% owned by Unilever Ventures.
Cultural connection: Café-inspired fragrances became core identity.
Tagline success: “Smell like a cupcake” became a viral brand signature.
“Nobody was really talking about vanilla in a modern, dessert-like way,” says Stuti Sethi, Senior Marketing Manager at Plum.
Blur India: Playful Scents, Hunger-Provoking Marketing
Founded: 2022; digital-first and bootstrapped.
Key scents: Coffee Cake, Cookie Crumble, Vanilla Melts.
Visual storytelling: Dessert aesthetics as social media strategy.
Performance: Revenue doubled to ₹4.2 crore in FY24; first profitable year.
Repeat purchase rate: 17–20% within months of launch.
“Desserts, cakes, whipped cream — these visuals instantly grab attention. It’s hunger-provoking marketing,” says founder Riya Pant.
mCaffeine: Coffee as Identity
Core philosophy: “Coffee isn’t just an ingredient—it’s the soul of our brand.”
Product range: Coffee-infused lotions, scrubs, perfumes.
Performance: Pep Technologies (parent) grew from ₹40.3 crore in FY20 to ₹210 crore in FY23.
Repeat rate: 50–60% in FY25 for coffee-scented lines.
Investor base: Amicus Capital, RPSG Capital Ventures, Paragon Partners.
“Consumers link skincare to fragrance-based emotional gratification,” says co-founder Vaishali Gupta.
Inde Wild: “Masala Chai” Goes Global
Flagship product: Masala Chai Dewy Lip Tint — sold out within weeks.
Inspiration: Rooted in Indian culture and emotional storytelling.
Performance: Revenue jumped 64x in FY24 to ₹11.1 crore; turned profitable.
Investors: Unilever Ventures, SoGal Ventures, True Global.
“Fragrance tells a story. We wanted scents that feel familiar, comforting, and rooted in emotion,” says founder Diipa Khosla.
Legacy and Global Brands Join the Feast
Titan SKINN, Nykaa Moi, Bath & Body Works India: Launch dessert-inspired lines.
The Body Shop: Expanding Indian portfolio with Passionfruit, Caramel, and Sugar Plum collections.
“Indian consumers are increasingly experimental—drawn to fun, indulgent, food-inspired scents,” says Harmeet Singh, Chief Brand Officer, The Body Shop Asia South.
Key Success Factors: The S.W.E.E.T. Framework
S – Sensory Indulgence: Multi-layered experiences blending scent, memory, and emotion.
W – Wellness Positioning: Fragrance as mood therapy and self-care ritual.
E – Emotional Branding: Storytelling rooted in nostalgia and comfort.
E – Experiential Design: Dessert-inspired visuals drive virality and shelf appeal.
T – Trend Agility: Agile product development around seasonal and cultural food icons.
Insight: Gourmand beauty succeeds when it treats scent as both storytelling and self-soothing.
Key Characteristics of the Trend: “Edible Emotions in a Bottle”
Playful and nostalgic: Combines childlike joy with adult sophistication.
Inclusive: Appeals across genders through familiar scents like coffee and caramel.
Affordable luxury: Premium experience under ₹500 to ₹1,000 price point.
High repeat value: Emotional attachment drives loyalty.
Cultural hybridization: Global dessert notes meet Indian flavor traditions.
Insight: Fragrance becomes the new flavor — a cross-sensory indulgence.
Market and Cultural Signals Supporting the Trend: “The Scented Snack Economy”
Booming beauty market: Indian personal care projected to exceed ₹2 trillion by 2030.
Wellness meets indulgence: Consumers seek guilt-free pleasures that blend beauty and emotion.
Social storytelling: “Smell like dessert” becomes Instagram shorthand for comfort and confidence.
Investment acceleration: Unilever Ventures and global VCs backing India’s emerging beauty labels.
Insight: Gourmand beauty mirrors a cultural craving for multi-sensory happiness in daily rituals.
Description of Consumers: “The Indulgent Individualist”
Who they are: Gen Z and younger millennials (18–35).
Gender: Inclusive, with strong female skew.
Lifestyle: Urban, digitally active, emotionally expressive.
Motivation: Seeks sensory comfort, nostalgia, and joyful self-expression.
Insight: To the new Indian beauty consumer, fragrance = feeling.
How the Trend Is Changing Consumer Behavior: “From Looks to Feels”
Shift in value: From appearance enhancement to mood enhancement.
Purchase motivation: Emotional resonance > functional benefit.
Cultural localization: Indian-inspired gourmand scents globalize desi heritage.
Community expression: Social media turns scent into self-identity content.
Insight: Beauty is no longer just visible — it’s felt, remembered, and shared.
Implications Across the Ecosystem: “From Fragrance to Feeling Economy”
For Brands: Build storytelling around emotions and memories.
For Retailers: Offer sensorial sampling and storytelling-led merchandising.
For Investors: High-growth niche ripe for acquisition and cross-border expansion.
For Consumers: Beauty becomes personalized, playful, and emotionally charged.
Insight: Gourmand beauty redefines self-care as an act of emotional indulgence.
Areas of Innovation: “Flavor Meets Fragrance”
Localized flavors: Scents inspired by Indian sweets, teas, and spices.
Hybrid formats: Solid perfumes, edible lip oils, and dual-sense products.
Mood mapping: Custom fragrance blending tied to emotion-tracking apps.
Cultural storytelling: Packaging and naming inspired by regional cuisine aesthetics.
Insight: The future of Indian beauty is culturally rooted, sensorially global.
Summary of Trends: “The Gourmand Glow-Up”
Core Consumer Trend — “Edible Aesthetics”Scent becomes an emotional flavor experience.
Core Social Trend — “Nostalgia Repackaged”Familiar comfort scents meet digital-age playfulness.
Core Strategy — “Emotional Scent Marketing”Storytelling and visuals drive fragrance desirability.
Core Industry Trend — “Beauty as Emotional Utility”Fragrance shifts from luxury to daily ritual.
Core Consumer Motivation — “Sensory Escape”Fragrance as self-soothing and joy expression.
Core Insight — “Scent Is the New Comfort Food”Emotional olfaction defines the future of beauty.
Trend Implication — “The Future of Beauty Is Deliciously Emotional”The next era of personal care is where scent meets soul.
Insight: India’s gourmand beauty movement proves that the sweetest indulgences now live on the skin, not the plate.
Final Thought: When Fragrance Feeds the Soul
From caramel popcorn perfumes to masala chai lip tints, India’s beauty brands are serving nostalgia, indulgence, and emotion in every spritz. Gourmand beauty captures the essence of modern consumer desire: to feel as good as one looks, and to smell like happiness itself.
Insight: The future of beauty isn’t floral — it’s flavorful
