Are perfumes the new trainers? – Ines Imdahl on fragrance, status and longing

300 euros for a perfume? For many young men, this has long been a reality. Ines Imdahl, psychologist and founder of the Rheingold Salon, explains in an interview: ‘Perfumes help to create facades and dream worlds in order to feel more confident and protected.’ The young men themselves report that they want to stand out and are primarily looking for niche fragrances. The article shows that influencers on TikTok and Instagram are fuelling the trend. They present perfumes as luxury items, often with price tags above the £200 mark. The fragrances are collected, compared and rated, much like trainers. It's not just about smell, but about style, status and community. Imdahl emphasises that there is often a deeper longing behind consumer behaviour, which, similar to the fitness craze, is about controlling and shaping one's own body. In the study conducted by rheingold salon on behalf of the IKW, around 70% of young adults cited ‘personality’ as the most important reason for using perfume. You can see why Imdahl considers the trend to be quite worrying from a psychological point of view here or read the corresponding article in the Tagesschau news programme here.