Bath & Body Works: Scenting Skin and Everyday Life in Collaboration with Perfumers

Every fragrance I create for Bath & Body Works has a story and a strong personality.
Honorine Blanc, on the launch of Gingham, 2019

Bath & Body Works is a body-care and home-fragrance brand founded in the United States in 1990. From perfumes and mists worn on the skin to candles that scent a room, it has brought fragrance into many different moments of everyday life.

Behind its fragrance creation is collaboration between the brand’s developers and perfumers. Who should use a scent, and how should they feel when wearing it? Questions like these are translated into combinations of ingredients, becoming a finished creation through trials and customer responses.

Contents

Key Information
The Founder and the Brand’s Origins
The Brand’s Commitments
An Aside…
References

Key Information

The Founder and the Brand’s Origins

1990: A Fragrance Brand Begins within a Clothing Retailer

Bath & Body Works has its roots in clothing retail. Wexner, who built The Limited, worked in his parents’ store in the early 1960s and saw business potential in women’s sportswear. He started his own company in 1963 and expanded its specialty clothing-store business.

Bath & Body Works began in 1990 as a business within that retail company. It started with a small number of fragrances. Sharing customers’ tastes and feelings about scent, it developed an in-store experience of enjoying fragrance. By fiscal 2000, the business also included White Barn, which sold candles.

The retail entrepreneur who built the company and the perfumers who create the scents themselves play different roles. Looking at Bath & Body Works’ creative work reveals how the brand’s image of its users meets the olfactory expressions proposed by perfumers in specific creations.

2006: A Cherry-Blossom Scent Shaped by Customer Testing

Japanese Cherry Blossom was created in 2006. Camille McDonald, who was leading the brand’s creative work at the time, asked its perfumer, Harry Fremont, for a more complex fragrance. She wanted it to reach not only young women, but also their mothers’ generation.

When Fremont recalled McDonald’s request in 2026, the name of Guerlain’s perfume Shalimar appeared in his account.

She said, “I want to create our Shalimar.”
Harry Fremont, recalling Camille McDonald’s words, 2026

Fremont therefore added sandalwood, musk, and an aroma molecule reminiscent of cooked basmati rice. After tests with customer groups, however, the development team came back with a response: perhaps it was a little too sophisticated. Fremont restored apple and pear notes to the opening. Giving it depth while keeping it familiar: the creation took shape through adjustments between the two.

The creation sought to portray the moment when spring begins, bringing together the lightness of blossoming cherry trees and winter’s lingering warmth. In 2026, the original fragrance’s twentieth anniversary, Fremont described that contrast as follows.

There is an unexpected contrast: radiant fruit and delicate flowers meet musk and sandalwood.
Harry Fremont, on Japanese Cherry Blossom, 2026

Gingham in 2019, and a Corporate Turning Point in 2021

Gingham arrived in April 2019. It was created by Honorine Blanc, then a master perfumer at Firmenich. She sought to express a connection with customers and nature, and the brand’s bright, optimistic mood, through scent. Its composition at launch added the sweetness of the citrus fruit clementine to freesia and violet petals.

Japanese Cherry Blossom involved adjusting the contrast between flowers and a warm background. Gingham built a bright mood with flowers and citrus. Sharing different aims with perfumers for each creation has broadened the brand’s world of fragrance.

A major corporate turning point came in 2021. Parent company L Brands separated its Victoria’s Secret business and changed its name to Bath & Body Works. The brand that had grown since 1990 was now structured to continue as an independent publicly traded company.

The Brand’s Commitments

Gingham: Finding a Fragrance That Feels Like You

The original Gingham expressed the brand’s bright, positive mood in 2019. The 2023 “Find Your Gingham” campaign expanded that fragrance into several personalities. In a brand survey of 2,500 fragrance customers, 52 percent regarded fragrance as part of their identity. The new fragrances, launched on March 31, were presented as choices through which each person could find a Gingham that felt like them.

The connection with the original remains in the fragrance notes. Gingham Fresh carries forward clementine, pairing it with pear and daisy. Gingham Gorgeous takes the peach found in the original and expresses it as peach nectar, alongside strawberry and peony. Gingham Vibrant depicts violet as a sugared flower, with blackberry and soft vanilla.

Shared materials provide the starting point for different expressions: juicy citrus, vivid fruit and flowers, or the sweetness of berries and vanilla. Each creation develops a distinct outline from elements of the original. The campaign aimed to connect the name of a signature brand fragrance with individual preferences.

Everyday Luxuries: Bringing Prestige-Perfume Inspiration to an Everyday Mist

Everyday Luxuries began in 2024 as a collection of fragrance mists. The company positioned it as a series inspired by prestige perfumes and as product development intended to reach new customers. The idea of enjoying fragrance in daily life, rather than only on special occasions, took the form of an accessible mist.

The collection did not reach every store at once. It began in about 600 stores in the first quarter of 2024 and expanded to all North American stores in the third quarter. At a June presentation, then-CFO Eva Boratto explained that it had connected with new customers who were somewhat younger and came from more diverse backgrounds. A supply chain able to test products, learn from the response, and scale production helped the company expand after the encouraging reception.

The range later extended to perfume and body care. In November 2026, the US range presented reformulated mists, eaux de parfum, and portable rollerballs, with the brand saying it had increased fragrance intensity in response to customers. The current mist’s claim of twice the previous fragrance concentration applies to this new formula. The original mist format remains, alongside more ways to wear the scents.

Viva Vanilla: A Vanilla Foundation Developed in Dubai and Refined with New York

Viva Vanilla combines vanilla with rich plum and luminous amber. Rather than relying on sweet vanilla alone, it layers dense fruit and warm amber. The US product description available in November 2026 identifies the creative aim as a rich, luxurious, memorable vanilla.

The starting point was the Middle East. Drawing on a regional taste for rich gourmand fragrances, master perfumers in Dubai first developed a rich, luxurious vanilla foundation. Perfumers in Dubai and New York then worked together to refine it.

Amber Era: Giving Warm Amber a Brighter Expression

Amber Era perfumer Nathalie Benareau explains that she wanted to explore amber, a note attracting renewed attention, from a brighter, more contemporary perspective. Her comments, published on the US product page available in November 2026, describe an intention to give this warm, dense subject radiance and an easy-to-wear character.

She began with a foundation of sugared tonka, then layered honeyed amber and saffron-accented rose over it. The combination of tonka, amber, flower, and spice sought a modern amber with both richness and brightness.

Worth Wanting: Expressing Effortless Richness through Soft Fruit and Flowers

For Worth Wanting, Carlos Viñals and David Apel explain that they wanted to turn a feeling of effortless richness into an elegant fragrance.

To give that idea olfactory form, they used stone fruits, the family that includes peaches and plums, for juicy brightness. Lily and a whipped-honey impression add inviting softness. The two perfumers describe being at ease with oneself as the source of the fragrance’s appeal.

Trace Of Blue: Combining the Sea’s Freshness and Calm

Carlos Viñals was drawn to the way the sea can feel refreshing and calming at the same time. In Trace Of Blue, he expressed the color and movement of water through sparkling citrus and transparent floral notes, supported by warm woods and musk.

The current product highlights bright citrus, jasmine, and warm cedarwood. The perfumer’s account also describes musk’s supporting role. Citrus, flowers, wood, and musk work together to capture a moment when sea and sky meet and leave a lingering impression of blue.

Midnight Addiction: Nighttime Confidence in Warm Fruit and Flowers

For Midnight Addiction, Patty Hidalgo took the moment of stepping confidently into a night out, with the feeling that something unforgettable might happen, as her subject. She explains that the attraction of late-night adventure led her to layer a juicy, velvety texture, rich flowers, and lingering warmth.

The principal notes connected with this scene are ripe plum, almond blossom, and coffee bean. Warmth evoking roasted coffee joins the richness of the fruit and the softness of the flowers. The creation story presents the combination as an expression of a moment remembered well beyond midnight.

A Thousand Wishes and Two New Expressions of Celebration

A Thousand Wishes expresses the moment of making a wish and the joy of celebration. Since its launch in 2014, it has been enjoyed both as a gift and for everyday use, with cumulative sales of products bearing the name exceeding $1 billion. In 2025, it ranked among the brand’s top five fragrances by sales across all stores.

The current original eau de parfum opens with pink prosecco, starfruit, and golden quince. Crystal peony and purple freesia form the heart, over amber, amaretto crème, sweet sandalwood, musk, and patchouli. This fruity floral chypre sets bright fruit and flowers against liqueur-like sweetness and wood. Perfumer Adriana Medina’s account also connects it with celebrating life’s joys whenever it is worn. The current 75 mL eau de parfum is presented as a higher-fragrance-concentration format.

A Thousand Wishes Granted, added in 2026, depicts a wish coming true. Perfumer Jean Marc Chaillan built a sense of good fortune around raspberry nectar, soft flowers, and skin-like musk. Wild raspberry, bergamot, and redcurrant at the top lead to jasmine sambac, osmanthus, and peony. Marshmallow, musk, amber, tonka crème, vanilla, and vetiver form the base. The brightness of raspberry, the softness of flowers, and the intimacy of musk against the skin shape this new celebration. The eau de parfum comes in a 100 mL bottle.

A Thousand Crystal Wishes is a limited-edition eau de parfum that translates the original’s festive character into the many facets of crystal. Raspberry and a champagne accord open the fragrance; sweet jasmine, muguet, and gardenia form the heart; and pink patchouli, sheer woods, and musk provide the base. Adriana Medina cites the refinement of Goût de Diamants as an inspiration, combining fruit and champagne accords with flowers and wood. The 75 mL bottle is limited to 1,000 individually numbered pieces, each with a detachable bow charm set with Swarovski crystals. Its launch is scheduled for November 11, 2026, at 2 p.m. EST.

The original and Granted have also gained solid perfumes. Alongside eaux de parfum and fine fragrance mists, these portable solids offer another way to apply and layer the scents of wishes and celebration on the skin.

Into the Night: Bringing Berries and Flowers into an Enveloping Whole

Into the Night takes place during a night out in the city. The confidence of wearing a little black dress and the excitement of holding a cocktail provided inspiration. The fragrance also extends to mists, body care, and candles.

The current 100 mL eau de parfum is a woody amber chypre. Pink pomelo, dewberry, and black raspberry sugar open the fragrance; Turkish rose petals and jasmine sambac form the heart; and patchouli, vanilla bean, mocha, amber, and musk form the base. Perfumers Dave Apel and Carlos Viñals aimed for an enveloping whole in which no single note could easily be picked out. Even the food-like elements were intended to sit within a sophisticated bouquet. The sweetness of mocha and vanilla connects with rose, jasmine, and patchouli to evoke evening dress.

In the Stars: Letting Woods and Musk Shine from the Beginning

In the Stars combines a starlit radiance with the feel of warm woods. Its conception lets the wood shine from the start rather than hiding it in the fragrance’s later stages. Perfumer Patricia Bilodeau explains that she began with warm base notes that melt into the skin, integrating the white agarwood and sweet musk facets with the bright opening from the outset.

The current 50 mL eau de parfum opens with sugared tangelo and pink currant. Starflower, apricot blossom, and jasmine absolute lead to sandalwood, white musk, white agarwood, amber, and moss. Bilodeau wanted a fragrance that felt bright and buoyant yet warm, one people would want to reach for every day. Sparkling citrus and creamy woods provide those two expressions.

Extending Fragrance Across Perfume, Body Care, and the Home

Bath & Body Works develops a single fragrance into products worn on the skin, used for everyday care, and enjoyed in indoor spaces. From its launch, Gingham came in multiple forms: eau de parfum, fragrance mist, body care, candles, and Wallflowers home fragrance.

Japanese Cherry Blossom also began with body care and expanded into candles and home fragrance in response to customers’ requests. The same world of scent can be experienced on both skin and in a room. This development reflects the brand’s distinctive way of connecting fragrance with daily habits.

Carrying the Original’s Enveloping Feel into a New Cherry-Blossom Fragrance

Japanese Cherry Blossom: Fruit, Blossom, and Rice Notes

Japanese Cherry Blossom, created in 2006, does not depict cherry blossoms alone. The current eau de parfum opens with pear, apple, and plum, then layers cherry blossom, white jasmine, butterfly lily, Kyoto rose, and mimosa. Rice milk, amber, silk musk, and creamy sandalwood sit behind the flowers.

Alongside fragrance mist and eau de parfum, the scent is offered in body care and candles.

Forever Cherry Blossom: A New Interpretation for the Twentieth Anniversary

Forever Cherry Blossom, added for the twentieth anniversary in 2026, is a separate creation that interprets the original in a contemporary way. Perfumer Patricia Hidalgo of fragrance company IFF worked on it. What she sought to preserve was the original’s enveloping background.

Hidalgo describes femininity and a comforting, enveloping background as central to the original.

Forever Cherry Blossom combines cherry-blossom petals, magnolia, and juicy pear with creamy sandalwood and warm musk. It refreshes the expression of flowers and fruit while carrying forward the comfort of the background. Deciding what to keep and what to change reveals an approach to working with a long-lived creation.

At its April 2026 launch, it appeared as a fine fragrance mist, lotion, body wash, and cream. The current US range also centers on mist and body care.

Cherry Blossom: Reintroducing a Fragrance from the 2000s

The 2026 twentieth-anniversary celebrations also brought back Cherry Blossom from the early 2000s. A separate fragrance from Japanese Cherry Blossom, it was announced as an online-exclusive mist and body-care range.

Making Products with Partners and Designing for Each Fragrance

The work of bringing fragrance into everyday products also involves partners responsible for manufacturing and containers. Beauty Park in New Albany, Ohio, is a hub of suppliers supporting research and development, formulation and product manufacture, and packaging production. Collaboration close to the headquarters is one of the ways the brand responds to changing customer tastes.

Adjustments for the way a fragrance is delivered extend to candle wicks. Wicks are chosen from cotton, cotton and paper, and rayon after checking how each fragrance burns. For products that spread scent through a room, the mechanism that burns it is part of the design, alongside the combination of fragrance ingredients.

Bottle Design with Blue Glass and a Checked Pattern

The current Gingham eau de parfum pairs a rounded blue-glass bottle with a dark-blue cap. A blue-and-white checked ribbon is tied around its neck, and the fragrance name appears on the front in a handwritten style. A scent inspired by a bright mood takes shape as a bottle with color and the texture of fabric.

An Aside…

The places where people try fragrances are changing, too. In the new Gingham+ store format introduced in 2025, some stores were fitted with scent bars where customers could try candles, Wallflowers, and fragrance mists. The store design thus reflects customers’ desire to try products before choosing them. The dialogue between fragrances and their users continues not just during development, but on the shop floor.