The month of May, historically the third best-selling month for women’s prestige fragrance in the U.S. (behind November and December), looks to boost scent sales yet again thanks to Mother’s Day. Key trends this year will be special offerings and designer brands.

“Retailers are pulling out all the stops with exclusive offerings and limited editions, especially in gifting. We are seeing a big focus in promoting exclusive offerings for Mother’s Day this year,” said Larissa Jensen, beauty industry analyst for The NPD Group. Notably, exclusives within the fragrance category grew by 62 percent year-to-date ended March 2019 as retailers aim to stock more of these special offerings.

Designer brands were the top consumer choice during the month of May last year, with dollar gains of 3 percent. Within the designer category, European brands drove growth, increasing 6 percent during the Mother’s Day period. This trend remains strong in 2019.

“The European designer fragrance brands are also continuing to keep consumers captivated – growing 7 percent year-to-date bolstered by the addition of flankers and seasonal flankers to create excitement,” said Larissa.