Dive Brief:
- Beauty incubator Maesa has debuted a mass market fragrance brand, Scents Unearth'd. It is available exclusively on Target’s website and Target stores nationwide, according to a press release.
- The fragrance brand is centered around people, cultures and ingredients from around the world, including scents associated with Papantla, Mexico (Vanilla Crown); Medellin, Colombia (Floradise); The Amazon (Oro Tonka); Egypt (Royal Milk); and Madurai, India (Jasmine Candy).
- Scents are offered as an eau de parfum, priced at $34.99, perfume and air mist at $16.99, and a scent discovery set for $24.99.
Dive Insight:
Maesa has positioned Scents Unearth’d to highlight global cultures by crating scents that are unique to a particular region.
"This brand was born from a deep desire to see my own cultures represented in the fragrance category,” Shana Finkelstein Turano, vice president of brand incubation and product innovation at Measa, said in a statement. “We wanted to fill an unmet consumer need and want for more connection to heritage through scent. Each fragrance is an homage and olfactive expression of the communities, people, ingredients that make a culture come to life."
While it is the smallest category in the mass beauty market, fragrance was the fastest growing in 2025, rising 15% in dollar sales with unit sales growing at about the same rate, according to a recent report from Circana.
Maesa’s current portfolio includes Kristin Ess, Fine'ry, Being Frenshe, Hairitage by Mindy McKnight, Mixbar and Niches & Nooks. Fine’ry, which markets a unisex brand of fragrances, recently expanded its retail distribution, adding Walmart, Amazon and TikTok to its original exclusive with Target.
With last August’s announcement that Ulta Beauty was ending its shop-in-shop agreement with Target, the mass retailer is updating its own beauty space. Refreshed displays will include testers, signage to explain fragrance scent notes and places to highlight products exclusive to Target.
