The £72 perfume that smells of… nothing: Molecule 01 flies off the shelves

Some call it the Emperor’s New Perfume, an expensive fragrance that most people cannot even smell.

Yet sales of Molecule 01, which costs £72 for a 100ml bottle, are soaring thanks to the backing of celebrities and influencers such as TV presenter Davina McCall.

It is a single chemical which boosts other smells, so when it comes into contact with pheromones on the skin, it produces a scent unique to each person – which the wearer themselves often cannot detect.

Molecule 01 has become the best-selling fragrance ever at luxury department store Harvey Nichols, whose former boss Daniela Rinaldi says that when she first tried a sample ‘I smelt nothing at all’.

But on her journey home, people told her she smelled ‘amazing’. So, she said: ‘I went into the office next morning and placed the biggest order they could handle.’ 

McCall said: ‘People say to me all the time “you smell amazing” [but] I can’t smell it on myself.’

One online influencer, Lanirex, said: ‘The controversy will never end with this one. Some think it’s a waste of money but I can smell it.’

And an industry insider said: ‘This perfume is taking off on Instagram. What better medium for selling something that is 90 per cent marketing, ten per cent product!’

Nevertheless, makers Escentric Molecules say sales are so strong they will next month bring out more ‘fragrances’ with no fragrance.