A modular fragrance system redefining luxury scent as a personal ritual – combining customizable perfume, experiential retail, and community-driven discovery, Created for L’Oréal Brandstorm
Project Brief
L’Oréal Brandstorm is a global innovation competition where students design the future of beauty through new products and consumer experiences. For the 2026 challenge, participants were asked to reimagine luxury fragrance by creating concepts that combine creativity, technology, and immersive storytelling.
Our team focused on three areas of the brief: Product Craftsmanship, Transformative Experience, and Advocacy & Communities.
We developed Magnétique, a modular fragrance system built around the idea of personal magnetism, combining a hero Eau de Parfum with interchangeable scent balms and an immersive discovery experience that encourages individuals to create a fragrance identity that feels uniquely their own.
Research & Insight
Traditional luxury fragrances often rely on a rigid, one-size-fits-all narrative. Magnetique disrupts this by reframing scent as self-authorship, shifting creative authority from the brand to the wearer without sacrificing craftsmanship.
While most systems prioritize mass appeal, we prioritize personal resonance. Our approach is built on three pillars:
Discovery over Targeting: Authentic connection beats forced marketing.
Personalization: Tailored experiences foster deeper emotional attachment.
Ritual: Intentional use drives memory and brand loyalty.
Modern luxury is no longer defined by the house—it is self-directed.
Concept: Personal Magnetism
Magnétique manifests this shift through personal magnetism—the quiet pull of authenticity. Instead of a fragrance that projects an external persona, our system empowers individuals to define their own. Scent becomes less about how you are seen, and more about how you choose to show up.
The result is subtle, evolving, and deeply personal—an expression felt rather than announced.
A shift from performance to presence.
Design Intent
The design focuses on subtle confidence, ensuring the brand message is felt rather than forced. By replacing heavy branding with distinct forms, premium materials, and recurring motifs, the object reinforces the emotional depth of the scent through visual refinement.
Every element is engineered to feel substantial and enduring, maintaining a consistent sense of luxury. To ensure total precision, all forms were modeled and rendered to scale in Blender—granting absolute control over every proportion and finish.
The Bottle
The Eau de Parfum acts as the foundation.
Amber and gold were chosen for their timeless, gender-neutral quality and their association with warmth, reflecting the tone of the scent
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The front features an engraved magnetic ring motif, a subtle visual reference to attraction that carries throughout the brand. Branding is intentionally minimized, with identity revealed more clearly on the back.
The rear includes the brand name and an abstract logo derived from the core ingredients—saffron, vanilla, and pink pepper—translated into a simplified form.
This balance makes the bottle recognizable without feeling overtly branded.
The Balm System
The balms introduce modularity and interaction.
Each unit is compact and weighted, with a gold-plated finish that reinforces quality. A leather top can be embossed for customization, adding a layer of personal ownership.
A magnetic slide mechanism allows for a smooth, tactile opening. The balm itself is molded in the magnetic ring form, tying it back to the core motif.
Once finished, the internal structure reveals “Be the magnet”, embedding the message directly into the experience.
Product System & Ritual
A modular fragrance system built around a single Eau de Parfum and three balm variations, each introducing a different mood.
Designed as a simple, repeatable ritual:
Apply balm to define depth and tone
Layer Eau de Parfum as the foundation
Reapply using the portable balm throughout the day
Refill and reuse the balm tin once finished
Fragrance becomes something built over time, rather than chosen once.
Experience Design
Magnetique transforms retail from a point of purchase into a moment of discovery. Designed as an immersive, modular pop-up, the experience shifts consumers from passive buyers into active participants by allowing them to move through the origin, creation, and personalization of the fragrance. By replacing overt promotion with exploration, the space builds emotional connection, transparency, and trust—turning scent into something experienced rather than simply chosen.
Journey Through Experience
Zone 1 — The Origin Walk
Consumers walk through immersive vignettes representing each hero ingredient: a saffron field (1.a), a vanilla extraction station (1.b), and a pink pepper orchard (1.c). This establishes emotional and sensory connection to the product’s roots, building transparency and brand trust.
Zone 2 — The Assembly Room
A behind-the-scenes look at the hands behind the product. This space brings consumers into the moment of creation—the craftsmanship, ingredient integrity, and human care that goes into every bottle. It feels like a studio visit, not a brand statement: real people, real processes, real intention. L’Oréal’s commitments to sustainability, social impact, and diversity are woven in naturally, reinforcing that Magnetique is considered and crafted with care.
Zone 3 — The Scent Hub (Point of Discovery)
The EDP anchors the space as the hero product, with all three balms displayed and open for testing. In-room perfumers guide consumers through layering combinations, encouraging free exploration at their own pace. Consumers move directly to the personalization station—selecting their tin design, engraving initials, and choosing their balm insert—before reaching the point of sale at the exit.
After the Encounter — The “Post-Experience” Halo Effect
Ritualization of Reapplication: Because the consumer witnessed the “craft” in Zone 2, every time they swap a balm insert or apply the scent at home, they are re-triggering the brand story.
Social Currency: An immersive, aesthetically “Instagrammable” experience encourages organic social sharing, providing authentic, third-party validation that traditional advertising cannot buy.
Reflection
What makes Magnetique effective is that it doesn’t rely on a single touchpoint—it operates as a system. By combining a modular, refillable product, a minimal brand identity, existing retail infrastructure, and a growth model rooted in organic discovery, the concept scales through behavior rather than messaging.
Because of this, engagement extends beyond the initial purchase—personalization increases attachment, ritual encourages repeat use, and collectability builds long-term value, while user-generated content drives organic reach.
Ultimately, the concept aligns with a broader shift in luxury—from something you consume once, to something you experience, shape, and return to over time.
View the full Brandstorm submission for a deeper look into the concept, system, and experience.
