Snif Launches Notewrks at Ulta to Capture Teen Male Fragrance Market

Quick Facts

Snif launched its Notewrks men’s sub-brand at Ulta Beauty online July 29 and in stores August 2, 2026.
Teen-boy fragrance spend has risen approximately 26% year over year, with category penetration reaching 57% among 15-to-17-year-olds.
Snif expects $40 million in gross revenue for 2025 and projects 200% year-over-year growth in retail sales in 2026.

Snif is making a direct play for the male teen fragrance buyer. The New York-based fragrance brand launched its Notewrks sub-brand at Ulta Beauty on July 29, starting online before hitting stores August 2. The move marks the brand’s most aggressive retail push since entering Ulta in 2023.

The Ulta assortment includes three existing Notewrks fragrances priced at $74 each — Clean Getaway, Room for Dessert, and Sunny Is a Feeling — plus a new scent called Double Take, featuring orange blossom, apricot, sesame, and sandalwood.

Snif co-founder and CEO Bryan Edwards said Notewrks will be Ulta’s first dedicated masstige men’s fragrance brand. The sub-brand targets the gap between mass cologne and prestige fragrance, where roughly 85% of sales come from products priced at $90 or more.

The brand’s visual identity leans on color and mood rather than traditional fragrance language. Blue bottles signal everyday familiarity. Yellow signals something lighter. Red signals warmth. The approach is built for a consumer who did not grow up reading scent pyramids.

Edwards framed the launch around a clear consumer signal. “We are going after the Gen Alpha to Millennial consumers, and listen, we’re making a bet. We know that guys are shopping for more fragrance than they ever have,” he said.

The numbers support the bet. Teen-boy fragrance spend is up approximately 26% year over year. Category penetration sits at 44% among boys ages 12 to 14, climbing to 57% among boys ages 15 to 17. Among all Gen Z consumers, 83% use fragrance, compared to 79% of Gen X and 69% of Boomers. Millennials and Gen Z now account for 53% of all male fragrance users.

Snif’s Ulta partnership has expanded fast. The brand entered 525 Ulta doors in 2023 through the retailer’s Sparked program. By 2024, it was in all 1,350-plus stores. Today Snif occupies roughly 1,500 Ulta locations with shelf space up 60% from prior levels. The brand currently sells 45 products through the retailer, including eau de toilettes, body mists, sample sets, candles, and laundry fragrance.

The Ulta relationship has had direct financial impact. Snif doubled sales in 2023 to over $10 million after pitching the Ulta partnership to existing investors when new consumer funding had largely stalled. The brand raised $7.36 million in March 2024, bringing its total funding to $11.57 million, according to CB Insights.

Edwards said the Ulta environment fits Snif’s positioning in a way other prestige retailers would not permit. “Ulta is doubling down on Snif as a brand. And we are tripling down on Ulta as our partner,” he said.

For Notewrks specifically, Snif built a creator strategy around authenticity. Edwards told creators he approached for the launch not to promote the scents unless they genuinely liked them. “They are experts, and they’re tough critics,” he said.

Notewrks launched direct-to-consumer through Snif’s website in late 2025. The Ulta partnership takes the sub-brand to national scale at a moment when, as Edwards put it, fragrance buyers are shifting from loyalty to curiosity. “People aren’t looking for just one signature scent anymore. They want to explore, experiment, and constantly discover something new,” he said.