Sense has always been central to beauty. How a product looks, smells, and feels is key to user experience and engagement. But today, sound is gaining attention as an increasingly important sensory cue, as consumers turn to beauty for experiences, escapism, and reassurance, and brands battle it out for attention in a crowded market.
According to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), “sound is a powerful, often overlooked layer of user experience, shaping perception, emotion, and behavior in ways users may not even realize.” So, why then, is sound the most underutilized sense in beauty design?
“Beauty has historically focused on what consumers can see and smell because those benefits feel more tangible,” explained Andrew McDougall, Principal Strategist for Beauty and Personal Care at Mintel. “Sound has largely been treated as a byproduct of packaging or formulation, rather than an intentional part of product design,” McDougall told BeautyMatter.
Consumers, however, are more often embracing multisensory experiences, creating opportunities for brands to “think more holistically about the role sound can play.”
Even the smallest of sounds—the click of a lipstick, the snap of a compact, the pop of a serum cap, or the fizz of an activated skincare treatment—hold promise, he said. “What fascinates me is that these sounds often shape perception before consumers even evaluate efficacy. People use sensory cues as mental shortcuts when judging quality. A product that sounds precise, substantial, or satisfying can feel more premium before it's even applied.”
Dr. Charles Spence, Professor of Experimental Psychology and Head of the University of Oxford’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory, agrees. “Sound can be used to convey brand values, quality, freshness, capture attention, or be used to change the feel of a surface,” Spence explained.
“We did a study in London in 2017 showing how the sound of a cork popping from a bottle, rather than a screwcap bottle opening, enhanced perceived quality of wine and the celebratory mood of people, for example.”
The power of sound is evident across many different industries, the professor said. In food, PepsiCo's FritoLay SUNCHIP brand launched its “noisiest packaging ever,” for example, recording more than 100 decibels when you rattled a pack in your hands, which certainly attracted attention, he said. In beauty, Unilever globally redesigned its Lynx cans to incorporate a distinctive sound that conveyed “tight product attributes,” he said, differentiating it from Dove, which needed to sound and feel different to align with its “soft” and “caring” brand positioning.
Too often, auditory design is an afterthought because humans are visually dominant, but it shouldn't be, Spence said. Sound, instead, should be a focus for brands across all industries, particularly “given the profound effect it can have.”
Sound, he said, can shift perceptions of a beauty product, with particularly satisfying closure sounds providing reassurance, for example. Musical soundscapes can also convey what a fragrance will smell like or even enhance perceived freshness of a fragrance product.
“Excellent examples are when you have a signature sound; a sound that people associate with your brand and which also delivers a functional benefit,” Spence said. “A signature sound of an opening-closing operation that consumers instantly recognize as your brand would be very powerful, would it not?”
Strong examples from other sectors include brands like Grolsch beer with its distinctive “pop”bottle opening noise or Nestlé KitKat's signature “snap” sound when a consumer breaks the chocolate-coated wafer bars.
McDougall said fast food conglomerate McDonald's is another strong example of a brand with a signature sound, created from just five musical notes ahead of its “i'm lovin' it” slogan for instant brand recognition. Distinctive sonic branding like this, he said, cuts through clutter in an increasingly crowded digital market.
Work to develop such signature sounds in beauty, however, is still emerging. L'Oréal published a research paper in 2023 about cognitive characterization of lipstick closing sounds, outlining the company's ambition to “transform incidental noise of packaging into intentional sound.” Others, meanwhile, have worked to link brand image to signature soundscapes.
“Natura is one of the most compelling examples here,” McDougall said. The beauty conglomerate transformed bioelectric signals from trees in the Amazon rainforest into a sonic logo, creating a sound that directly reinforces its sustainability and biodiversity story. “What makes it effective is that the sound isn't decorative; it's an extension of the brand narrative,” he said.
Establishing and maintaining signature sounds or soundscapes, though, is far from straightforward.
“The biggest challenge is authenticity,” McDougall said. Consumers quickly detect gimmicks, so any sound used must reinforce the product experience and brand positioning rather than feel artificially engineered, he said. “A second challenge is consistency. The most effective sonic branding works across packaging, retail, digital media, and communications. A disconnected approach risks creating noise rather than recognition.”
Stripping sound opportunities right back to how a product sounds when it is being opened, used, or closed is perhaps the most obvious starting point for most brands. This year, for example, L'Oréal China published research investigating how the sound of foam can potentially influence the shampoo experience in salons.
For companies starting here, with functional sound, integrating and elevating this into product design is all about timelines, said Jo Barnard, industrial designer and founder of UK product design consultancy Morrama.
“Often, the only way you can know what something is going to truly 'sound' like is when the packaging is already tooling, and things are hard to change,” Barnard said. “But there are ways of experimenting and testing beforehand, and to skip this is a missed opportunity.”
Sound, however, will always be part of a product design—a snap, a click, or whoosh from opening, closing, or dispensing—even if there by default, she said. “Tactility and experience of a product have always included sound, even if the designer hasn't factored it in specifically.”
McDougall said lack of intention doesn't remove impact, though. “Sound can transform products into experiences. It can signal quality, create emotional connections, improve memorability, and reinforce ritual. From a behavioral science perspective, repeated sensory rewards strengthen habits. Every satisfying click, pop, or dispensing sound becomes a small moment of gratification that makes a routine more enjoyable.” A sound heard every morning, for example, can become closely associated with how a product makes someone feel, he said, which loops back to the power of consistency.
“Packaging is the most immediate opportunity here because every product interaction has the potential to create a memorable sensory cue. Longer-term, though, I see significant potential in beauty devices and wellness-focused beauty experiences where sound can actively enhance relaxation, mindfulness, and engagement, rather than simply signaling quality.”
The potential of beauty sound logos, soundscapes, and functional sounds holds particular promise for brands looking to engage with certain demographics or particular markets.
Gen Z consumers, for example—those currently aged between 14 and 29 years old— appear “particularly receptive to sound,” McDougall said, “because they're growing up in an audio-rich culture, shaped by TikTok, podcasts, streaming, and gaming.”
Beauty markets across Asia are also highly receptive to sound, given this region has seen Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) and sensory-driven content mainstream in recent years. “The popularity of sensory content suggests consumers are increasingly comfortable engaging with brands through sound, rather than just visuals.”
McDougall describes sound as “one of beauty's most underutilized assets.”
“We already know sensory cues influence perception, memory, and emotion. We also know consumers increasingly value immersive experiences. The opportunity is not simply to make products louder, but to make them more memorable. In many ways, beauty has spent decades mastering what consumers can see and smell; the next frontier may be creating brands consumers can recognize with their eyes closed.”
