Squishmallows is expanding its plushy empire into beauty.
The viral toy brand is launching Squishmallows Fragrance, an inaugural line of fragrances inspired by its signature plush characters, which will debut nationwide at Ulta Beauty on Oct. 5.
Developed by fragrance veteran Joel Ronkin — who is cofounder and chief executive officer of Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie, and has previously launched fragrances by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber — Squishmallows Fragrance aims to capitalize on the teen perfume boom of recent years as well as the enduring growth of the fragrance category at large.
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“We want to make this big,” said Ronkin, who is founder and CEO of Squishmallows Fragrance and a longtime friend of Judd Zebersky, founder and CEO of Squishmallows’ parent company, Jazwares. “We put a lot of thought into making the line well-designed and making sure customers will feel great about what, in many cases, might be their first fragrance purchase.”
Indeed, the Squishmallows target audience of 14- to 24-year-olds aligns well with beauty’s fastest-growing shopper cohort. A 2025 study by Boston Consulting Group showed that by age 13, 75 percent of teenagers are using fragrance products, and that teen beauty spend is growing more than 20 percent year-over-year — far outpacing the total market’s growth.
“There is a great opportunity with this consumer, and we thought, if ever there was a brand to make a move like this, it’s Squishmallows,” Ronkin said.
Priced at $58 for a 100-ml. bottle, the brand’s first three scents include fruity-floral Pink Possibilities and Moonlit Mist, as well as vanilla-gourmand Whisked Away. The scents are respectively inspired by Squishmallows characters Patty the Cow, Zumirez the Bat and Cam the Cat, and come in bottles featuring bulb atomizers designed by Lance McGregor, who said he sought to bring Squishmallows’ “soft, cuddly form into this new format of fragrance.”
“Squishmallows really grew during COVID-19 because it brought comfort and joy to people during that time, and this fragrance launch is the next extension of that mission,” said Ronkin, adding that the brand partnered with DSM-Firmenich to infuse the fragrances with DSM’s “EmotiWaves” neuroscent technology meant to evoke feelings of happiness through smell.
“Like fragrance, Squishmallows is rooted in emotion, nostalgia and self-expression — we’re proud to offer products that reflect what’s current and relevant,” said Linda Suliafu, vice president of merchandising at Ulta.
Though Squishmallows was first introduced in 2017, the brand soared during and after the pandemic, with more than 100 million units of its plush characters selling in 2023 and more than 485 million having been sold to date. Today the brand sells in more than 120,000 retail doors across 60-plus countries.
“We kind of think of Squish as the Beanie Babies or the Webkinz of the 2020s, but what sets this product apart is that each plush is produced in limited quantities, which fuels what the brand calls its ‘squish hunt,’ where people are excited to search for their Squish of choice,” said Sami Gayle, chief brand officer of Squishmallows Fragrance.
Though Ronkin and Gayle did not specify sales expectations for this launch, industry sources estimate Squishmallows Fragrance could exceed $40 million in retail sales during the brand’s first year on the market.
In addition to its full-size bottles, which are the only ones that feature the bulb atomizer (“to enhance prestige and collectibility,” said Gayle), Squishmallows Fragrance will offer 30-ml. bottles at $38 and a holiday gift set featuring miniature versions of the collection for $40.
“We’re listening to our consumers and are excited to hear what they’d like to see next,” said Gayle “This young consumer in particular is interested in different delivery systems, travel sizes — there are endless possibilities with this brand.”
Ronkin added that Squishmallows Fragrance, like the original Squishmallows brand, may dabble in limited-edition offerings, and will look to steadily expand into new markets such as Canada and Europe.
“We want to spread joy, not only here in the U.S., but beyond that as well,” he said.
