The Tao of Puig

Good Girl, the iconic Carolina Herrera fragrance franchise, recently surpassed Chanel’s Chance as the world’s best-selling women’s perfume brand. An inside look at how Puig, the brand’s Spanish owner, leveraged social media and savvy marketing to dethrone a legend.

At the time Good Girl launched, Carolina Herrera de Baez told me the concept was inspired by her mother’s conviction that mystery is one of the most important qualities a woman can have. The scent and packaging—an iconic navy high heel—embodies the notion of Herrera’s idealized customer as both elegant and a little bit naughty. Photo: Courtesy of Carolina Herrera

Rachel Strugatz

February 26, 2025

Even within the cutthroat beauty business, there is no subcategory more fiercely contested than women’s fragrance. Chanel, Dior, YSL Beauty, and a few others have historically dominated, cycling in and out of the top spots and spending lavishly to establish and defend their positions. Which is why I was shocked to learn that the past year’s bestselling women’s fragrance franchise is not from one of the Big Three, but… Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl, the ambery floral perfume that comes bottled in a mini stiletto heel.