October shaped up to be an extremely well-scented month, with the launch of five noteworthy fragrance debuts. That’s not to mention that both Billie Eilish and Addison Rae announced forthcoming fragrances. Perhaps it’s because everyone is out and about again that smelling good is being prioritized. There’s also a makeup launch from Urban Decay founder Wende Zomnir, and new luxury body care, too. Below, the noteworthy brands that made their market debut this month.
House of Bō
This new luxury fragrance brand launched with three scents for $290 each and a fragrance primer for $65. The latter is meant to enhance the fragrance and make it last longer, while also featuring skin-care benefits thanks to ingredients like hyaluronic acid and aloe vera. Founder Bernardo Möller drew on his Mexican heritage to inform the debut scents, Agua de Santos, La Mar and Espíritu. The striking caps are individually hand-sculpted by Mexican artisans from natural reclaimed travertine marble stone. The brand is launching direct-to-consumer.
Caliray
Wende Zomnir is back with a new brand. The founder of Urban Decay teamed up with the brand’s “vibeologist” (official title), Jenna Dover, to create this new “clean” makeup brand which launched direct-to-consumer. The brand describes itself as “a dreamy wellness lifestyle made of clean formulas. dirty minds, and Taco Tuesday energy.” It launched with a mascara ($24) and three shades of eyeliner ($20 each).
Moodeaux
Brianna Arps is a former Refinery 29 writer-turned-founder of Black In Fragrance and its first associated brand, Moodeaux. The former works to support BIPOC people in the fragrance industry, where they are historically underrepresented. The latter launched this month with one scent, “Worthy” ($75), meant to remind wearers of their own worthiness.
Le Verden
Le Verden is a new direct-to-consumer luxury body care line centered around the idea of offering users a “portal” to a new location. Each collection will be based on three elements: a place, an ingredient and a practice. For the first collection, which includes bath salts, body wash, body lotion and a refillable candle (prices range from $50-$85), a Korean bamboo forest serves as the place, and bamboo salt is the ingredient. Bamboo salt is commonly used in South Korea for healing, which is the practice. The brand created a playlist of traditional Korean music to accompany customers’ baths. The bath salts are now available on the brand’s website, with the rest of the products coming soon.
LilaNur Parfums
LilaNur Parfums debuted at Bergdorf Goodman with 10 fragrances, ranging from $275-$420, all inspired by scents of India. Those scents include tuberose, jasmine and rose. The brand is the brainchild of Anita Lal, who also founded sustainable luxury retailer Good Earth India. She partnered with Paul Austin, former global vp of the Fine Fragrance Division at Givaudan, to create the collection.
Air Company’s Air Eau de Parfum
October marked the launch of the first-ever fragrance made from … air. A high-tech CO2 conversion made the product’s creation more sustainable. So, what does air smell like? In this case, it’s a fragrance with notes of orange peel, fig leaf, jasmine, powdery musk and tobacco. The scent is available on the brand’s website for pre-order.
