With a firm handshake, say hello to Business of Beauty—an exclusive, inside look at each of the incomparable journeys of entrepreneurs of color in the beauty industry. This series is anything but business as usual. It’s a raw, honest look at the unique and often overlooked challenges that people of color face when starting their own beauty brand. Each founder will reveal the biggest hurdles they’ve overcome, their internal struggles, and their deepest thoughts about what needs to change in the beauty industry (and the world, really) to make it a more inclusive space for everyone.
This time around, we’re diving deep with CEO and founder Octavia Morgan, who started her own clean eponymous fragrance brand. This month, Morgan became the first Black- and woman-owned business to enter the fine-fragrance category at Ulta. Read all about her journey to entrepreneurship below.
(Image credit: Octavia Morgan)
I’d love to talk about your journey into entrepreneurship. What inspired you to create your own brand?
Almost eight years ago, I started to develop fragrance sensitivity. But the thing is, I’m a fragrance girl. I’ve been wearing fragrances since I was 5 years old. So I started to get the common things that happen like headaches, a little nauseated—and then I noticed the welts on my skin.
So I went to the marketplace because I was like, okay, there has to be something out there [I can use] because I refuse to not wear fragrance. Back then, the [clean] offerings that they had were very disappointing. They were single-noted; they had no power and no projection. People in our community, when we wear fragrance, we don’t care. We want everyone to smell that fragrance when we’re walking through the door. We want people to say, “You smell good.” I wasn’t able to get that from any other fragrances. It was very disappointing. I have a science background as a registered nurse and my grandmother was an herbalist, so I had [some] working knowledge and put those things together and created the first four in our line. I never intended for them to be brought to market. They were always for me so that I had something to wear, and that began my journey with Octavia Morgan.
It’s so disappointing to develop a fragrance allergy, but it sparked your journey in such a cool way! Talk to me about the steps you took to get your business off the ground. Did you ever feel like you faced any extra hurdles being a Black woman starting your own business?
For me, I’m not a perfumer. I’m not classically taught, so there’s a learning curve, right? I have no connections within the fragrance space, so that’s another challenge, and I thought, Where do you turn? So it started very grassroots [for me]. My business is a very grassroots, word-of-mouth company because I had nowhere to start, and I didn’t know where to go. I like to pray and meditate every morning at 5 o’clock. During one of my prayers, I heard a voice that said, “Take it to the streets—take it to the people.” So we started doing these highly curated pop-up markets, and during those markets, we were able to connect with people. It started to connect those dots. People would introduce me to [the right people], and I had a lot of Black women that took me under their wing. And they would say, “Octavia, I know this person,” and would help me find mentors and with my business plan. Eventually, I was connected with a gentleman that has been a mentor to me. He has 25 years in the business—a good friend of mine connected me to him, and it was just a series of connections that led us to where things are now. Now, I can’t tell you I purposely set out for this. But people really believed in what we were doing and everything I needed—the dots would get connected. And really what played a pivotal part for me, honestly, were Black women. Black women play a pivotal part in in our brand, like getting our brand out there and connecting a lot of dots.
What I really envision for the business is putting out beautiful products that my clients love. They have introduced me, and they have taken us around the world. They just continue to spread the word, and in our ethos, we’re just very grassroots about what we do.
We touched on this a bit already, but were some of your other biggest challenges that you faced when starting your business? How did you overcome them?
Because I wasn’t a classically trained perfumer, I really had to sit with the fragrance materials. I would order them, and I would literally just sit there and smell them so I could place it to memory. This smells like that; that smells like that. Because when you’re a novice and when you’re coming in, you don’t understand that there are several different kinds of rose materials, right? And another thing about starting a brand is just funding for women and Black businesses. Not just women, but men too. Funding and just getting people to take you seriously because sometimes, I’m coming in, waving my flag, and saying I’m in high-end fragrance and people are like, “Well, who are you associated with?” I would have to explain to them that I’m independent and niche—I’m doing my own thing. That was an uphill battle because a lot of times, when they see people of color perfumers, they automatically assume it’s essential oil–based or they don’t think about fine fragrances. That doesn’t come to mind.
(Image credit: Octavia Morgan Fragrances)
I’ve heard other Black fragrance entrepreneurs talk about this too. I think many people have this idea that high-end fragrances only come out of European countries, and the same space isn’t always given to Black creators. But that’s why I absolutely love seeing more Black creators stepping into this category. You’re the first Black- and woman-owned brand in the prestigious fragrance category at Ulta now! How do you hope to inspire the next generation of Black creators who want to own and operate a fragrance brand?
It really brought tears to my eyes because, sometimes, we have to see it done. Sometimes, somebody has to come through and kick in the door, right? From the first day that I talked to Ulta, what I understood is (because, again, it goes back to how I love research), we as people of color buy the most fragrances, but we’re underrepresented in that whole category, which is kind of absurd. I talk to a lot of young people who don’t see themselves as being a perfumer and having this thriving career and thriving brand—they just see it as a hobby. I hope to dispel that by letting them know that, hey, we’re here, and we can compete on these levels. We don’t have to stay at [a certain] price point. We can go to an elevated price point and make beautiful products. So I hope to not be the last, because I meet so many perfumers that are turning it out right now. They have beautiful, elevated products, and I just hope that I paved the way for those that come behind me. I don’t want to keep the spotlight. I want to share it because there’s enough out here for all of us—enough customers, enough money, [enough] everything. I just want everyone to continue to create and turn out that beauty.
Definitely! There’s always room for everyone. Do you feel like the fragrance industry is mostly white-dominated? How can we change that and give more people of color opportunities in this space?
It is heavily European-dominated. We know that everyone thinks that the best comes from overseas—France, Italy, etc. I think that we have to just keep pushing our agenda as far as turning out beautiful products, spotlighting these Black perfumers, and what it is that we’re doing because, sometimes, people don’t even know. When people think of Black perfumers and you’re not in the industry, most people think about Chris Collins, because he’s been putting it down for so many years, right? But there’s only a handful that are known when we know that there are hundreds of fragrance houses, so I feel like it’s just putting the word out. And for us that have the spotlight on us, keep reaching back and bringing others along with us.
You’re also a clean fragrance house and stress the importance of using sustainable materials. I know your fragrance allergy played a huge role, but why else is this important to you and your brand ethos?
It always goes back to how I grew up. My grandmother was a woman that was a little bit ahead of her time. She had a garden, and we picked our own stuff out of it. She was very adamant about using high-quality, natural ingredients. Once I developed a fragrance sensitivity, I started to understand that market. One-third of the U.S. population identifies as having fragrance sensitivity. I thought, if we take some of these ingredients out, then we have something that speaks to those that are fragrance sensitive or have loved ones that are fragrance sensitive. Some of them haven’t been able to wear fragrance in years. One of the first clients that I had was a real catalyst for me going forward with this brand. I did a show, and this woman (we take people on what’s called a fragrance journey), she smelled all the scents and she started to sob. And I said, “Okay, what happened? What did I do?” But she said she hadn’t been able to wear fragrance in 12 years and now she could. As someone that loves to smell good as well, that would be really devastating to take that away. I look at fragrance as an accessory. If you take that accessory away from me, I’m not able to communicate my moods and my power because I don’t have that accessory anymore. So to be able to give that back to consumers is amazing.
(Image credit: Octavia Morgan Fragrances)
Do you feel like it’s more difficult to create clean fragrance formulas?
It’s definitely a little more difficult. When I started, we were formulating it ourselves, but in anticipation for growth, I started working with a fragrance house. In order for us to mass-produce my fragrances, that process took a year. One of the first things I said when I first went in was that I wanted to formulate cleanly. And he said, “Okay, so when you say that, that cuts down our ingredients to less than half.” And because of that, the whole process of interpretation took us a year. That’s how long it took for us to get the fragrances to where I was satisfied with them because I’m a stickler for what I put out in the world—I’m very particular. I don’t want to sell anything that my family wouldn’t use. I want everyone to feel like it’s special. We’re very intentional. It was a long process, but I felt like it was worth it because in the end, I got what it is that I wanted. They were able to interpret our fragrances as closely as possible to the originals. I was completely satisfied with what I was bringing to the market.
Once I started to understand what some people fill their fragrances with to stretch them, it really blew my mind. We don’t think about it. Skincare we think about more consciously because we’re going to put it all over our body, but fragrance is the last thing that you think about because it’s just a little spritz. Some have endocrine disruptors in there and all these different things. Once I started to get very educated on it, I really pushed forward. I bring clean fragrances that perform because, again, going back to what we talked about, the clean, natural space has gotten better—there are clean brands coming out that are amazing, but it took a while for everyone to catch up and get there. I wanted to bring something to the market that’s complex, beautiful, and performs and lasts.
Consumers are definitely becoming more conscious about what’s in their products, so it’s such a great time for the clean fragrance category. I’d love to hear more about the fragrances you chose to launch with at Ulta. Why did you choose these particular SKUs to represent Octavia Morgan Fragrances on the shelves?
I chose to launch with four particular fragrances because I felt out of my whole line that these were the most universal. Starting with my first fragrance that I ever made, which was Legendary. It’s is a spicy, woodsy, very clean scent. I like to call it an everyday scent—we all need that. You can wear it to lunch, the gym, the office—you can wear it all over, and no one is offended. It’s a gender-inclusive line too—that’s very important to me. The next one is Dark Rose, which is my number one best seller. I wanted a scent that was unapologetically sexy—it’s a statement scent. It opens up a little bit sweet with the plum because I want you to get that umami note, and then it opens up with the rose and goes into the pink peppercorn. It has a little bit of spice, and then you have that lambda, so it gives you that power underneath. Each one of our fragrances has a different personality. The another one that is in in our offerings is called Midnight Orchard. I love a peach scent, and Midnight Orchard has that. When I thought about creating it, I wanted to do a gourmand, but I wanted to interpret it how my house would interpret it, which is a very grown-up gourmand. It has notes of peach, apricot, and pepper. I feel like that one is nice for daytime, but it also has the depth for evening as well. And then the other one is called L’Affaire. [With L’Affaire], I just wanted a beautiful floral. I wanted to feel like a Disney princess. I always describe it as enchanting, but it’s very interesting because although it’s light, refreshing, and beautiful, it’s actually grounded in cedarwood, so it does have a little bit of power underneath it. What’s beautiful about all of our scents across the board is our dry-down. You can really smell the true essence of our fragrances then.
Is there anything else you guys are working on that you can share a bit more about?
I’m always in creation mode! We’re coming up with a a new fragrance offering and also our extending our body oils, which are a crowd favorite. They’re made with six different oils. I’m obsessed with that because, anything that I create, I want to have a benefit (like hydration and nourishment). Sometimes we get fragranced body oils and they smell good, but they leave you dry or they’re tacky. And for me, it’s about what how they perform and if they nourish your skin. We’re also going to expand a couple of our other best sellers.
That’s so exciting! And last, what would you like to see change in the beauty industry?
I’d just love to see more representation and more diversity—especially in the decision-making process of businesses. When we open up that diversity, it opens up avenues for others. That’s what I would like to see—people coming together and opening their arms to diversity. It’s always a good thing, and we have to look at it as we’re bringing a good thing to the market. You have to have people of all different backgrounds because they bring a different wealth of knowledge. They bring a different eye, right?
Shop Octavia Morgan Fragrances
Octavia Morgan
Midnight Orchard Eau De Parfum
Key notes: Peach, apricot, Szechuan pepper, vanilla, sandalwood, musk
Besides Dark Rose, Midnight Orchard is one of my absolute favorites of the bunch. It’s so juicy and sweet, but the notes of sandalwood and musk give it something a little extra. As Morgan said, the staying power of these fragrances is so impressive. This one lasts on my skin for hours.
Octavia Morgan
Dark Rose Eau de Parfum
Key notes: Pink Peppercorn, plum, black rose, cumin, vanilla, patchouli, labdanum
Dark Rose just might be my new signature scent. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a fragrance. It’s warm, sweet, delicious, and almost smells like unique and elevated candy? Trust me, it’s so insanely good if you like gourmand scents—I couldn’t be more in love.
Octavia Morgan
L’Affaire Eau de Parfum
Key notes: Saffron, jasmine, amber wood, ambergris, cedarwood
I feel like Morgan described this one so perfectly. I really do feel like a Disney princess when I spritz it on. It’s sweet but has a hint of zest to it that makes it totally unique.
OCTAVIA MORGAN LOS ANGELES
Legendary Eau De Parfum
Key notes: Amber, coco, vanilla, cedar, spices, musk, sandalwood, papyrus, cardamom
This is a true woody scent that’s rich and deep. I love the extra spice added to it, and it truly feels unisex.
Octavia Morgan
Oud Noir Eau de Parfum
Key notes: Bergamot, lemon zest, red raspberry, cassis, red rose, vanilla, oud, amber, sandalwood, black pepper, musk
As you can tell, I had a hard time picking favorites among Morgan’s offerings, but this is another one. It has both sweet and woody notes, and I’m a huge fan of combining the two.
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