When Funmi Monet discusses the sensory experience of fragrance, she is not only talking about notes and scent profiles. For the licensed therapist, content creator, and now founder, smelling a perfume can transport you somewhere, and that belief lies at the crux of her new fragrance brand launching in Sephora.
“When it came time to create this brand in 2024, Influxious was just the first thing that came to mind because it wasn’t the name of a fragrance; it was a feeling I was trying to capture, and the feeling was a movement, something that was dynamic,” Monet told theGrio.”Influence represents all the things that we interact with in life—people, places, foods we eat, music we listen to—the high times and the low times. Those are the things that shape who we become. The luxurious part is this idea of being able to take time to enjoy life, the ability to be at ease.”
Her brand’s ethos particularly shines through the way she describes the four perfumes, each built around a feeling first.
- Well Loved is her rewrite of the skin scent and speaks to the cultural layers embedded into the entire brand. Instead of the soap or powder the category usually defaults to, she built a skin around shea butter, inspired by the scents of her childhood. With floral ad vanilla notes, Monet says the intention behind the scent is to feel nurtured and caref for.
- Magic Hour is her vacation in a bottle. A mix of juicy watermelon, dragon fruit, florals, coconut milk, salt, and a surprising chili notes create a sensory escape that make you feel like you’re lounging on the beach during that magic hour between sunset and nightfall.
- High Life, she says, is for a night out. Built for rhythm and celebration, it takes its cues from Detty December and from the highlife genre’s fusion of Afrobeats, jazz, and funk. She drew inspiration from Zobo, a Nigerian hibiscus drink spiked with raspberry and ginger, then layered it with incense and lush Turkish rose to make you feel like the main character with every spray.
- Gold Standard is confidence in a bottle. Inspired by gold’s ability to be so strong, but also soft and pliable when heated, Monet says it is a fragrance empowering people to move through the world with strength while holding on to your softness.
“My personal background as a licensed therapist was a huge part of helping me to also understand how fragrance and emotion and memory are tied together,” she explained. “and how all of those things are so powerful…Fragrance is truly an international language that doesn’t have a boundary.”
The international appeal of fragrance is why Monet was not intimidated by the nearly 6,000 new fragrances that hit the market last year, nor by the anticipation that the number would grow. Prior to building Influxious, Monet spent years building an audience as a content creator widely known for her fragrance reviews, recommendations, and 100 sprays a day. Throughout the years, she realized how far her content reached, which is part of why she and her team chose to launch in Sephora.
“We chose Sephora because it’s a very accessible retailer. They have such a global footprint,” she explained. “We want Sephora to see that, especially as a Black-owned brand, that we’re able to bring people in, and that we’re not limited to only one demographic…the truth is, representation is so important, and I think when it comes to how people want to show up, shop at Sephora, but also shop where it makes sense for you.”
Throughout this process, the Influxious founder is filled with excitement and gratitude ahead of her launch.
“I’m so grateful I was able to bring this product to market that celebrated my cultural background and the voices of so many of us across the diaspora, without having to water any of it down,” she said, emphasizing how it is a reminder that “who you are is enough.”
Shop Influxious at Sephora on July 27.
