What Makes a Viral Perfume? Tips for Long-Lasting Scent, Perfume Layering and an In-Person, Custom Fragrance Atelier with The 7 Virtues’ Barb Stegemann

22:40You've got to be moisturized. And that'll make it last longer. Just like makeup. Yeah. You wouldn't put makeup on a dry face. Yeah. True. None of us do. We're always like misting in between.

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27:03I'm sure you've learned so much over the years about beauty from all of your Sephora insider friends. What have you learned about layering perfumes? Oh, well, you know, I learned about layering way back when I went to Grasse France. I love how that just rolled off my tongue. Yeah, me too. Just drop that mic right there. I was just in Grasse France. Every so often I'm like, what? So I was in Grasse, France. I couldn't wait to go design a perfume in the French style with the pipettes, with the apothecary jars and name it. And while I was there, it was raw materials. So it was like jasmine, rice.

27:35And I noticed the other women didn't like their perfumes. They were pouring them down the sink, but I love mine. And I went back to my perfumers. I said, you know what? What if we actually created like something like a unifier in every one of our perfumes to make sure you couldn't fail? Like build a perfume. And so from that day forth, every perfume, which was right from the start with Vanilla Woods, was designed with this harmony molecule that we've trademarked. You can't fail when you blend our perfumes. They will create a brand new perfume, like two people having a baby. There's still some DNA, but it's going to be a new person.

28:06And the layering thing is even now we have this trademark layer cake collection, which you have some here. And the idea is if you can make a layer cake, you can layer perfume. I love to demystify it. People get all worked up, too. They're designing their perfume. Get rid of your perfectionitis. I have half-asitis. Let's go. Like, just go. Skin your knee. You know, and get up. It's not that serious. It's not that serious. But you can tell by personalities that people get worked up. And I'm like, let's not hold ourselves back. Yeah. Let's just go. Let's just spritz and be happy. What's the most surprising combo that you've put together on the floor?

28:39There's a lot of, I would say the two that people are most shocked by. One is when you put lotus pear, which is this really juicy Williams pear from the King's estate in High Grove in England, very posh. People in London love it. With Santal Vanille, that is like this Santa New York, cool Soho house kid kind of vibe. And they're very, very juxtaposing. You would never expect them together. But just like when you bake, if you put salt on chocolate or like these different flavors come together. Same thing with scent. And then the other one that is my daily everything is I do because there's there's sandalwood in all three is I start with Santal Vanille.

29:15Then I put cherry ambition on and then I put buttercream on. Oh, wow. I smell like a really expensive hotel. Wow. Okay. And are you waiting in between? Is it drying each time? Are you like spritz? Oh, no, I just swim. There's no rhyme or reason. I love that. And what about if somebody comes in and they're testing, they want to find the one scent for them. Do you have a hack of like, how do you tell them to walk around and come back or like what are your tips for that? Great questions. Well, our first thing is close your eyes when you smell it perfectly. The sensory of sight and hearing blocks out half of what you're smelling.

29:57You're overwhelmed. The music's playing. Your friend's talking. Your dog is there. And so you close your eyes and now you can really smell all the notes. And now that you've decided that, put the two favorite on different wrists and walk around. See how it works with your pheromones, your body. That usually is the best way, but close your eyes. It's one of the first things I learned years ago on the floor at my first life, the first iteration, a lady that kind of took me under her wing. She was in the fragrance area. Close your eyes. Okay. Good one. So even when, yeah, you're shopping, it's like...

30:32Just stop, close your eyes, smell it. And you'll pick up notes you would not have picked up with the distraction of lights and sound. Perfume is just immediate. And I think that's what is refreshing about it. So even the overthinker can't overthink it. Yeah. And by the way, everyone that's listening, Barb has this amazing discovery set, right? There's like seven samples. And I don't know how much it is roughly, but you can try all of them. Yeah. Like tiny little noncommittal. Yeah, that's right. You know, and just give it a whirl. Totally affordable. I think it's 30, depends on US or Canada. And it gives you all of them.

31:11And each little vial is like a full weekend's worth. You can play. It's like a mini atelier and you can start to see what blends you love. And it's really cute. A lot of women tell me it's the first perfume they buy for their daughters. Oh, cute. Because it tells the story of the world and it's clean and they can play. So that's become really popular for moms to be like, here's your first perfume, dear. Yeah. You know what you need to do is like have that as a giftable and then, but people can come back and like exchange it for a full size of the one they like. Yeah, we're starting to work on that on the website.

31:43Okay. That's one of the, you're brilliant. I don't know. That's one thing that we're working on so that you could, then you can just upgrade and get it. I wonder what you think about dupes because there are so many out there and I don't know if your fragrances have been duped. Yeah, I heard they were, but they can't be. Here's the cool thing. Our perfume house, CPL Aromas in London. And the owner, Chris Pickville, read about me in our work in Rwanda and took me under his wing. Just angels. They're my family. And they put in all of our perfumes. I remember when he told me this when I had like no sales in the beginning.

32:15He was like, we're putting this very special note in there that is like Harry Potter's cloaking. You can't be duped. And I was like, it's called Aroma Fusion. And I was like, why does that matter? Nobody knows about me. Right. Now, fast forward, I was like, man, he knew. So nobody can actually dupe our perfumes. which is intriguing to me. Now back to dupes though, you know, I think about the dupes in general and I don't think they're a bad thing. I'll tell you why. You know, you bought your first fake bracelet or fake purse. Yeah. It was so you could visualize having the real one. And it gives everybody access to something when they don't have the means.

32:55And I loved having my fake everything. And then once I had the money, because I had visualized it, I bought the real things. And I think that that can be true of the sense. So I don't think it's a bad thing if a brand is being duped. Of course, I can't be. But so there's that. But I do think that I don't think it's it's a bad thing because the person is still wanting that real Lux bottle. Yeah. Right. They still will one day buy that. We're just conscious luxury. So nobody's trying to get our bottle because it's we put it in a conscious luxury bottle so the vegan girl doesn't have to give up her lunch money for my perfume.

33:28Yeah. This is the philosopher queen. Yeah. Literally the philosopher queen's view on dupes. You will only hear this from Barb Stegman. Yeah. I like to look at things a little deeper. I love it. Tell us about the fragrance trends that you're seeing right now. What's on the horizon that everybody needs to know about? Well, I think you're seeing, you know, it used to be the warm florals. They were the highest, most popular sought after perfume, those gorgeous, sexy patchouli's, the sexy nighttime that you could cut through a smoke laden bar and go dancing on the speakers. I'm just dating myself because that's what we did.

34:04And you're seeing a shift now. It's gourmand. And I've always been a gourmand girl that has always been from vanilla woods right through to buttercream, strawberry jam, layer cake. I mean, how gourmand is that? I'm obsessed with the gourmands. The gourmands are because of this, you know, this illogical world. I want you to feel happy right away. And then they dry down to like adult gourmand. So there's kind of two things going on, right? But in the trends out there, you're seeing gourmand everywhere. You're also seeing people are launching perfumes like every six weeks. I think it's overwhelming for people.

34:33I won't do that. We'd launch two a year. Yep. And I'm not going to overwhelm my team. And I think that the world has to be sustainable. And I think people get overwhelmed if you keep throwing things at them all the time. So that's one thing I won't do. But I do think that the gourmand thing is here to stay. I think it's also because of GLP. I think people want to smell like food. It's comforting. I'm not saying everyone's on GLP, but there is a huge trend. For sure. I think people want to get some satisfaction. I also think you're going to see the warm floral come back. I'm working on one right now and looking at the modern world and that need for the ambers and the musks.

35:11So that's really important to me is I think the warm floral should have a comeback. What about this jammy, jammy scent that I'm looking at in front of me? Strawberry Jam is our biggest launch in our history. Tell us about it. Strawberry Jam was like paying homage to my childhood. Like I said, we're on assisted living. We didn't have much. So we picked our strawberries by the roadside, wild strawberries. And you know, strawberries don't grow in a candy store. They grow in the dirt, the earth. So you have to have nutty pistachio to give it that gritty, earthy. That's why it smells such a true strawberry.

35:41And then, of course, we have tonka bean, whipped marshmallow, sugared raspberry, all the fun things. But it really was about strawberries when we made our cakes. There was no fancy anything. You put strawberry jam on the cake. Yeah. So for me, the layer cake was all like, well, okay, we're going to make some strawberry jam. It was just kind of this, this is what we did. And then it resonated. I think a lot of people, it doesn't matter whether it's my friends in Paris or Canada, it doesn't matter. People always say to me, it brings me back somewhere really happy. And I'm like, good. I went to the Sephora EU Paris conference a year and a half ago, and they said, berry gourmands are coming.

36:19And I was like, berry gourmands are coming. I'm all in for it. So that was it. Strawberry Jam was born. Well, I like the blackberry you had as well. Blackberry lily. Really good. Yeah, she was the middle child. No one took photos of her. Right. She was during the pandemic. Her launch was two days before the lockdown. She never got her party. Well, we gave her a party. You gave her a party. I did talk about her. You gave her a party. Yeah. It's funny you mentioned that because I was thinking about the trends in fragrance. And I think just there's a whole nostalgia piece happening right now. People are craving that like safe space in the world.

36:52And so, yeah, I am. I do want it to smell like my mom's strawberry shortcake or whatever, because it's really one of the only things you can control right now. That's right. Even you see it in Dior's latest fragrance. It's very girly. Right. Like all of the high end luxury ones, niche, hundreds of dollars. They are nodding to this as well. Yep. So you're really onto it. Thank you. I think the world needs it. Yeah, absolutely. Happiness instantly and nothing like scent. I mean, scent and emotion are connected in the back of the brain. Yeah. So when you smell something that makes you happy, it's instant.

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41:24We need to talk about the Fragrance Atelier. So you opened the first one in Halifax. I believe it's on the boardwalk, right? Right on the Halifax waterfront, the Queen's Mark mirror. And it looks at the famous steps coming out of the Halifax harbors. You sit there and watch the boats go by. I need to go to this location and check it out. We got to get you home. I picture it kind of like a Bite Beauty Lab for fragrance. Yeah, yeah. You can create your own fragrance. Yeah, but it's hands on. You're doing it. yeah she's building there's nobody else doing it you are actually making the perfume yeah and you trust your instincts okay so you do a walkthrough very self-guided with our alchemist and then you take just like in grass france you take your blotter and you smell i like this scent keep it this scent i'm not so much this one at the end so you have four or five blotters you wave them all past your nose that's your perfume oh wow and that's what they taught me in grass then you sit down and with the pets you start going and then halfway up you smell it and you can go And this is where it gets intuitive.

42:21And I think it's like, you know, it's one of the first times in our lives as adults we get to create again. You know, when I was little, we would spray paint some macaroni on a piece of paper gold and put it on the fridge. And my parents were like, good for you. And I was so proud of myself. And this is kind of the adult version of spray painting macaroni with gold and feeling like you've done something. And so then halfway up, you smell it. And it's very intuitive. You know you need more sweet or more warm and you have to trust your instincts. It's a wonderful exercise I don't think we get enough of.

42:48and then you finish it. Now you got to name it. Oh my God, you got to name it. And you're basically creating a brand new perfume that never existed. And then you decorate the box. Oh, it's all in. And you get a silk twilly scarf and you remember this day. And it costs the same as buying a perfume at Sephora. The whole experience. It's appointment only and it's a sanctuary and a safe place. And it's just, it's a beautiful thing. And you keep your sort of like recipe on file there. We don't, but we're going to start. Here's the thing. We didn't have a methodology to actually record people's formulations.

43:20So we're working on that right now so that for the next atelier, we can start all across the board and allow you to keep your formulation so we can make it for you again. And then there's different labels, different days. So you could pick the different label and maybe name it something else if you wish. Shake it up. There could be some new juice in the place. But yeah, we've never done that because I just kind of wanted everybody to have a one-off and be like... This is absolutely genius. Like this is what Guerlain does at their ateliers in Paris. Certain ateliers. I remember I did a story on this years ago and there's a certain, you can do it kind of like that where there's, I think it's a similar-ish type of experience, but it's in Guerlain.

44:02Wow. But then, and it costs like, I don't remember how much it costs. This was probably 15, 20 years ago when I wrote the story. But then there's another one that you could do that was completely couture. It was like as if somebody was designing a couture dress for you. And it would be like you would go in and talk to the nose. And there were no, it wasn't about picking the sense. It was like, I want it to smell like when I grew up in Argentina and we had a horse and this and that. And that one costs like$80 ,000. So I feel like this is like the accessible. It is though. And it's like this is going to pop off.

44:42It's also you are once again, Barb, ahead of your time. Because literally last week there was an article about the mono movement in perfume, a.k.a. standalone stores. If you're in Soho in New York, it's every other fragrance brand has their own standalone store. I was in Mexico City, real hotbed of perfume, fragrance, ateliers. And same thing. It's like popping off. And you were the first to do it because you launched that a couple of years ago. Did you not? The atelier? The atelier was two years ago in Canada Day. And it's funny, too, you talked about being accessible. I'm glad you saw that, Carleen, because, you know, I want everyone to have come into the banquet.

45:18And that's my philosophy and that you should be able to be a part of this. And I sometimes used to get intimidated when I'd go into perfume shops, you know, and as soon as you walk into our place, bright smiles, welcome. Let's get you all settled into your appointment. So where's the next atelier popping up? Well, they told me not to tell, but as if I'm ever going to follow any rules. I'm a bit of a rule breaker. Breaking beauty. I'm with my peeps. We're breaking the news right here. So I'm just going to tell you. The Fairmont Royal York in the fall. In Toronto? Toronto, very excited. Perfect location.

45:52So fantastic. And that's our ecosystem. Hotel, restaurants, tourists, transportation. That's what we have in Halifax. That same ecosystem will work here. All the beauty advisors from Sephora come through on Sunday nights. we wine and dine them and spoil them and we love them and it really is like an education place for us with our Sephora family and then also to have our influencer events and media events and then and our clients to come and and have a part of it so I'm really excited yes yeah it's just it's a dream come true this is do we know approximately the date my goal is October 22nd that's as long as all of the other pieces because there's a big reno going on so it feels pretty special Love it.

46:33Fantastic. Very exciting. And it's like you can bring your girlfriends there. You can do like bachelorette party, like bridal. Team building, bridal parties. Couples come and everybody's safe in the sanctuary. We need to ask you about Dragon's Den. Yes. We talked about it the first time you were on our show because you had recalled the time that you were on Dragon's Den. There was a rejection that happened. Maybe you could retell that a little bit. And then now you were a guest dragon. Full circle moment. Earlier this year. So tell us like what that felt like. The banks wouldn't give me a loan.

47:10I had a perfect credit rating. I owned my own house, but I was going to buy oils from farmers in Afghanistan. They judged me. But I did what any Atlantic Canadian would do when nobody wants to give you money. You go on a reality show, of course. And I was terrified. And they do a countdown back then. They'd count like a walking down the plank. 10, 9. And then you go in and you face off with the smartest, richest people in Canada. And you don't want to waste their time. So I walked in, did my pitch, and then I got a little more comfortable as they asked questions. And three wanted in. And Brett Wilson ended up becoming my investor.

47:44And Kevin O 'Leary didn't get it. Yeah. Mr. Wonderful. And that's okay. You know, when I gave a talk to my daughter's class, it was grade five then when it aired. And one of the kids said, Kevin O 'Leary was so mean to you. And I said, get ready for life, kids. Not everyone's going to like your idea. That's okay. And then I opened for him in Halifax, and everyone thought we were going to duke it out. And I thanked him. You got to thank the people that underestimate you. Brett Wilson made 56 times his investment. That's right. So that's$125 ,000. That's quite a few million. It pays to stretch out of your comfort zone, but it also pays to not give up on your dream.

48:23And also, then I became friends with Kevin and his publicist, Nancy. So don't burn any bridges. Someone's not going to like your idea. That's okay. Maybe not now, but maybe another time. And I feel like that's back to the philosopher in me is, well, what do I need to learn from this moment? Don't take it personally. It's not personal. That's right. Then how do I learn from this? And then I can come back and be like, thank you for underestimating me. It's so funny. I just was saying this. We did a live event a few weeks ago, and I was saying that to be underestimated can be a gift. The best gift.

48:56And I have enjoyed that position on a few occasions. As a woman, it's going to happen. As Nellie McClellan, who got us the vote in 1918, the famous five said, you have to be twice as good to be considered half as great. And that is still the case for me as a woman. And I'm sure you see it, too, in many situations. It's unbelievable that it still goes on. But we'll keep harnessing our power together and keep, you know, walking out on International Women's Day and doing the kinds of things to liberate other women from this. Still in a patriarchy. But wait, I need to go back. What did you do this year on Dragon's Den?

49:32Did you invest on somebody? I need to forget the full circle. Yeah, I pitched 12 of us who did very well in business were asked to come back and be guest dragons for two part episode for the 20th anniversary. And five of us made it. So I got to be a dragon. My joke was, thanks for keeping my seat warm, Kevin. So it felt kind of nice to take Kevin's chair. I was like, which one was his? I want that chair. And then I actually had dinner with his publicist Nancy the night before. I was like, we should do something together. She's like, yeah, we should do a stash. I should follow back up with her.

50:04But I think it's that kind of attitude. Your attitude is your altitude. And to be able to take everybody's thoughts and discern between them, navigate your path, listen to your instincts, You know what's true. We all do about ourselves and our past and we find our way. And, you know, I heard a long time ago that the key to a great movie is that you're a nobody, you're a somebody, you're a nobody, you're a somebody. So if you watched a movie and the person was always up, always winning, you'd turn off the movie. Well, that's us too. We're great stories. So you're a nobody, you're a somebody, you're a nobody, you're somebody.

50:37It's always going on because if it didn't, wouldn't it be boring? Yeah, absolutely. So next time it's all going in the shader and be like, I'm a nobody. And then it does well, I'm a somebody. And then it's like cut to montage scene, you getting new wardrobe. It's the art. You gotta have that art. How are we doing today? Nobody. Somebody. And for the Americans listening, Dragon's Den is kind of like Shark Tank. Yes. It's the Canadian version. That's right. And UK. Kevin was on our show. It's all recorded in the UK. Kevin was on our show. And did you invest? I invested in two businesses. Oh, wow.

51:10Okay. And then the behind the scenes, some are still working their due diligence. So we don't know that yet. But there were two that I liked a lot. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I liked all of them. Some of them, though, because my dad went out of business twice, he went bankrupt twice, and we ended up on assisted living. I'm very sensitive to the seriousness of a person's ability. If it's going to harm their family, I want them to pause because of my experience. So I'm a little different than the other businesses. They all came from means, did very well with their own sweat and work. But unless you've lived on assisted living and watched your family's business go under twice, you're extra sensitive about the people's stories, right?

52:01And that are they going to be okay? And are they ready? And if they're not, in fact, every person that I said, look, I believe in you. You're not there yet. I had a call with them. I met them personally after to say, I mean it. Like, let's get you to the next step before you're ready for investment. I know that sounds like disappointing if a person really wanted the money, but I don't want you going into business, especially if it's your life and my money. I want you doing well. Yeah. So I come with a little bit of a different look at it. Yeah. You protect people. Yes. Yes. I appreciate that. Thank you, Barb.

52:35When we first started our podcast, which was in 2017, nine years ago, everyone. Thank you. We were tripping out because as beauty journalists for many years, we had interviewed tons of people in beauty. Not one person had ever quoted Marcus Aurelius. And then I swear to God, the first three guests that we had or five guests all talked about Marcus Aurelius. Love Aurelius. You being one. Thank you. The philosopher queen herself. So tell us, what is something that you apply daily from the Marcus Aurelius stoicism, philosophy in your daily life that you feel like keeps you grounded, keeps you motivated?

53:11Yeah. Or that you pass on to other people? Yeah. Something I've told my children since they were little, Marcus Aurelius said, when you wake up, be prepared to meet the angry, the lost, the jealous, the jaded. Now lead. If you don't like it, you don't want to be a leader, you can go in the fetal position in the corner. But when you wake up, be prepared to meet the angry, the lost, the jealous, the jaded, Now lead. Don't whine about it. Don't moan about it. Lead. And I think that has changed my children's lives, my life. And Aurelius, you know, no wonder so many of your esteemed guests love Aurelius because this was the original psychology, the philosophers, right?

53:53That's right. So you could use that stoic wisdom to navigate being a nobody and a somebody and a nobody is somebody. And it helps you try to get back up. I have to tell you that I gave my mother a copy of your book. oh thank you yes yes uh and she for so long every time I went over she's like carlene you have got to read this book I'm like I know mom I gave it to you she's like no carlene let me read this to you let me read this to you read a passage and I'm like mom I know bar very well I love bar that's really sweet though it was very sweet did you tell her though that I mean we have history Carlene, before I was even in a store, you wrote about me in Flair magazine.

54:37And I remember my friends were like, how did you get in Flair magazine? I was like, this woman, Carlene Higgins, believed in me. And for people like you, Carlene, that believe in people early on, I hope you know how huge that is, that faith you gave me and being interested in my story and sharing it with others like you do now. You give so many people a leg up. It is. And you're still doing it. I loved your story. I loved your story. And I'd love to uncover the gold that's underneath. And I love to be the first. Wow. You're good at that. I'm obsessed with that. So often I do uncover great brands like yours.

55:17And it's such a pleasure to know you and to have you back on the show and be inspired by you. And I carry your beliefs and virtues hopefully into my brand as well. I will continue to do that. Well, Barb, you're the best. Thank you so much. And it was so great to catch up with you. And I'm so proud of all of your success. It's wonderful to watch. You're kicking ass and you're making, you're like blazing a trail for all of Canadian brands. So are you. Thank you for giving us a chance right from the start. Well, I think our adventures have only just begun. Obviously. I think we have some businesses to do together.

55:52Absolutely. Are you feeling it? Let's walk out, ladies. Let's do it. Let's do businesses and rule the world. Thank you. Thank you, Barb.

56:28You can even leave us a voicemail at any time with questions or feedback at 1-844-227-0302. And don't forget to subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast fix. Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts, where you can show us some love by writing a review. See you next Wednesday.

56:58Barb Stegemann:You like that cherry bomb. You like that cherry bomb. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode. I'm here on the job site with Dale, who's a framing contractor. Hey, good morning. Dale traded up to Geico Commercial Auto Insurance for all his business vehicles. We're here where he needs us most. Yep, they sure are. We make it easy for him to save on all his insurance needs, all in one place, with coverage that fits his business and bottom line.

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