Since childhood, Claire Yellowlees harboured a passion for business and product innovation. The 2021 pandemic lockdown marked a pivotal moment, steering her towards her own entrepreneurial journey. A serendipitous encounter with an old fragrance bottle, evoking vivid memories of Ibiza, underscored the potent influence of scent, sparking the genesis of Noun Collection, which launched late last year. Retail Beauty delves deeper into her story.

HOW DID REDISCOVERING AN IBIZA FRAGRANCE OIL INSPIRE THE CREATION OF NOUN COLLECTION?

Initially I thought I would simply buy this oil in bulk from the lady who I thought made it in Ibiza. The packaging was cute, but not the best – a handwritten blue biro label was stuck on using sticky tape. I intended to rebrand the fragrance for the Australian market, but learned the Ibiza shop owner also wasn’t the creator, having sourced it from a woman in Puskar, India, with whom she lost contact. This prompted me to collaborate with expert perfumers to replicate the scent. Inspired by this oil and driven by my love for clean beauty, words, and modern aesthetics, I founded Noun Collection.

HOW DOES NOUN COLLECTION SET ITSELF APART IN THE LUXURY FRAGRANCE MARKET, ESPECIALLY WITH THE FOCUS ON CLEAN BEAUTY?

Despite facing scepticism from friends, I entered the highly competitive luxury fragrance market, dominated by giants like Estée Lauder with substantial marketing resources. Despite the challenge, I saw an opportunity for Noun Collection to fill a significant niche: offering high-end, clean fragrances. The market mostly had either purely natural scents lacking the sophistication of fine French perfumes or big-brand fragrances using potentially harmful ingredients. My aim with Noun Collection was to merge the best of both – creating luxurious, health-conscious fragrances combining natural and safe synthetic elements.

COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THE ‘SKIN SCENTSIBLE’ POLICY AND THE SPECIFIC STEPS TAKEN TO ENSURE NON-TOXIC INGREDIENTS IN YOUR FRAGRANCES?

Right from the start in 2021, I committed to making Noun Collection a clean brand, reflecting my personal use of aluminium-free deodorants and other clean beauty products. Diving into research on common fragrance ingredients, I was surprised to find many still contained harmful elements, deemed safe in certain amounts by the IFRA (International Fragrance Association). However, I questioned this, considering the cumulative layering effect of these ingredients when used across multiple products. Believing in avoiding any potentially toxic elements, I established our ‘skin scentsible’ policy, ensuring that Noun Collection remains true to a philosophy of clean and safe ingredients.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE CHALLENGES WITH STARTING A NEW FRAGRANCE BRAND?

Creating the noun collection posed significant challenges, particularly in meeting suppliers’ minimum order quantities (MOQs) for packaging and product components. A notable obstacle was designing a stone lid – an idea that took extensive research and discussions with manufacturers. The high MOQs emposed by companies capable of creating it were daunting for a startup like mine. Despite suggestions to opt for a wooden lid and after a persistent six-month search, my determination to realise the envisioned stone lid finally paid off. And it was so worth it! Patience is a virtue as they say.

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE DECISION TO CREATE A GENDER-NEUTRAL AND INCLUSIVE FRAGRANCE COLLECTION?

It was a bit of a no brainer for me to be honest. In a way it wasn’t really much of a considered decision. It’s just how I see fragrance. I don’t think it needs to be labelled with a gender. You either like and connect with a scent, or you don’t. One of the things I’ve enjoyed most since launching is seeing what gender buys or favours which scent. That in itself has been so interesting, with surprising results. Even out of our three scents the ones I thought lent toward being more of a traditionally masculine scent have been most popular with women.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT THE SCENTS RESONATE UNIVERSALLY, CONSIDERING DIVERSE PREFERENCES?

You can’t please everyone unfortunately. So, the scents are a creation of ultimately what I like and hope others would too. For example, I love that forest, mossy ground rain smell, so I knew I wanted to have one that captured this scent and feeling – Azimuth. But when designing the three, I kept in mind a few different profiles, woody, floral, fruity and sweet, so that hopefully out of the three, a consumer would connect with one of them.

CAN YOU PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF HOW SPECIFIC WORDS ARE TRANSLATED INTO SCENTS WITHIN NOUN COLLECTION?

Syzygy in short means celestial alignment. The galaxy and outer space is a mysterious place. The scent of Syzygy aims to capture that mysterious allurement and magic. It has some really interesting layers that magically reveal themselves later on. It starts out quite sweet with the raspberry and bergamot, but as it sits on the skin it dries down revealing the oud and a much more spicy woody profile. NASA also conducted some research into what outer space smells like, and the research came back with a raspberry like scent. So, the word Syzygy felt completely fitting for this scent.

BEING AUSTRALIAN-MADE AND HAND-FILLED, CAN YOU SHARE INSIGHTS INTO THE PRODUCTION PROCESS OF YOUR EAU DE PARFUMS?

The creation process begins with crafting the fragrance oils, a collaboration with three professional perfumers. Over a year, we developed around 60 scent iterations, eventually narrowing down to the final three signature fragrances. These selected oils are blended in large vats by a professional Australian company, then transferred to smaller vats from which I hand-fill the bottles at home. As the brand grows, I aim to expand operations into a small warehouse space.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE OF NOUN COLLECTION?

I’m already envisioning new scents for future release. Additionally, from the brand’s inception, I’ve been keen on creating a clean deodorant, a project that’s underway with a planned launch by year-end. My aspirations extend to hand washes, creams, and candles. Ultimately, I dream of opening a unique store, blending the elements of a library, French café, and scent laboratory – a dream I’m dedicated to making a reality.

CAN YOU SUM UP THE ESSENCE OF NOUN COLLECTION IN A FEW WORDS FOR OUR READERS?

A boutique Australian brand, creating clean, contemporary fine-fragrances. Gender-neutral and thought provoking, offering a unique sensorial experience of the English language.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

I now have an even higher level of appreciation and respect for anyone else who has started a business of their own. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but building a business and brand from scratch is hard. Especially as a startup with limited resources and ‘womenpower’. I say ‘womenpower’ because it’s just me running the business at the moment. I feel I’ve taken multitasking to a new level. But I hope that I inspire other people to be brave and follow their dreams because it’s a great adventure! It’s too early to say if I’m going to be successful, but I sure am learning a lot and enjoying the journey. So let’s watch this space.

This article was first published in the Autumn issue of Retail Beauty.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *