Start the week with a startup: The Perfume Movement

The "AI-powered luxury fragrance retail brand” creates fragrances that are unique to every customer (Image: Getty) Every fortnight, we talk to a game-changer startup business about why it exists and how it plans to transform the beauty and personal care industry.

This week we spoke to CEO and founder Paul Houlsby about his pioneering business The Perfume Movement, which produces fragrances that are unique to every customer.

Here Houlsby explains more about what he called “the world’s first AI-powered luxury fragrance retail brand.”

How The Perfume Movement is disrupting the beauty industry…​

It was particularly important to me to position this new venture as a ‘movement’ as it’s really an intention, a mission: a belief system. To me, every consumer is totally unique, and yet we all buy and wear the same perfumes. The Perfume Movement is about changing that.

Leveraging advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyse vast databases of scent profiles and user preferences, we gather extensive data on individual scent preferences, including preferred notes, intensity levels, and fragrance families.

We then use AI algorithms to classify the collected data and generate personalised scent profiles for every customer. These profiles outline the individual’s preferred notes (ingredients) and combination of ingredients (accords) eg musk, spice, amber, leather etc and the sub families eg amber floral, and any specific olfactory preferences or aversions. The accords are organised into the three perfumery layers top notes, middle notes, base notes all three being needed to create a harmonious composition.

Once a customer has completed the diagnostic questions, the AI system will recommend three perfume creations, a safe one (based on statistically proven data and respondent responses), a medium one within your taste guidelines but more unusual and a third one totally daring; a ‘wild card’ proposal.

The robotics driven machine will manufacture these perfumes in real time and they are delivered to an expert evaluator (perfumery school trained) who will greet the customer in a private ‘cabin’ and undertake a full profiling exercise and explanation of each of the three perfume profiles. The reveal involves testing of the accords through to understanding the construction of each perfume, digital art and poetry will be used to animate the reveal through sound, visuals and scent.

While our movement appeals to anyone who is looking for a totally unique luxury signature perfume we stand for inclusiveness. For sure we’re a luxury brand, but luxury may be intimidating to some because it can be cold and aloof. We are quite the opposite; we are warm and inviting. To me, ‘luxury’ simply means providing a top-quality product and a great experience in-store. We know that customers express luxury in different ways, so we’re not here to police what that might look like. Think of it as the stamp of quality for our products – because all our customers deserve to have an amazing experience.

How we started out…​

Having been passionate about the arts from a young age, I studied at a French Business school where I fell in love with French culture and its renowned perfumery. I undertook my first role at Estee Lauder, this was followed by a five-year stint at Chanel, and subsequent work with The Body Shop, Maesa and more household names.

With over 30 years’ experience now in the industry, I’ve long been familiar with the importance of environmental and social impact, particularly in the beauty industry. My most recent role as the CEO of a Saudi perfume brand opened my eyes to the power of personally curated perfumes. We know that consumers today generally value personalised experiences, but I particularly noticed this across the GCC perfume region, where the desire to wear unique fragrances is huge.

Given that there are eight billion people on the planet, and only 100,000 different fragrances between us all, it became clear to me that there was room for more. The Perfume Movement have struck a partnership with Fragrance House and innovator Firmenich who have been offering algorithmic perfumery B2B for many years making them the perfect partner with whom to co-create The Perfume Movement to take this into the consumer space.

The challenges we’ve faced so far…​

Finding the right investment partners has been challenging. Ideally, we want venture capitalists (VCs) who share our spirit of innovation and passion for sustainable practices, but this is often not the case. Personally, I would think that the real excitement for VCs lies in being involved from the outset and witnessing firsthand the technological advancements that drive a business’s financial success. However, it seems to me that many VCs have very narrow perspectives, preferring to invest once the “tower” is already built.

While VCs naturally focus on financial returns, another sad reality is that too many appear to prioritise profit over sustainable practices. Take eco-friendly packaging, for example. Most eco-friendly packaging options are typically 20 – 30 percent more expensive than non-sustainable options, but given sustainability is a key pillar of our business, it’s disheartening to frequently encounter reluctance in choosing better materials over the cheaper alternatives.

And so really the big challenge here is finding investors who organically align with our company values and share our vision of a fragrance that combines sustainable practices, luxury and ethics. That’s our mission for the next 12 months.​

Where are we heading next…​

Our primary goal is to make physical olfactory experiences more accessible worldwide, by offering consumers the ability to capture the essence of their being through their own uniquely blended fragrance. This really encapsulates our company’s mission: to spark a social movement by offering the experience of creating one’s own olfactory identity.

We’re also determined to establish ourselves as a luxury brand that genuinely upholds its commitment to sustainability and ethics. From the packaging of our perfumes to the ingredients blended to create the perfumes inside, it’s important to us that ethics and eco-friendly practices remain at the forefront of everything we do. I’m a big believer that luxury and sustainability can go hand in hand. Customers should never have to choose between great products, personalised experiences and ethical choices. They can have all three!

Considering potential regulatory challenges…​

While safety regulations for fragrance ingredients are well-established, there are virtually no procedures in place for regulating bespoke perfumery combinations.  With billions of fragrance options available through various accords, ensuring each formulation is safety assessed quickly becomes a huge regulatory undertaking.

Fortunately, we’ve partnered with world-leader Firmenich, who offer an ‘EcoCompass tool’ which provides detailed information about each ingredient, including its ecological and ethical sourcing. By using this tool, we’re able to obtain comprehensive data for every ingredient. This information is used by our data scientists and regulatory partners to assess risks in combinations and ensure all possible combinations are safe and compliant with IFRA.

Fragrance trends of the future…​

One notable and somewhat ironic emerging trend is the growing popularity of luxury niche perfumes. With consumers increasingly desiring unique and complex scents, coupled with the relative affordability of luxury niche fragrances, this sector is experiencing significant growth.

Not only are consumers demanding more surprising and rare scents with newer ingredients from traceable, sustainable sourcing, they’re also calling for perfumes that are higher impact and longer lasting – factors that both hinge on the quality of the ingredients.

As a result, we’re witnessing a rise in the quality of olfactory experiences on offer to consumers today, along with more “exclusive” ranges from mainstream designer brands to meet the demand for more unique fragrances. What’s more, this trend underscores the market need for AI customised fragrances which will allow consumers to take their olfactory identity into their own hands.

Another key trend is the growing appreciation for the art of perfumery itself. While everyone knows brands like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, considerably fewer will be familiar with the name Hamid Merati-Kashani – the perfumer or “nose” behind these favourite fragrances. But that’s beginning to change and perfumers ‘the noses’ are starting to get the recognition they deserve. We are proud to be collaborating with Hamid on The Perfume Movement.

After all, it’s a well-known fact in the industry that there are more astronauts than noses which speaks volumes to the rarity and specialised nature of the skill. This trend is particularly encouraging as it reaffirms the status and value of perfumers in an increasingly AI-driven world.