How Culture Is Shaping the Future of Fragrance with Funmi Monet
Skin Anarchy · Nov 13, 2026 · 49:05
Skin Anarchy · Nov 13, 2026 · 49:05
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Fragrance creator and Influxious founder Funmi Monet joins Skin Anarchy for a Fragrance Friday on scent as storytelling: how retail taught her to match people to fragrance, why she reimagined the skin scent, how social media reshaped perfume, and the funding gap Black founders still face.
How did Funmi Monet become a fragrance creator?
Through a therapist's advice and a job at the fragrance counter. Eight years ago, while studying to be a therapist in grad school, Monet began sharing the fragrances she loved online. "You should find something that gives you joy and find people that also enjoy the same things you do," she recalls being told, and her perfume collection became her most loved content.
How do you find a fragrance that fits you?
By being matched, not overwhelmed, Monet says. She used active listening from her counseling training to pair customers to scents based on personality, memories, and lifestyle rather than pushing a sale. "I was able to kind of almost be a matchmaker of sorts," translating that into online guidance so you can skip sniffing 500 bottles.
Can fragrance actually help with anxiety?
Yes, through scent, memory, and comfort, Monet says. She used calming scents to ease clients in unfamiliar settings and saw her platform grow in COVID as people scented their homes. "Certain types of scents in the environment can make people feel more relaxed," she says, framing the fragrance you wear as an extension of that.
Why did she reimagine the skin scent?
Because most skin scents center one kind of skin, Monet says. She compares it to "nude" band aids that assume one tone, and asked where the shea butter and cocoa butter scents were. "When I thought about what skin meant to me... clean skin is well moisturized skin," she says, which became her fragrance Well Loved.
How has social media changed the fragrance industry?
It opened space for storytelling and new voices, Monet says. Designer brands once leaned on heritage and celebrity faces, but now people want the inspiration behind a scent and build fragrance wardrobes. "I think it's democratizing fragrance," she says, pointing to the rise of Middle Eastern and founder led brands.
Why do so many fragrance notes trace back to other cultures?
Because the industry often decenters where its raw ingredients come from, Monet says. Many French houses farm ingredients across Africa, then wrap them in marketing that erases those origins. "They're translating it into these marketing stories that decenter the places where they're taking it from," she says, which drove her to center her Nigerian American heritage.
What is the story behind her bestselling fragrance?
Gold Standard was built on contrast and confidence, Monet says. A late addition inspired by perfume school, it pairs blood orange, ginger, and an expensive saffron heart with a caramel, rum, and vanilla dry down. "It's almost like you get two fragrances in one," she says, and it became the collection's bestseller.
Is fragrance really genderless?
Monet believes so, and her sales show it. Though her audience skews female, men sought out Gold Standard and High Life from the first week, often sent by friends. "I believe fragrance is genderless," she says, noting people gravitate to scent profiles that make them feel confident, however a brand is marketed.
What funding gap do Black fragrance founders face?
A severe one, Monet says. Despite her audience, retail backing, and a prior bestselling collaboration, she still heard "we need to see more after you launch," then did a million dollars in her first month self funded. "There are brands I know that had VC funding that didn't even do a million dollars in the first year," she says.
Listen to the full episode with Funmi Monet of Influxious on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Don’t forget to subscribe to Skin Anarchy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform.
Reach out to us through email with any questions.
Shop all our episodes and products mentioned through our ShopMy Shelf!
