Biology Functional Fragrances Is Redefining Natural Fragrances With Bold Modern Branding

At the height of the pandemic, Steve Sun had a bit of an existential crisis. He remembers, “I was thinking, ‘What do I want to do with my life? What legacy do I want to leave behind?’ It got me reengaging with my heritage and history being Chinese.”

Sun’s exploration of his Chinese heritage sent him diving into the everyday practices of his family before moving to the United States, which he did at 3 years old from the Taiwanese port city Kaohsiung, including wielding natural fragrances to ward off mites. At the same time, he was dreaming of an outlet for inspiration beyond his corporate day job. He’s worked for Paramount, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney as a designer.

Sun’s combined interests led him to studying at The Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles, and his passion for blending fragrances from essential oils was ignited. “What I started learning about essential oils is that all of them have functions,” he says. “That’s always been present, but it’s never the first thing that’s been marketed, and it’s something I really wanted to bring to the surface.”

Sun is bringing the benefits of essentials oils to the surface at Biology Functional Fragrances, a small-batch brand that combines natural ingredients with influences from Sun’s Chinese background and a vibrant aesthetic vision that diverges from the standard black-and-white sans serif-heavy fragrance lines popular of late. Launched last year, the brand has been picked up by cool and curated retailers like Mojave Flea Trading Post, MOCA Store, Happier Grocery, Seed People’s Market and Urban Outfitters, where it’s just landed online.

“The way that Starbucks and Uniqlo were able to take something that was already established, but marketed it in a different way is something I want to do,” says Sun. “Natural fragrances have never been marketed to a diverse customer base. That’s why my marketing is super modern, super trend-driven. I want to make it have more spirit and color.”

Biology’s content is infused with humor and saturated imagery. There are twists on 1990s-era informercials and David Attenborough documentaries. The brand’s forthcoming fragrance slated for release later this month is its most modern to date. Called Fragrance 1.AI Elysian, its name, scent profile and packaging were all generated by artificial intelligence. Sun describes the fragrance as having a fruit-forward warm scent. It contains apricot and sandalwood notes.

“Natural fragrances have never been marketed to a diverse customer base.”

“As a designer, if I was afraid of AI, I would be out of a job. I think we need to capitalize on AI and use it to our advantage,” says Sun. “As a small business, it’s been helpful. It’s been amazing to create marketing collateral and email blasts. I leverage it to its full capacity.”

Currently, Biology’s assortment spans six original rollerball fragrance oils priced at $32 each for 10-ml. sizes—Fragrance 1: Joy, Fragrance 2: Calm, Fragrance 3: Mystery, Fragrance 4: Immunity, Fragrance 5: Otherworldly and Fragrance 6: Tune Out—and subsequent add-ons of the rollerball fragrance oil Fragrance 7: Balance, a 50-ml. eau de parfum version of Fragrance 1: Joy priced at $88 and three $30 incense varieties. There’s also a $16 bestseller sample set and a $16 customizable sample set with six 1-ml. trial sizes.

Biology’s bestselling Fragrance 1: Joy is an ode to Taiwanese actress and singer Teresa Teng’s song “Tuberose,” a constant in Sun’s house growing up. It features uplifting jasmine, aphrodisiac tuberose, and stress-relieving bergamot and sandalwood. Fragrance 2: Calm reimagines Tiger Balm, the medicinal pain antidote Sun’s mother applied to combat chronic headaches. It has peppermint for headaches, lavender and ylang ylang for relaxation, and calendula for regeneration.

Fragrance 3: Mystery was motivated by Wong Kar-Wai’s sultry “In the Mood for Love” to be an enigmatic mix of citrus neroli, sweet vanilla and sensual tuberose. Another bestseller, Fragrance 4: Immunity honors Chinese cuisine. It has Sichuan peppercorn for immunity boosting, myrrh for inflammation busting, ginger for detoxifying, and bergamot and neroli for soothing.

Natural fragrances are a small portion of the overall fragrance market. According to the firm Expert Market Research, the global natural fragrance market is valued at $3.58 billion and forecast to accelerate at a compounded rate of 9.8% to hit $8.28 billion by 2032. The firm Fortune Business Insights valued the global fragrance market generally at $48.05 billion last year and projects it will advance at a compounded rate of 5.36% to hit $69.25 billion in 2030.

To the extent people use essential oils, their usage is often connected to aromatherapy companies selling them for therapeutic reasons. Fortune Business Insights valued the global essential oils market at $11.41 billion last year and projects it will progress at a compounded rate of 10.55% to reach $27.82 billion by 2032. For customers accustomed to synthetic perfumes or aromatherapy, natural fragrances can be an adjustment—and Biology is open about addressing that adjustment.

“This whole project is therapy for me.”

Sun advises customers to reapply Biology’s fragrances throughout the day. The 10-ml. sizes of its rollerballs are intentionally compliant with Transportation Security Administration rules for liquids in airplane carry-ons. “I carry three with me because my fragrances are meant to be layered,” he says. “Everyone complains natural fragrances don’t last as long, and they are not as strong or don’t permeate the room as much as synthetic fragrances, and I tackle that head on. That’s why you put the 10 ml. rollerballs in your purse or pocket.  You treat them like ChapStick. Your Chapstick, lipstick or lip gloss doesn’t last all day. Why is your fragrance lasting all day?”

Brick-and-mortar retail has been central to Sun’s approach to Biology. Out of the gate, a main goal of his was placing the brand at Mojave Flea Trading Post, a favorite store of Sun’s in Palm Springs, one of his favorite regular destinations. He priced Biology’s products to suit the store’s merchandise, and owner James Anthony Morelos brought it in on the spot when Sun walked into Mojave Flea Trading Post to pitch it to him, a major moment of validation for Sun.

“After that, I was like OK, this is a viable business, there are people that are going to buy my fragrance,” says Sun. “I think it may be a cultural thing, but my parents have been so hard on me. When I first shared my designs with my dad, he said, ‘It looks so ugly,’ and we got in a fight. I never had this belief in myself, and it took me so long to have the strength to come up with this concept and build it.”

He continues, “This whole project is therapy for me. The launch strategy was about treating myself and my mental health first, and doing something that was a love story to myself, putting it out there and seeing what happens.”

What Sun expects to happen this year is for Biology’s sales at retail to clock in at $50,000 to $60,000. From there, he anticipates growth, but careful growth. The brand cost him $10,000 to develop, and he’s spending about $2,000 a month on its Meta and Google advertising to gain traction digitally.

The digital efforts will be bolstered by Biology’s physical presence. Sun is certain stores are critical to acclimating consumers unfamiliar with natural fragrances and introducing them to Biology’s fragrant wares. He aims for the brand to be in trendsetting stores in key U.S. cities it’s currently not in and eventually spread abroad to English-speaking countries worldwide as well as South Korea and China.

“Having legitimacy of these brick-and-mortar stores and a big national retailer, it gives the consumer confidence that it’s quality and smells fantastic,” says Sun. “Yes, I’m pushing advertising and social spend, but I believe in the power of brick-and-mortar and the experience of a consumer going into a store and testing it.”