Clean Fragrance Brand Lake & Skye Acquired By Longtime Investor Tru Fragrance

Following a nearly 7-year relationship with Lake & Skye, Tru Beauty & Fragrance has acquired the clean fragrance brand. 

The incubator behind Le Monde Gourmand, Yellowstone and Wrangler fragrances, which entered private equity firm Monogram Capital Partners’ portfolio last year, where it joined  D.S. & Durga, Beach House Group and Foundry, initially partnered with Lake & Skye in 2018, three years after the brand’s launch, with a minority investment and distribution partnership that later evolved into a profit-sharing arrangement. Middle market lending firm Capital Southwest provided debt financing for Tru’s takeover of Lake & Skye. Further details of the deal weren’t disclosed. 

With the acquisition, Lake & Skye founder Courtney Somer, who served as CEO of the brand, will transition to the role of chief creative officer, and beauty industry veteran Roxann Blasz will become Lake & Skye’s president. Blasz brings more than two decades of experience within the fragrance category and previously held executive positions at L’Oréal, Coty and Oribe. Her most recent role was global SVP of Ralph Lauren Fragrances. With the capital infusion, Lake & Skye plans to make key hires in the coming year and support its national retail presence at Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom and Bluemercury. Tru expects to possibly make additional fragrance acquisitions this year. 

The acquisition of Lake & Skye comes on the heels of years of steady growth. The brand has been profitable since year one and is on track to double sales in 2025. As reported in business publication WWD, industry sources expect Lake & Skye to reach at least $25 million in retail sales this year.

Lake & Skye arrived at Ulta in 2020 and rolled out to all the specialty retailer’s doors last year. In addition to Ulta, Nordstrom and Bluemercury, the brand is available at Anthropologie, independent boutiques and its own e-commerce platform. Wholesale is responsible for over 50% of its sales. Later this year, Lake & Skye plans to expand to Europe. 

Somer cites the capital-intensive process of retail expansion as a major factor in her decision to sell Lake & Skye to Tru. “I’ve been talking to Tru for years now about what the next step is and when is the right time,” she says. “A brand comes to a point where it’s ready to take it to the next level and the next step.” 

Lake & Skye is best known for 11 11, the sheer musk and white amber scent that is its top seller. The brand has used it as a centerpiece to build a flanker strategy around. In 2023, it introduced Azure 11 11, an aquatic take on 11 11 with notes of water accord, lotus blossom and blue amber, and last year introduced 11 11 Vanilla, a vanilla twist on its signature scent and Ulta exclusive that responded to the recent popularity of vanilla fragrances. 

Somer says customers gravitate to layering the different 11 11 iterations. Fragrance layering is a big trend, and fragheads have amassed sweeping scent collections that allow them to “scent wardrobe.” Lake & Skye has also spread its 11 11 franchise into body care and home fragrance products. 

Somer’s battle with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) led her to explore holistic health and clean ingredients and eventually to the creation of Lake & Skye. The brand’s wellness roots remain central to it, and it’s leaned into them via a partnership with Inness, the resort between the Catskill Mountains and the Shawanagunks in Accord, N.Y., co-founded by Somer’s husband and hospitality entrepreneur Taavo Somer. When the property’s spa opened last year, Somer worked with spa director and Aman alum Sanali McFadden on a Lake & Skye spa treatment featuring the brand’s body care. 

Last year was a quieter year for fragrance M&A following a 2023 that saw Kering acquire Creed and Advent International acquire Parfums de Marly. Still, there were deals involving niche brands Bibbi, Vyrao, Ex Nihilo and D.S. & Durga. This year, Lake & Skye kicks off the fragrance dealmaking—and many beauty investors remain bullish on dealmaking in the category for the rest of 2025.

Judging by what’s happening at Lake & Skye, Somer isn’t surprised by the interest in fragrance. “We see not only the growth in revenue and foot traffic and sales, but also the excitement on social media,” she says. “The newfound influencers, how big the community is, how supportive the community has been to all the brands. It’s super exciting. It really has shown no signs of slowing down.”