New Fragrance Brand Ganiyu Taps Into Aromachology To Create Mood-Boosting Scents

After working in the entertainment industry for five years as an assistant to former Netflix CMO Bozoma Saint John and with artists like 6LACK and Kitty Ca$h, Nimotalai Ganiyu was on the verge of burnout. “I just turned 28, and I realized I’m not trying to stress myself out for life,” she says.

In pursuit of a fulfilling, less stressful endeavor, she decided to follow her passion and start a fragrance brand, Ganiyu, with $12,000 from her personal savings. The brand’s first scent, Onto You, was released in August. Two others are in the pipeline.

Described as a fresh citrus scent, Onto You’s notes include bergamot, ylang ylang, amber, basil and musk. The fragrance’s ingredients are natural and organic, according to Ganiyu, and it uses a plant-based alcohol base. Currently available on the brand’s website, travel minis of the scent are $10. A full-size 1.7-oz. version for $129 is available for pre-order.

With Onto You, Ganiyu sought to create a scent that wasn’t too feminine or masculine. In fragrance, gender barrier-busting fragrances are in demand. According to data in publication Women’s Wear Daily from analytics firm First & First Consulting, searches for “unisex perfume brands” and “gender-fluid perfume” have increased by 5.6x and 2.3x, respectfully, in the last year.

Ganiyu also explored aromachology, the study of the influence of scent on human feelings and behaviors, to devise a scent that’s mood-lifting. “There are all of these studies on how fragrance, cologne, diffusers, affect your mental health and emotions,” she says. “My mission statement is to modernize the way we look at fragrance and to educate people on it being a mood booster.”

For Onto You, the idea is to combat anxiety, and make people feel calm and focused “like you’re ready to attack whatever you have in front of you,” says Ganiyu. She notes citrus is a concentration booster. She aims for Ganiyu to avoid “beast-mode” scents that stay on forever or linger in a room once the perfume wearer leaves it. Referring to Onto You, she says the fragrance “isn’t really for the people around you, it’s more for the self.”

Ganiyu’s last name and her brand’s name means “wealth” and “self-sufficient” in Yoruba. Her love of perfume stems from her family. She recalls watching her mom and dad get ready for dates when she was a kid and smelling the fragrances they applied before they left.

Ganiyu is a fragrance collector, and her favorites in her collection are from the brands Hermès, Byredo, Dior and Le Labo. Ganiyu gained a new appreciation for the fragrance category while traveling with Saint John to places like Dubai and Hong Kong. “I learned that each region of the world has their own ingredient that they lean toward,” says Ganiyu. “These different experiences led me to where I am.”

Ganiyu has been relying on word of mouth to spread her business’s message. To help with that approach, she’s turned to past colleagues to post about and support the brand. “I’m strategically giving out samples to people that I know have a reach,” she says. She’s doled them out to makeup artist Lola Okalowan and her former boss Saint John as well as Briana Jones, Tylynn Burns and Rebecca Magett, stars of the HBO Max reality program “Sweet Life: Los Angeles.”

The “Sweet Life” stars are representative of Ganiyu’s target customers: Young professionals between the ages of 24 and 28. She says, “I’m really targeting people that are interested in becoming their best selves and stepping into who they already naturally are.”

Ganiyu is in the process of applying to Sephora’s Accelerate program. The beauty specialty retailer and Ulta Beauty are on her dream retailer list. Other partnerships she hopes to secure in the future are with luxury residential properties and boutique hotels.

“I want to do less perfume and more room scents long term because I know the effect of walking into a building and smelling it for the first time and how that can instantly boost your mood,” says Ganiyu. “That’s ultimately what I’m trying to do, continue to boost the moods of people around me.”