Started by Erika Shumate and Christine Luby in 2014, Pinrose is a luxury fragrance brand based in San Francisco, CA. Their fragrance brand leverages technology to help customers customize scents that are playful, effortless, and high quality. Read on to find out more about Erika and Christine and their exciting company Pinrose:
What were some issues you noticed in the fragrance industry?
I noticed that the industry as a whole was secretive. Perfumers were not recognized and marketing materials were confusing. I also noticed that celebrity and designer-endorsed fragrances ruled the market using elitism and sex as primary marketing drivers.
Can you tell us about Pinrose and how you differentiate it from other fragrance brands?
Pinrose is a modern fragrance house with a playful spirit. We work with Master Perfumers from around the world. We showcase their talents and highlight the artists behind the scents. In addition, we try to educate our customers and are not secretive about our scents. We think transparency is important and valued.
We also communicate with her using synesthesia. Instead of forcing her to come up with words to describe what fragrances she likes (this can be very challenging), we use colors, shapes, and sounds to help her find scents she might like. We developed an easy and playful quiz she can take – the results give her 3 fragrances to try so she knows where to start.
Finally, we do not believe in the idea of a signature scent. We think women should change up their scents and have fun with fragrance! Biologically and scientifically, there’s no such thing as a signature scent – so women shouldn’t stress out about it. One way we allow her to experiment with her scents is through our product called “Custom Petal Packs.” Petal packs are single-use perfume wipes. They are perfect for the gym, a night out, or travel. She can create her own pack of these wipes – we see customers choosing 3-4 fragrances to put in each of her packs.
Customers take a quiz on your website. Can you tell us a bit more about how that works and what types of questions customers are asked?
Yes – the quiz is based on the science of synesthesia – a neurological condition where sensory preferences are interconnected. For example, many musicians think that the middle C on the piano sounds like royal blue. Our quiz asks color, shape, and texture questions. We use the data we’ve collected on synesthesia to create this quiz. It helps us understand her latent sensory preferences and gives us a starting point in helping her find a fragrance.
Can you comment on current trends that you notice when it comes to fragrances and perfumes?
Customers are enjoying smaller form factors – mini bottles, travel sprays, small solids, etc…. I think this is because the customer wants to experiment and play and not commit to a full-size bottle.
Congratulations on signing a recent partnership with Nordstrom and now even Sephora. What are future plans of Pinrose?
We are currently in 211 Sephora stores. We will be launching in all doors in February! We’ve loved our partnership with Sephora and are excited to continue to expand with them. We have some cool products coming out in Sephora in the Spring – so keep an eye out around festival season 🙂
