This is the story a few precocious minor girl named Masha. She grew up in the dilapidated industrial city known as Berezniki, appropriate close to an infamous prison that housed many of the most harmful criminals in Russia. Her father, a biology professor, had been stationed by the government in the local University. Growing up in Berezniki was difficult. Because the prisoners had been launched, they had nowhere to go and no money to support them selves. Masha would generally return household from university to seek out her condominium burgled and stripped bare, and we aren’t just talking electronics or jewellery–every little thing down to the pots and pans, the food stuff from the refrigerator, even the cutlery would have vanished during the day.

Even though her dad and mom struggled to offer a normal residence existence, Masha encountered problems at school much too. Her schoolmates teased her for her darkish Tartar complexion and there have been occasions she felt isolated. But, the resilient Masha uncovered solace in all points attractiveness from lotion to lipstick to perfume. Her pretty initially introduction came from her grandmother who wore the ubiquitous Soviet fragrance Purple Moscow, which is generously called “pleasantly significant” around the #one perfume evaluation internet site, Fragrantica.

Pink Moscow was Alright, but Masha wished to encounter distinctive scents. The good news is, she experienced a cosmopolitan Aunt Sveta, whose elegance and affect permitted her to sometimes vacation towards the West. To Masha’s delight, Sveta would sneak back again probably the most intoxicating perfumes straight through the lavish boutiques of Paris’s sixth arrondissement. Masha was enthralled via the sumptuous bottles that came in every single shade of your rainbow embellished with silver and gold flecks, ribbons and chains. She inhaled the frosty jasmine of Chanel No.five, the fanciful florals of Pleasure Jean Patou, the mysterious amber notes of Shalimar by Guerlain. Masking herself in these luxurious fragrances, she would float far from her bleak environment. Scents could completely transform the person she was, the way that she felt about herself–promptly elevating her assurance and sense of self-well worth. It had been at this younger age that she understood the power of perfume.

Quick-forward fifteen years; little Masha has become the statuesque Mariya Nurislamova, founder and CEO of the YC-backed startup, Scentbird. Frequently referred to as the “Netflix for Perfume,” Scentbird is using engineering to create smarter tips to clientele and sell perfume at scale. But that’s not all; the business is simultaneously developing a beloved elegance brand name, which is arguably even more difficult to complete.

Listed here’s How It Works: A shopper symptoms up and completes an interactive quiz that helps the Scentbird algorithm to identify purchaser Choices. Does she like citrus or woody? Spicy or flowery? Aquatic or fruity? Based upon the quiz responses, Scentbird will make perfume suggestions. The customer then selects the very best possibilities and destinations them in a very regular monthly queue. For $fourteen.95, Scentbird sends per month’s supply of your Each and every perfume inside of a adorable and effortless purse-bottle. For September, you may get Flower by Kenzo. For Oct, Some thing Blue by Oscar de la Renta etc.

Rather than heading to the nearest Office shop wherever attendants spray 50 scents on to a stick until eventually you are able to’t distinguish just one from another, it is possible to evaluate Scentbird recommendations in the comfort and ease within your sofa. You Scentbird CEO may take a chance on anything new simply because you are expending $fifteen for per month’s source rather than $120 for a whole bottle. This new getting approach allows buyers to test a variety of scents inside of a yr, experimenting with fragrance for working day or night time, business enterprise or satisfaction, 7 days or weekend.

Scentbird is hitting a chord with natural beauty insiders and addicts alike. Over the past couple of months, around 600 Youtube influencers promoted Scentbird to their forty million+ subscribers. Unsurprisingly, Scentbird is slashing by means of projections, developing 40 p.c thirty day period about month. The corporation is propelled by its adoring end users, a number of whom are so smitten with the manufacturer that they're painting the Scentbird logos on their own fingernails or “tricking-out” the purse-bottles with personalized gemstone creations.


Although read more the typical reader may be skeptical with regards to the sizing of the fragrance current market, it is actually 3x that with the razor sector–that has developed businesses like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s. Put together, Individuals two providers have raised Practically 50 % a billion dollars at valuations totaling more than $1.3 billion. By capturing even a sliver of the large fragrance sector, Scentbird could simply be the following YC behemoth. The success on the Females’s facet has encouraged them to expand into Adult males’s fragrance too. And when even a percentage of Guys have on as much cologne as being the gentleman sitting down beside me about the bullet back within the Hamptons this morning, they have plenty of home to grow.