How starting a perfume business was my first major step toward intentional living 

Why fragrance? 

I received the idea to create a fragrance line almost 6 years ago in 2016. I say “received” because it really did feel as though the idea came out of nowhere and popped up in my head. Scent has always appealed to me - even if I was covered head to toe in tomboyish workout gear, I made sure to spritz something on my wrists and neck. I couldn’t leave the house without it any more than I could leave without my glasses. But I suppose that out of all the new companies and brands that launch each year, it’s relatively rare to hear of an independent perfume line unless you’re already in that world. When word got out amongst friends and family that I was starting a perfume company, at least 75% of them said something akin to, “Good luck! Why perfume?”  Perfumery tends to be more of a scent curator’s hobby. Still, the answer to that question of “why perfume?” is a simple truth: I couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

Evolution of scent preferences  

I’ve worn perfume since I was a pre-teen, but up until college, I only wore what my mother owned. That meant Chanel No. 5 and Coco Mademoiselle. My scent vocabulary was limited back then, and all I knew was that No. 5 smelled “strong” - if I wore it, I had better not spray more than once lest people start coughing around me. Mademoiselle felt more “forgiving” in the sense that I didn’t fear it making my high school self stand out too much. But the extent of my perfume knowledge was driven solely by gut desires and what was available to me at home. If I did purchase a fragrance myself, it was a cloying floral body spray or EDT - i.e. fragrances that were feminine but decidedly non-controversial.  

Inspiration from other perfumers 

It wasn’t until my early 20s that I felt called to try new scent profiles. I read hundreds of perfume descriptions and purchased dozens of samples of niche and commercial fragrances, one of which was Tom Ford’s Black Orchid. One sniff of it and the first words out of my mouth were, “Oh my God.” I felt like I was being seduced. It was different from any perfume I had worn regularly up to that point. And for the next 6 months, it was all I did wear. Day, night, winter, spring, fall, and summer - Black Orchid was on me. I didn’t feel completely dressed without it. 

Black Orchid was my first foray into a fairly “controversial” scent. I remember catching an Uber one day and as soon as I stepped inside, the driver looked at me through the rearview mirror and said, “Whoo! You smell great!” His effusiveness was endearing, but after reading reviews of Black Orchid, it was interesting to see how polarizing it was. People were either absolutely captivated by it like me. Or they found it powdery, heavy, and offensive. 

Scent as an art form: evoking moods and emotions 

That experience of falling in love with a provocative scent initiated me into the world of fragrance and the power of scent to conjure moods, memories, and emotions when, initially, all I wanted was to smell “good” in the least controversial way. Expanding my palate beyond that brought with it a desire to tell stories through scent, and to spark the imagination. Exploring new scents and accords felt like opening the door to a new universe within which I could become an explorer and adventurer. 

HARA and intentional living 

My debut fragrance, HARA, came about after a gradual and subtle shift from exploration to searching. I knew the exact feeling I wanted to experience but I couldn’t find it in commercial or niche fragrances. There were plenty of perfumes that were similarly captivating as Black Orchid had been, but nothing whose olfactive profile matched the exact vision I wanted to evoke - a fresh and sensual woman striding through a field of green on a breezy day. Her essence was somewhat dreamy and light but also had the air of someone on the go. Frustrated with searching, I gave up finding a fragrance that could elicit that imagery and figured I should simply create it myself. I wrestled with the idea of launching my own line for years, talking myself out of it through sobering market forecasts and costs projections. 

But I knew I had to create my own fragrance since I couldn’t find what I was searching for via retail. As a result, HARA (and by extension, Herron as a whole), became my first major foray into “intentional living” where one consciously builds a life around their core values and desires (some also like to call it “slow living” but I prefer the specificity of the word “intentional”). While the concept may seem self-evident for most, I could have easily just abandoned the vision I wanted to evoke through my own perfume and remained a consumer of other fragrances. But I wanted that tailor-made scent. It felt pointless to get so deep into the perfume world only to give up on what I wanted because I couldn’t find a brand that fit my vision precisely. I had no choice but to start my own line if I wanted to be satisfied, and the decision to do that and be intentional with what I create has carried over into several other areas of my life. I now find myself attempting to tailor the entirety of it! 

HARA is now here; my labor of love. I will talk more about the origins of the name, its association with womanhood,  and intentional living  in future posts. At its core, HARA is devotional to the woman described above - particularly her strength and lightness of being. 

Aisha 

Herron Scents, Founder and CEO