BEAUTY THERAPY: A FRAGRANCE FIRST
I’m not a mother, so I can’t claim maternal rights and insights when it comes to the thoughts in this column. But as an aunt six times over, with three nieces, I worry about the pressures on young girls – in particular, how much they see around them that’s grounded in the idea that sex sells. Even in the beauty world. Actually, especially in the beauty world. So when the Scent Republik Scent Stik samples on each other’s arms with them. It also means that landed on my desk, I was intrigued. I was even more they can’t spritz scent all around the house and give interested when I learned the brand was founded by everyone else a stonking headache in the process. two fathers, Kevinn Hirsch and Alex Theodorou, with Unlike typical tween fragrances, these aren’t three daughters between them, aged from eight to 11. bubblegum or strawberry whiffs. They are The pair ‘got fed up with this constant beauty understated and sophisticated. The duo hired standard where everything is over-sexualised’ and a well-known perfumier, or nose, who has created decided to do something about it. They wanted six simple, pretty scents that can be worn on their options for their daughters – and for other people’s. own or layered. ‘Each one is based on emotions, so
‘There was a gap in the market they are mood-related fragrances,’ between the stage where children says Hirsch. ‘In a way what we’re love a Disney fragrance and doing is enabling children to moving up to a Nicki Minaj or acknowledge and deal with their own whatever,’ Hirsch tells me. And emotions through a scent. We want it quite a few of those popstrel to be inclusive.’ So fragrances have offerings not only veer towards names such as BFF, a blend of rose, raunchy but, says Hirsch, ‘they’re freesia and magnolia; Fab, which is borderline trashy’. What the pair vanilla, mandarin and praline, or have created to fill this gap is good Chill, a mix of apple blossom quality, not just cheap tat because the manufacturer and sweet citrus. Each Stik costs €5.95 (from thought its target customer wouldn’t know any better. superdrug.com) and although the 3.5ml size It helps that these dads have a background in sounds small, each one has 1,000 applications branding, but I like this stuff so much that I want to of eau de parfum. dedicate this week’s column to it. The Scent Republik Scent Stiks are easy to
Scent Stiks are almost like mini felt-tip markers carry around, fun, cruelty-free and about getting and children apply the fragrance by drawing it in some female empowerment early. In an era of invisibly on to their skin. Theodorou’s daughter and #MeToo, it’s pretty Fab to see daddies doing it – her friends even play fragrant noughts and crosses and changing it – for their girls.
WE GOT FED UP WITH THIS OVERSEXUALISED BEAUTY STANDARD”