Known as one of PerfumeTok’s leading voices, Funmi Monet has one of the most trusted noses in the market, so it’s no surprise that her debut fragrance collection, Influxious, sold out in record time.
Before announcing the brand two years ago, the licensed therapist understood that creating a fragrance was about more than blending notes. It was about bottling a story.
From Perfume Lover to Fragrance Expert
Monet’s love of perfume began as a young girl, with memories of hugging her mother and smelling the fragrance she wore that day. It wasn’t until she worked as a sales associate at Dillard’s during grad school, however, that she realized just how personal fragrance could be.
“It went from something I enjoy wearing to understanding notes and storytelling,” Monet told The Black Wall Street Times in a recent interview.
She continued. “Something amazing for me was connecting with people when they would come to the counter looking for a new fragrance and getting to know people’s personalities, their lifestyle, things that they like and their style.”
Her background as a therapist only deepened that connection. Monet saw fragrance as another way to understand people and connect with them beyond trends and flashy brands.
That approach followed her when she stepped in front of the camera as a content creator.
Monet never set out to be a typical influencer pushing products. “I wanted to create a group of people who are fragrance thinkers and not just fragrance buyers,” she said.
Her content focused on the specific needs and preferences of her audience, from healthcare workers looking for scents soft enough for fragrance-restricted floors to creative professionals searching for something bolder. That focus helped her build trust across a wide range of budgets and grow her social media following to nearly one million people across platforms.
“Whether you’re recommending a product that costs $50 or $500, your audience should be able to trust that you say ‘this is good’, it’s good.”
Building Influxious
Influxious’s road to Sephora began with the retailer’s Accelerate program, which Monet entered in 2024 after spending two and a half years in the Sephora Squad, first as a creator and later as a mentor.
When Sephora asked whether she had ever considered becoming a founder herself, Monet didn’t have a finished product. She had an idea and a deadline.
She and her team spent six weeks creating a pitch deck and video submission before Sephora signed on. What followed was two years of development before the brand hit shelves, all without venture capital backing.
“Being a founder was never on my radar, but I’ve always been someone who feels like when you receive a message from the universe, it’s not on me to say I’m not ready for it because sometimes a message can be a seed,” she said. “I thought, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?….. I knew that if this idea was planted, it was planted for a reason.”
During the brand’s development, Monet also attended a program at ISIPCA, a French fragrance, cosmetics and flavors school in Versailles, where she received a certificate as a perfumery expert.
Although her French was limited, she remained committed to learning as much as possible.
“For me, it was ultimately about creating something that was very much in the middle,” Monet said of the brand.
She added. “I knew I wanted to create something more luxurious, but I also knew that I didn’t want it to be unattainable. It’s going into Sephora, so I did want to produce a fragrance that feels more prestigious. At the same time, I didn’t want it to feel unapproachable to people just walking in.”
Luxury With Intention
Monet was intentional about making every detail of Influxious feel luxurious, from the weight of the glass bottle to the bold gold script and, especially, the name she created nearly two decades ago.
Influxious is a mashup of “influx” and “luxurious,” a phrase Monet coined for a high school project before eventually using it to name her brand. She wanted a name that could stand on its own, the way Byredo or Diptyque does, without needing “perfumes by” attached.
“It felt luxurious even in my mouth,” she said.
Another priority was creating a brand around an audience Monet felt the fragrance industry had not fully considered.
“Black women, we love to smell good. We take our hygiene so seriously,” she said, describing the ritual of butters, scrubs and self-care that she considers a source of pride in the Black women’s experience.
She has also watched the industry default to Eurocentric standards, particularly when it comes to what a “skin scent” is supposed to smell like.
Four Fragrances, Four Stories
Well Loved is Monet’s ode to the skin scent and speaks to the cultural layers woven throughout Influxious. Instead of the “fantasy shea” that brands often default to, she built the fragrance around raw shea butter, inspired by the scents of her childhood.
“It reminds me of my mother rubbing it all over my skin before school. The scent’s floral and vanilla notes are signature toppers that give wearers a “nurtured and cared for feeling.”
Magic Hour is her vacation in a bottle. Inspired by the sexy baecation energy of Beyoncé’s “Drunk In Love,” the fragrance blends juicy watermelon, dragon fruit, florals, coconut milk, salt and unexpected chili notes.
“That feeling of walking on the beach during that time between when the sun is setting and it’s almost nighttime, and anything happens. It’s unlimited possibilities.”
High Life captures the energy of a celebration, drawing from Detty December and the highlife genre’s fusion of Afrobeats, jazz and funk. Monet also drew inspiration from Zobo, a Nigerian hibiscus drink flavored with raspberry and ginger, then layered it with incense and lush Turkish rose.
“I thought about music. Growing up, I listened to a lot of Fella Kutzie, and for me, the name High Life pays homage to Fela because his category of music is called High Life.”
Gold Standard is what Monet calls “confidence in a bottle,” an “It Girl” fragrance for those who know exactly who they are.
“It’s for the person who knows who they are, and when they walk into a room, they are not looking to follow a trend or looking for validation from anyone because they know they are the gold standard. Inspired by gold’s ability to be strong yet soft and pliable when heated, Monet says the fragrance empowers people to move through the world with strength while holding on to their softness.
Putting Africa at the Center
Monet’s focus on representation extends beyond the finished bottle to the origins of the raw materials themselves.
Ingredients such as jasmine, orange blossom, frankincense and multiple varieties of vanilla are frequently sourced from Africa, yet the continent is rarely acknowledged as part of a fragrance’s identity.
“They’re taken from the continent, but they’re never made the hero of the product,” she said. “I wanted to take that back for Influxious. I wanted to highlight the beauty of the continent through the raw materials, and make that the most important part of the fragrance.”
Influxious is available at Influxious.co and Sephora.com.
