Moodeaux Blends Scent, Skincare, and Self-Care

Editor’s Note: On May 24, 2022, Moodeaux became the first Black-owned fragrance brand to launch at Credo Beauty.

Though Black consumers spend millions on women’s fragrances each year (roughly $151 million in 2017, according to Nielsen), we have had a meager presence in the space as founders. But, this is beginning to change. And Brianna Arps is ready to diversify the industry via her clean, luxury fragrance label Moodeaux and bring other Black-owned fragrance brands to the forefront with her.

There’s nothing average about Moodeaux’s approach to fragrance, from the brand’s toxin-free formulation philosophy to its overall mission to promote self-care. This positioning instantly sets it apart from its traditional counterparts. But to fully understand Moodeaux’s ethos, you have to understand Arps’ state of mind in 2018. At the time, she was coming to terms with being laid off from her editorial position. The trying experience took a toll on her emotionally, but it also encouraged her to take inventory of her passions.

“I took a moment to figure out something I could do for myself to get my mind off of trying to get another job,” Arps says. “I thought about the things I use for self-care and the beauty items I couldn’t live without, and it was fragrance. Then, it dawned on me to start a fragrance line.”  

The Moodeaux Difference

Getting Moodeaux ready for its aunch was a three-year process that demanded Arps draw upon her years of experience in beauty journalism and marketing. She invested about $15,000 of her own money into the business. At 2021’s virtual Essence Festival, she won $25,000 from a pitch competition sponsored by New Voices Foundation and Pull Up for Change’s Impact Fund. “With the money that we won, I’ll be hiring a few different individuals to work for Moodeaux,” Arps says. “Now that there’s capital outside of my own personal funds, I’m excited to go full-speed ahead.”

Arps was also a member of Tower 28’s 2021 Clean Beauty Summer School, which supports the growth of majority BIPOC-owned small clean beauty businesses through education and mentorship opportunities.

Building a Movement

With the growing number of eyes fixated on Moodeaux, Arps hopes to draw attention to the importance of Black perfumers and Black-owned fragrance brands. In tandem with Moodeaux, Arps is launching Black in Fragrance. The collective body exists to support Black people in the fragrance industry. “I’m building a board of founders that will use our experiences and pour it back into the market,” she says. After launching the organization, Arps hopes to continue a monthly grant program that helps aspiring Black perfumers get their ideas off the ground. 

“I don’t want to keep having this conversation about the lack of Black perfumers,” Arps says, “Black in Fragrance will make them visible and make it so that we are seen and respected in the industry as well.”

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