Sometimes, our fragrance speaks before we do. It enters the room ahead of us and lingers long after we’re gone. From the nostalgic sweetness of a grandmother’s signature scent to the soft echo of our favorite hair products and lotions, for some Black women, fragrance is more than a beauty ritual—it’s a memory, a form of self-expression. Despite Black consumers accounting for approximately 22.4% of fragrance sales in the U.S, they remain vastly underrepresented in the luxury fragrance industry.
“They don’t tap us for these fine fragrances, for these perfumes, for these luxury fragrances,” Octavia Morgan told theGrio. “People of color, we buy the most fragrances and we gift the most fragrances, but we’re the most underrepresented in that category,”
This year, Morgan made history with her eponymous brand “Octavia Morgan” as the first Black woman to own a fragrance brand carried at Ulta Beauty—a move she considers bigger than personal success, but rather a love letter to legacy.
“Coming into the forefront, especially in this day and time that we’re in right now, is such an honor and a privilege for me,” she explained. “This is really me honoring my grandmother. We started this because it is an homage to her. This is a legacy brand. But it’s also for those who are coming behind me.”
Beyond diversifying Ulta’s shelves, Morgan’s line is also designed for those often left out of the fragrance conversation: people with sensitive skin or fragrance-related sensitivities. Whether you live with eczema, allergies, or get migraines from traditional perfumes, Morgan has made something just for you. Each scent in the line is crafted without harsh irritants, drawn from her own experience navigating scent sensitivity.
“I started down this road because I developed fragrance sensitivity. I’m a fragrance girl. I’ve been wearing fragrance since I was about five years old. Always love fragrance,” she shared. “But one day I noticed when I would spray my fragrances, I’d get mild migraines, sneezing, and some scents would create little red marks on my skin.”
After learning about fragrance sensitivity, the fragrance lover noticed a gap in the market when looking for natural, clean perfume alternatives. Tired of everything smelling like essential oils that did not last or project the way her favorite scents did, Morgan pulled from her background as a registered nurse, her love for research, and her grandmother’s herbalist background to create clean fragrances that are not only lasting and safe for sensitive skin but also tell a story.
“It was really nice to bring a fragrance to market that was complex, individual, with really beautiful scents that lasted long, had projection, and weren’t doing any harm to the customer wearing it,” she said.
“All of the scents that we create always start with a story,” the perfumer explained. “The story of our scents. And each one of those stories asks, ‘What do you want to convey?’ For me, because I was a novice perfumer, I would order all of these materials and literally sit for hours and days and just smell them to kind of connect with a memory…a feeling.”
Though Morgan can connect each of her fragrances with an image, feeling, or memory, that is the only assignment she gives her scents. Describing the Octavia Morgan brand as a “safe space for people to explore fragrance,” the founder prides herself on creating a genderless brand.
“There is no men’s. There is no women’s. It’s just fragrance,” she said, explaining how gender association with fragrance was created as a marketing tool. “I was doing my research, I found, prior to the 19th century, it was no man or woman’s fragrances…people wore what they gravitated towards.”
In addition to dismantling gender categories, Morgan urges everyone to think beyond their signature scents: “I really love the idea of being playful with my scents. Fragrance is about movement…how do you want to be moved? Fragrance is very dope because it’s associated with memory, mood, and all of these different things. So we have to open our minds to saying, ‘Okay, what lights me up from the inside?’”
After wearing Morgan’s fragrances over the past month, I can say they have a presence that fills a room—without overwhelming it. From Sunday service to date night to the gym, someone always stops me to ask what I’m wearing.
Explore the story behind some of Octavia Morgan’s scents below and support the Black woman-owned perfumer at Ulta and on ocataviamorgan.com.
(Photo credit: Octavia Morgan)”>
Summer Fleur by Octavia Morgan
“Summer Fleur gives you that feeling of walking in the garden. That was my second scent because it opened up very brightly with grapefruit. I love citrus. That was a homage to my grandmother. She loved citrus, so there’s a little grapefruit, and then it goes into the white flowers. And she also loved white flowers, jasmine, gardenia, and lily, but they are grounded in wood, so it gives you this really beautiful balance.”
(Photo credit: Octavia Morgan)
(Photo credit: Octavia Morgan)”>
Oud Noir by Octavia Morgan
“The true melting of the masculine, effeminate. This is a gender inclusive line, and I wanted to pay homage to the men and women, my men and women, clients and myself, like, what is that balance inside of me? And so u noir was, is very mysterious. It is captivating and moves and evolves as you wear it.”
(Photo credit: Octavia Morgan)
Legendary by Octavia Morgan
Created when she was still working as a nurse, Morgan says, “For that scent, I wanted something woodsy, a little spicy, but very clean, right, very non-offensive. I didn’t want my patients to be offended. And that one did really well for me. I had no complaints. The patients loved it…the medical staff, nurses, doctors.” nn(Photo credit: Octavia Morgan)
Dark Rose by Octavia Morgan
“I wanted something that was unapologetically sexy. Men and women, we all have the Divine Feminine inside of us, and I didn’t want to apologize for it. I wanted something moody and sexy, and it was just a statement fragrance.” nn(Photo credit: Octavia Morgan)
