The Six Scents of Morocco
LONDON — The smell of Morocco.
Skin care brand Whind has expanded its beauty category by adding fine fragrances to its roster with six scents.
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“I didn’t know I needed six fragrances. I was going to make just one, but I was told that in the fragrance business there’s different tastes. Some people like citrus, rose and others oud. A debut collection needs to tell the full story, especially when you’re inspired by a place like Morocco,” Hind Sebti, founder of Whind, told Beauty Inc on the phone from Morocco during her child’s spring break.
She enlisted the help of beauty veteran Roger Schmid and French perfumer Jérôme Epinette to develop the six scents, which includes Néroli Bronzé, Rose Saffron, Lalla La Rose, Oud Davana, Pomello Mint Tea Leaves and Amber Tangerine.
Sebti wanted to pay homage to her motherland with the notes in the fragrances. The notes she’s used include orange zest, pomello, cardamom from North Africa in Néroli Bronzé; agarwood, crisp amber, vanilla beans in Rose Saffron and coffee, davana, jasmine petals with saffron, pistachio and black pepper in Oud Davana.
She’s been wearing Oud Davana for the last two years as a way to trial the success of it as the products were being developed.
The launch of Whind fragrances, as well skin care, was the antidote to the beauty industry’s stride towards minimalism.
“I want something that is super high performance, but also super indulgence. I don’t want any compromise on one or the other. We need more warmth and some stability in beauty — it has sometimes been so stripped down that we’ve lost this decadence and indulgence,” said Sebti, who founded Whind in 2020 and sits on the Waldencast Acquisition Corp. portfolio, where she serves as a cofounder and chief growth officer.
Whind is part of the Waldencast Ventures, a holding company and investment fund that “incubates and accelerates early stage beauty and wellness brands.”
The company acquired Milk and Obagi in 2021 in a deal with a combined value of $1.2 billion. Regulatory filings showed that Milk’s net revenue was around $47 million in 2021, up from $40 million in 2020.
Sebti’s mission at the company is to create, acquire and scale beauty brands that are “consumer centric, purpose driven” with high growth, which she’s doing at Whind.
Whind fragrances, which are priced at $200, have been getting a gradual international rollout, but it was first launched in Dubai, United Arab Emirates a few weeks ago with 25 percent of stock sold out before the official launch with a second production on its way.
“I could not say it’s a Moroccan and Arab-born brand without launching it in the region first. I wanted to build a stronghold for the brand in the Middle East while also having a presence in the U.S. and U.K.,” said Sebti.
“But there [in the Middle East] it’s how quickly people have come to recognize themselves in the brands which means I’ve had to explain it less,” she added, explaining that the Whind fragrances have been rolled out into the department stores in the Dubai region such as Galeries Lafayette.
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