Shop Small is a monthly series highlighting small business owners from diverse backgrounds. This series aims to go deeper than your typical product roundup, diving into the inspirational stories behind some of our favorite brands. By taking a behind-the-scenes look at how their shops came to be and highlighting the products they (and their shoppers!) love, we hope to put a deserving spotlight on these marginalized business owners.
Before Moodeaux, Brianna Arps had never resonated with traditional fragrance marketing. "What does a celebrity in a ballgown or a half-naked man running down the beach say about the fragrance they're selling?" she asked.
So after an unexpected layoff from her full-time editorial job, feelings of uncertainty about her future and dissonance with the perfume industry — particularly the lack of representation for Black and brown women — made for the perfect storm. Arps decided to turn her daily beauty ritual into a full-blown business venture. Moodeaux, a fragrance brand revolutionizing the industry with empowering scents and inclusive marketing, was born.
Underscoring a philosophy of self-care through scent, Moodeaux is a skincare-forward perfume company. The brand's eau de parfums and spray-on dry oils are enriched with lightweight oils and premium concentrates, allowing the scent to last longer while nourishing your skin in the process. At the time of publishing, Moodeaux offers two fragrances: Worthy, a woody floral accented by fresh white tea and cozy vanilla and PunkStar, a rebellious blend of smoky incense, sultry leather and juicy berries.
Since its inception in 2021, Moodeaux has earned accolades galore: a grant from Glossier for Black-owned beauty brands; a coveted spot in Sephora's Accelerate program; prizewinning status in the Black Ambition awards; and most recently, becoming the first Black-owned fragrance brand sold at Urban Outfitters.
To give you a whiff of all things Moodeaux, we spoke with Brianna to learn more about her brand's philosophy and plans for the future.
Shop Moodeaux
Moodeaux Worthy IntenScenual Eau De Parfum
Moodeaux PunkStar IntenScenual Eau de Parfum
Moodeaux Worthy SuperCharged SkinScent Travel Pen
Moodeaux PunkStar SuperCharged SkinScent Travel Pen
Moodeaux's philosophy is rooted in self-expression. Can you explain this concept?
Our motto is "flaunt how you feel." We serve the unapologetic beauty rebels of the world, people who are defining their lives for themselves. That's exactly what we mean when we talk about self-care through self-expression: it's all about being unapologetic and inspiring other people to adopt a similar philosophy in how they lead their lives.
Moodeaux has two scents: Worthy and PunkStar. What was your inspiration behind them?
Worthy was our first baby. The whole origin story of the brand stemmed from me wanting to reclaim my sense of worth. We included notes that help people remember their worth: lavender, red rose, amber, vanilla — things that are very comforting.
PunkStar is a complete other side of the spectrum. It's a very loud, in-your-face fragrance that helps people ignite their inner rebel. We relied on the Rock 'n' Roll scene, so we have leather, we have rose — shoutout to Guns N' Roses — we have incense for a smoky element, moss, cedarwood, green apple, red raspberry. We have a feminine note story mixed with a masculine note story to hint at the fact that fragrance shouldn't be a gendered experience.
"Skin scents" are very trendy. What makes them like a second skin?
When you think of skin, you think of things that smell very fresh, clean and pleasant. It really comes down to the note story: Musk, amber, vanilla is that trifecta that a lot of these second-skin scents have. We've balanced [Worthy] out with white tea, lavender, leafy greens and red rose as well as orange blossom so that it's more mellow and balanced.
What sets Moodeaux apart from other fragrance brands?
Our community would say it's our intentionality and the way we speak to them. How is it that Black and brown people over-index when it comes to buying fragrance but yet we are not necessarily seen through advertising? Why don't we exist when we spend a lot [of money] on fragrance and beauty? We want to showcase our audience and put them at the forefront. Intentionality bleeds through literally everything we do, from how the brand shows up in the world, to how we formulate, to who we're talking to. All of it is intentional.
Moodeaux is now sold in Urban Outfitters — congrats! What does this mean to you?
It represents that there are no limits to what we can achieve. Being a "first" of something is always a little nerve-wracking because you don't want to mess up, but it also gives you an opportunity to set a precedent for people and show that it's possible to make your wildest dreams come true. It symbolized the opportunities that exist when you show up for yourself and your community — and when they do the same for you.
What's next for Moodeaux?
Short term, we're really excited to launch our third scent. It's completely different than Worthy and PunkStar — as far as the note story goes, it's crafted to help make every day smell and feel like a bright fresh start.
Growing our retail footprint is something we look forward to doing in the future, as well as becoming the go-to fragrance destination for millennials and Gen Z. We want to be everywhere they want us to be, so that could include new ways of thinking about fragrance: perhaps it's home fragrance, perhaps it's a deeper focus on body care.
What's your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Make sure you have your legal foundation correct. Your legal framework serves as the foundation of your business and can enable you to do certain things — or cripple you if it's not done correctly. Secondly, your greatest competitive advantage is your unique lived experience. It's easy to go on social media and want to emulate someone else's success when, in fact, you could probably do something bigger and better by honing the things that make you different. Third, the biggest lesson is to fail fast. We want to get it right and focus a lot of energy on things when, in reality, if it isn't working, that's okay. It's best if you get all of that out of the way so you can actually get to a solution. Those are the three things I still remind myself of to this day.
