A Fashion Blogger Turned a Dead Fragrance Brand Into $150 Million in 3 Years (Here's the Formula)

Why Every Brand Scrambling for Creator Partnerships Should Study the Chriselle Lim Playbook

In 2021, beauty incubator The Center bought the failed fragrance brand PHLUR for what industry insiders call "a nominal sum" basically pennies on the dollar. The brand was dead. No buzz. No sales. No future.

Three years later, PHLUR just sold to TSG Consumer Partners (the firm behind E.l.f. and Huda Beauty) with sales surpassing $150 million.

The difference? They didn't hire a celebrity. They didn't throw millions at marketing. They appointed fashion influencer Chriselle Lim as Creative Director and gave her actual power.

This isn't just another influencer slapping their name on a product. This is the masterclass in how the right creator can resurrect dead IP and build a nine-figure business. And every brand desperately chasing creator partnerships needs to understand why this worked when 99% fail.

The Failed Brand Nobody Wanted

First, let's talk about PHLUR 1.0, because understanding the failure makes the success even more remarkable.

The Original PHLUR (2015-2021):

• Founded by Eric Korman (former Ralph Lauren exec)

• Pioneered "clean" fragrance with ingredient transparency

• Raised significant venture funding

• Had all the "right" elements: sustainability story, digital-first approach, premium positioning

And it completely flopped. By 2021, the brand was essentially worthless. The Center, known for acquiring distressed beauty brands, bought it for next to nothing.

Why did it fail? Because it was a brand built in a boardroom, not a bedroom. It had all the corporate checkboxes but zero emotional connection. In fragrance the most emotional category in beauty that's a death sentence.

Enter Chriselle Lim: Not Your Average Influencer

When Ben Bennett at The Center approached Chriselle Lim in 2021, she wasn't an obvious choice for a fragrance brand:

The Chriselle Resume:

• Fashion blogger since 2011 (OG influencer era)

• 1.5 million Instagram followers

• Known for style, not scent

• Going through a painful divorce

• Had never run a beauty brand

On paper, this made no sense. Fashion influencer + failed fragrance brand = disaster, right?

Wrong. And here's why every brand needs to pay attention.

The $150 Million Formula: Vulnerability as Strategy

1. She Made Her Pain the Product

When Chriselle joined PHLUR, she wasn't in a good place. Mid-divorce. Depressed. Lost. Most people would hide this. Chriselle made it the brand story.

The first fragrance she launched? "Missing Person" literally about longing for someone who's gone.

"I was in a very broken place," Lim told investors. "I couldn't find any inspiration outside of my deep pain."

The marketing? They sent influencers oversized men's t-shirts drenched in the fragrance. The message: This smells like the person you miss.

The Result:

• Sold out in 5 hours

• 200,000 person waitlist

• Zero paid advertising

• Became TikTok's most viral fragrance

2. She Turned Trauma Into Revenue Streams

Every PHLUR fragrance tells a story from Chriselle's life:

• Missing Person: Her divorce longing

• Father Figure: Daddy issues (yes, really)

• Apricot Privée: Her "hot girl summer" post-divorce fragrance

• Vanilla Skin: Comfort during depression

This wasn't focus-group tested marketing. This was a woman processing her life through perfume. And millions of people saw themselves in her stories.

3. She Let TikTok Do the Selling

Here's where it gets brilliant. Chriselle didn't plaster her face on every bottle. She created the stories, then let the internet run with them.

The Viral Moment: Content creator Rachel Rigler posted: "It smells like a person you love and miss." Her boyfriend's reaction: "That's bizarre. It smells like you...fresh out of the shower."

Mikayla Nogueira (13.4M followers) responded: "This perfume smells like being in love? I immediately bought it."

Result: Complete sellout. No ad spend. Pure organic virality.

The Numbers That Made Wall Street Pay Attention

Let's talk money, because that's what separates real success from vanity metrics:

Year 1 (2022):

• Launch with single SKU

• Sellout in 5 hours

• Revenue: ~$15-20 million

Year 2 (2023):

• Expanded to body mists, oils

• Sephora exclusive launch

• Revenue: $60-70 million

• Strawberry Letter sellout: 6 months inventory gone in 8 hours

Year 3 (2024):

• Added deodorant, more SKUs

• TikTok Shop domination (103,000+ purchases)

• Revenue: $150+ million

• Acquisition by TSG Consumer Partners

The Unit Economics:

• Eau de Parfum: $99 (50ml)

• Body Mist: $35

• Deodorant: $24

• DTC margin: 70%+

Why This Worked When Others Fail

1. Real Equity, Real Control

Chriselle wasn't hired as a "brand ambassador." She became co-owner with actual equity and creative control. When creators have skin in the game, they build differently.

2. Product-First, Not Influencer-First

"It's intentional that my face isn't plastered on PHLUR's page," Chriselle said. "A brand must be product-first. The chapter of creators slapping their name on something and expecting it to sell is over."

PHLUR's Instagram: 154K followers Chriselle's Instagram: 1.5M followers

She could have made it "Chriselle's Fragrance Line." Instead, she built a brand that stands alone.

3. The Portfolio Approach

Traditional fragrance: Launch hero scent, milk it for years PHLUR: 2 original EDPs + 7 extensions annually

They run fragrance like fashion—constant newness, limited editions, trend-catching. When "strawberry makeup" trended on TikTok, they had Strawberry Letter ready.

4. Emotional Resonance Over Ingredient Lists

Old PHLUR: "We're clean! We're sustainable! Here's our ingredient transparency!" New PHLUR: "This smells like your ex's t-shirt and you'll cry."

Guess which one sold?

The Playbook Every Brand Should Steal

For Brands Looking for Creator Partners:

1. Find Creators in Crisis Sounds harsh? Maybe. But creators going through major life changes create the most authentic content. Divorce, parenthood, career shifts these are goldmines for storytelling.

2. Give Real Equity Stop offering flat fees and free product. Give ownership. When they win, you win. When you win, they win harder.

3. Let Them Actually Create Chriselle didn't follow a brand playbook. She made fragrances about her therapy sessions. Give creators permission to be messy, real, vulnerable.

4. Build for Their Community, Not Yours PHLUR wasn't built for fragrance enthusiasts. It was built for women going through breakups, finding themselves, processing trauma. AKA: Chriselle's audience.

For Creators Considering Brand Partnerships:

1. Your Trauma is Your Asset Stop hiding your struggles. Your audience connects with your pain more than your perfection. Monetise your therapy sessions (respectfully).

2. Demand Equity or Walk If they're not offering ownership, they're buying your face, not your vision. You're worth more than a one-time fee.

3. Build Brands, Not Product Lines Anyone can slap their name on something. Build something that could outlive your influence. Chriselle built PHLUR to work without her face on every bottle.

4. Use Your Platform as Testing Ground Before PHLUR spent millions on inventory, Chriselle tested concepts on her platforms. Your audience is your free R&D department.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Creator Brands

Here's what nobody wants to admit: Most creator brands fail because creators are treated like marketing channels, not business partners.

Brands think: "They have followers. Followers buy things. We profit."

Reality: Followers smell inauthenticity from miles away. They buy stories, not endorsements.

Chriselle succeeded because she wasn't selling fragrance. She was selling the ability to feel something in a bottle. To process heartbreak. To remember love. To feel expensive during depression.

That's not marketing. That's therapy with a better profit margin.

The Future Blueprint

TSG Consumer Partners just paid a premium for a 3-year-old brand. Not because of the formulas (anyone can copy those). Not because of distribution (Sephora carries hundreds of brands). But because they bought something uncopyable: authentic emotional connection at scale.

What's Next for PHLUR:

• International expansion (50% of Chriselle's followers are European)

• Men's fragrances ("Father Figure" proved the market)

• Home fragrance (the logical extension)

• The Chriselle blueprint applied to new categories

What This Means for the Industry: The age of celebrity slapping their name on things is over. The age of creators as true business partners has begun. Brands that understand this will thrive. Those that don't will become the next failed brand waiting for a creator to resurrect them.

Your Move

Right now, there are thousands of dead brands sitting in private equity portfolios. Decent products. Good infrastructure. Zero soul.

And there are millions of creators with engaged audiences, authentic stories, and no idea how to build a business.

The math is obvious. The execution is everything.

Find the right creator not the biggest, but the right one. Give them real power. Let them tell real stories. Build something that matters to someone specific before trying to matter to everyone.

Because Chriselle Lim just proved you can turn a failed fragrance brand into $150 million by doing one thing nobody else will: being devastatingly honest about being human.

The formula isn't complicated. It's just uncomfortable. And in a world of polished, perfect brands, uncomfortable is exactly what sells.

PHLUR sold out of "Missing Person" while you were reading this. Because somewhere, someone just got divorced and needs to smell like their ex one more time. That's not a business model you'll find in any MBA textbook. But it's worth $150 million and counting.

Keep building

David