200,000 on Waitlist: This Perfume Brings Tears on First Sniff!

Fragrances hold a real power over our emotions. Some reassure us, others comfort us. A scent can transport us back in time… to a particular place or day. One scent recently created a buzz online for a very specific reason: it moves people to tears. Here’s the story behind this extraordinary journey.

The tale is quite astonishing: it’s 2022, and a fragrance is causing a stir on social media just days after its launch. Missing Person by the American brand Phlur quickly racks up billions of views, sells out in less than five hours, and nearly 200,000 people sign up on a waiting list. “Missing Person was the very first fragrance we launched. It was such a special scent for a launch. It really corresponded to a personal moment in my life where I was missing someone,” shares Chriselle Lim, Phlur’s creative director.

When Chriselle Lim conceived Missing Person, she was going through a divorce: “I wanted to encapsulate something that smelled like the skin of a loved one, literally as if someone was right there with you.” Soon, the perfume was nicknamed the “sad girl scent.” But how to explain such success and excitement for a perfume that, at the time, was only available on the brand’s website? Chriselle Lim has a theory: “I felt so alone at that time. As strange as it may sound, I think almost everyone understands what it feels like to be that exposed and almost alone in the world.” In a word, the scent unites. The fragrance becomes a global phenomenon, with people sharing their own stories on social media about the people or moments they miss. “It’s much more than just a perfume for them. It has truly become a session of collective therapy.“

It’s important to note that Missing Person falls into the category of skin scents. These are clean, intimate, and subtle smells that reveal themselves only in close proximity. It contains notes of musk, bergamot, jasmine, orange blossom, sandalwood oil, and blonde woods. It can be worn alone, or layered with another fragrance. It is both simple and sophisticated, “it’s really the white t-shirt of perfumes, it goes with everything,” insists Chriselle Lim. An added bonus? Thanks to the musk, the final scent is not the same on everyone, “it just becomes a slightly amplified version of you.“

Starting May 18, Phlur will be available in France and will be distributed in Sephora stores. Will the French public connect to Missing Person in the same way? “This perfume made me realize that human beings are more alike than we think. We all live different experiences, but we go through the same emotions. I believe that’s what binds us together.“