SEPHORA has launched OBART, its debut fragrance and first entry into the scentcare category, as the beauty retailer continues its UK expansion following the opening of its first boutique store concept on London’s Carnaby Street.
Developed by founders Sophia and Marc-Alexandre Risch, OBART applies skincare principles to fragrance, with products designed to help scent last longer. Sephora has backed the launch by incubating the brand across Europe, continuing its focus on emerging beauty labels.
Sephora’s OBART
At the centre of the collection is the P3 Fragrance Primer, a fragrance-free base applied to pulse points before perfume. Developed over three years in Korea, it uses the brand’s Scent Mesh Technology and is clinically proven to extend fragrance wear by up to eight hours. The primer is joined by a collection of eight eaux de parfum, created in France by perfumers at DSM-Firmenich, designed to be worn alone or layered.
On the launch, Catherine Spindler, Europe & Middle East President at Sephora, said, “At SEPHORA, innovation is not only about identifying what is next, it is also about helping shape it. With OBART, we recognised a brand creating an entirely new category, and we are proud to bring it exclusively to our European clients. This unique project perfectly reflects our ambition to incubate emerging talent across Europe and to bring our clients meaningful innovation that responds to real needs.”
Sephora’s OBART
For OBART, the ambition is to create an entirely new beauty category. “We didn’t set out to launch another fragrance. We set out to create a category. Scentcare brings the rigour of skincare to the art of perfumery, because wearing fragrance should be an act of care, not just a finishing touch. When people said the market wasn’t ready, we saw our opportunity: to build the category ourselves. Sephora, with their unique culture of collaboration and their innovation spirit that shapes the world of beauty, was the perfect partner to bring it to the world,” said Co-Founder Sophia Risch.
The launch also coincides with the opening of Sephora UK’s first boutique store concept on Carnaby Street in Soho, offering a curated retail experience as the brand returns to central London after two years of expansion across the UK.
by Felicity Carter
Sephora, 57 Carnaby Street, London, W1F 9QF