Tina Craig Takes U Beauty Into Fragrance
Tina Craig is taking U Beauty into sensory new territory.
The science-driven brand that has had adjacent expansions from skin care into color cosmetics is making its debut into fragrance. Called Proem, the scent nosed by Robertet’s Jérôme Epinette will launch on the brand’s website Friday, and ranges in price from $68 for a mini to $198 for a full size.
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It will then roll out Feb. 27 with Bluemercury, Harrods and Holt Renfrew.
Though the category marks Craig’s first time making a fragrance, she initially started at the end of 2021.
“Fragrance might seem like an unexpected move for U Beauty, but our brand is all about less-is-more,” she said in reference to its multitasking skin formulas. “This fragrance is literally a fragrance wardrobe in a bottle, so it is very on brand for us. It streamlines a lot of different notes within one bottle.”
Though Craig isn’t thinking of Proem in traditional olfactive terms, the idea was to have a product that dries down to meet different points in a wearer’s day. Those notes include Chinese magnolia, rose centifolia, night blooming jasmine, exotic fruits, creamy pistachio, rhubarb, patchouli and vetiver.
“U Beauty is originally a cosmetics brand, and rose is the best flower to interpret that,” Epinette said. “It’s also incredibly modern and feels technology-forward as well.”
To that end, the product’s name means “the introduction, the beginning, a prelude,” Craig said. “This fragrance is unapologetic, it’s bold and it’s a chance to introduce yourself over and over again every time you walk into a room. It’s a new beginning for every moment.”
Craig tried many iterations of the formula before teaming up with Epinette, who got the scent profile right on his first try.
“I worked with other people who were like, well, do you want it fruity or earthy or floral? I said I wanted it all,” Craig said. “It’s like when I did the resurfacing compound and was told you couldn’t do retinol with vitamin C.”
Industry sources expect the fragrance to reach $3 million in 2025. Craig didn’t comment on sales but did add that the marketing activations would be more extensive — and less digital — than in the past.
“Our pop-up opens to the public on Feb. 7, and we have an exhibition. It’s meant to be a very fun, living narrative that’s very stimulating. It’s a sensory experience of Proem when you’re there,” Craig said.
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