Scent Trunk
Scent Trunk is a direct-to-consumer artisanal perfumery brand selling indie fragrances through a Shopify storefront, monthly subscriptions, and Faire wholesale. Founded in 2015 and acquired by Perfumer's Apprentice in 2018, it serves fragrance enthusiasts and gift buyers with curated perfumer collaborations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersKingston, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Scent Trunk does
Scent Trunk is a direct-to-consumer artisanal perfumery brand founded in 2015 by William Yin and Richard Smale to democratize bespoke perfumery. Following its 2018 acquisition by Perfumer's Apprentice, the company has operated from Scotts Valley, California, with a curated roster of 30+ independent perfumers worldwide and a Fragrance Council providing curatorial and industry expertise. The product portfolio is organized around editorial themes and includes Original Editions (seasonal perfumer collaborations), DIY Bespoke (layerable customizable fragrances), Discovery Palettes (curated 2ml spray sets for scent exploration), Home Candles (10 oz soy wax), Lenses Palette (collaboration with Brent Leonesio), and a Whisper of Melancholy limited collection, with an archive Vault of past editions.
The commercial stack is built on a Shopify e-commerce storefront and spans three go-to-market motions: DTC online sales (one-time purchases at $21–$155 across 5ml/30ml/100ml sizes), a $18/month monthly subscription program (Original Edition, Botanical Machinist, and Supernatural Future tiers), and wholesale distribution through the Faire marketplace for boutique retail. The company serves individual fragrance enthusiasts, collectors, and gift buyers primarily in the US, Canada, and the UK, with a content-driven marketing strategy centered on a Journal blog, Instagram, Facebook, email, and earned media in indie fragrance press. Validated milestones include a 2020 Art and Olfaction Awards finalist recognition for Pennyroyal Shire by Tyler Monk and ongoing seasonal product launches through 2025.
Scent Trunk firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Scent Trunk
- Legal name
- Scent Trunk
- Website
- https://scenttrunk.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Scent Trunk is a direct-to-consumer artisanal perfumery brand selling indie fragrances through a Shopify storefront, monthly subscriptions, and Faire wholesale. Founded in 2015 and acquired by Perfumer's Apprentice in 2018, it serves fragrance enthusiasts and gift buyers with curated perfumer collaborations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Scent Trunk industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Artisan Fragrances
- NAICS
- Health and Personal Care Retailers (4561)
- SIC
- Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Fine Fragrance (Women’s/Men’s/Unisex) (CRABADAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Home Fragrance (Candles, Diffusers, Room Sprays) (CRABADAE)
Keywords
Where Scent Trunk is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kingston
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Scent Trunk business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Direct Product Sales: One-time purchases of individual fragrances, discovery palettes, and home goods through the e-commerce platform. Products include Original Editions ($21-$155), Discovery Palettes ($24-$42), and soy wax candles ($55).
- Subscription Services: Monthly recurring subscription programs delivering curated fragrances. Three tiers available: Original Edition Monthly, Botanical Machinist Monthly, and Supernatural Future Monthly, each at $18.00/month, providing predictable recurring revenue.
- Wholesale Distribution: Bulk sales to retail partners through Faire wholesale marketplace, enabling expansion into physical retail locations.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Travel Size (5ml) - Entry point fragrance option |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Standard Size (30ml) - Mid-tier fragrance option |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Full Size (100ml) - Premium fragrance option |
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly Subscription - Recurring fragrance delivery |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Discovery Palette - Multi-fragrance sampling set |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Home Candles - Soy wax home fragrance products |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Whisper of Melancholy Collection - Limited edition fragrances |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Scent Trunk product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Scent Trunk is a direct-to-consumer artisanal perfumery platform selling personalized indie fragrances through a Shopify-powered online boutique. The portfolio includes Original Editions (collaborations with 30+ independent perfumers on seasonal themes), DIY Bespoke customizable layering scents, Discovery Palettes for sampling fragrance families, luxury soy wax home candles, and monthly curated subscriptions at $18/month. The company pairs each fragrance with documented geographic provenance, transparent ingredient sourcing, and editorial storytelling tied to pop-culture trends.
Product overview
Scent Trunk is a direct-to-consumer artisanal perfumery platform offering personalized and indie fragrances. The product portfolio consists of Original Editions (collaborations with independent perfumers on seasonal themes), DIY Bespoke (customizable layering fragrances), Discovery Palettes (curated sets for exploring fragrance families), and Home Candles (soy wax luxury candles). The company operates on a Shopify e-commerce platform with monthly subscription services, a membership club for early access to new releases, and an archive collection (The Vault) of past editions. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, Scent Trunk democratizes bespoke perfumery through collaborations with over 40 independent perfumers worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Original Editions: Collaborations with perfumers who create scents inspired by seasonal focus ingredients and geographic provenance, featuring themes like Supernatural Future and Botanical Machinist
- Discovery Palette
- DIY Bespoke
- Home Goods
- Subscription
- Lenses Palette
- Whisper of Melancholy
Products and services
- Original Editions Fragrance collection featuring collaborations with 30+ independent perfumers who create scents inspired by annual themes, seasonal focus ingredients, geographic provenance, and color palettes. Available in 5ml ($21), 30ml ($65), and 100ml ($155) sizes.
- DIY Bespoke Customizable fragrances inspired by Sarah McCartney's original personalized perfume concept, designed to be worn standalone or layered together to create personalized scent combinations based on mood or season.
- Discovery Palettes Curated fragrance palettes containing six 2ml spray bottles designed for exploring scent families and finding signature scents. Includes themed collections such as Supernatural Future Palettes, Botanical Machinist Palettes, Atmospheres Palette, and the Sarah McCartney Discovery Palette.
- Home Candles Luxury home fragrance candles made with 10 oz soy wax. Available variants include Fireside Embrace, Boreal Forest, and Floating Island, each priced at $55.00.
- Monthly Subscription Recurring monthly fragrance delivery program with three themed tiers: Original Edition Monthly, Botanical Machinist Monthly, and Supernatural Future Monthly. Each subscription is priced at $18.00 per month and includes membership benefits such as tokens and early access to new releases.
- Lenses Palette Fragrance layering palette collaboration with Brent Leonesio (Smell Bent) containing six 2ml spray bottles — Afterhours, Heartthrob, Grizzly, Ever, Fae, and Moonstone — designed as DIY layering tools for personalized scent combinations.
- Whisper of Melancholy Collection Pre-sale limited edition collection featuring four fragrances — Joyful Nostalgia, Tears and Smiles, Softly Snowly, and Winternights — each priced at $9.00.
- The Vault Archive collection featuring past and discontinued fragrance editions from previous seasonal releases, available while supplies last.
- Sarah McCartney Discovery Palette Educational palette representing the classic fragrance families — Citrus, Floral, Woods, Amber, Herbal, and Moss — designed to help customers understand perfumery fundamentals. Formerly called the FIT KIT, priced at $24.00.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2020 Art and Olfaction Awards Finalist - Pennyroyal Shire by Tyler Monk recognized in Independent Category
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Scent Trunk
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Scent Trunk technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Scent Trunk partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and strategic.
- Perfumer's ApprenticecoreIn 2018, Perfumer's Apprentice acquired Scent Trunk to leverage their superior manufacturing capabilities and vast network of perfumers to grow the brand worldwide in sync with the original founders' vision. Perfumer's Apprentice provides manufacturing infrastructure and industry connections.
- NelixiaminorSupplier of sustainably produced cardamom ingredient used in the Cloud Cardamom fragrance. Nelixia produces cardamom from Cobán, Guatemala for the fragrance.
- Brent Leonesio (Smell Bent)strategicLos Angeles-based perfumer/artist/stylist and founder of indie brand Smell Bent collaborated with Scent Trunk on the Lenses Palette collection. Known for playful compositions that intertwine the beautiful and the strange.
- Sarah McCartney (4160 Tuesdays)strategicOriginally created the personalized perfume concept that inspired Scent Trunk's founding. Her original offerings were rebranded as the DIY Bespoke line and Discovery Palette (originally 'Fit Kit'). Sarah McCartney continues to collaborate with the brand.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Scent Trunk competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Scentbird: Subscription-based fragrance discovery service delivering monthly designer fragrances; the most direct functional analog to Scent Trunk's subscription model, though Scent Trunk differentiates on indie/artisan perfumers vs. designer brands.
- Olfactif: Indie and artisan fragrance subscription box offering monthly samples from niche perfumers; a very close peer as both curate indie perfumers and run a subscription discovery experience.
- MicroPerfumes: Online retailer selling sample-sized decants and discovery sets of niche and indie fragrances; comparable on discovery-palette product format and indie-perfumer curation.
- Phlur: DTC indie fragrance brand built on discovery, storytelling and small-batch perfumers; closely comparable in storytelling-driven go-to-market and artisan positioning.
- D.S. & Durga: Independent NYC-based fragrance house selling artisanal scents through DTC and select retailers; same indie-perfumer, storytelling-driven model that Scent Trunk aggregates.
- Commodity Fragrance: DTC fragrance brand offering personalized scent layering kits; extremely close functional analog on bespoke/layering product architecture.
- 4160 Tuesdays: Independent UK perfumery by Sarah McCartney, whose personalized perfume concept inspired Scent Trunk; same indie perfumer origin and DIY/layering ethos, now also collaborating with Scent Trunk.
Broad incumbents
- Byredo: Premium niche fragrance house (now owned by Puig) with strong DTC and retail presence; a broader incumbent in the indie/niche-premium fragrance category Scent Trunk competes in.
- Le Labo: Indie-origin fragrance brand owned by Estée Lauder with deep DTC and boutique retail footprint; comparable as a once-indie brand that scaled via larger-distribution play.
- Maison Margiela 'Replica': Narrative-driven fragrance line from a major luxury house, comparable on storytelling/perfumer-centric positioning at much larger scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Scent Trunk social profiles
Digital presenceScent Trunk financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Scent Trunk leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Scent Trunk funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Scent Trunk M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Scent Trunk
What does Scent Trunk do?
Scent Trunk is a direct-to-consumer artisanal perfumery platform selling personalized indie fragrances through a Shopify-powered online boutique. The portfolio includes Original Editions (collaborations with 30+ independent perfumers on seasonal themes), DIY Bespoke customizable layering scents, Discovery Palettes for sampling fragrance families, luxury soy wax home candles, and monthly curated subscriptions at $18/month. The company pairs each fragrance with documented geographic provenance, transparent ingredient sourcing, and editorial storytelling tied to pop-culture trends.
Is Scent Trunk a public or private company?
Scent Trunk is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Scent Trunk founded?
Scent Trunk was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Scent Trunk based?
Scent Trunk is headquartered in Kingston, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Scent Trunk make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Direct Product Sales are the primary driver. The others are subscription Services and wholesale Distribution.
Who are Scent Trunk's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Scentbird, Olfactif, MicroPerfumes, Phlur, D.S. & Durga, Commodity Fragrance and 4160 Tuesdays. Broad incumbents are Byredo, Le Labo and Maison Margiela 'Replica'.
Does Scent Trunk have an API?
No public API is recorded for Scent Trunk.
What industry is Scent Trunk in?
Scent Trunk's product category is Artisan Fragrances. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRABADAA, Fine Fragrance (Women’s/Men’s/Unisex), with a secondary code of CRABADAE, Home Fragrance (Candles, Diffusers, Room Sprays). Its NAICS code is 4561 and its SIC code is 2844.