(Scent Stories)
Tina Chen Craig Thinks Fragrance Is Like A Handshake
The U Beauty founder shares how scent helps define you.
Every scent evokes an emotion. In Scent Stories, TZR asks tastemakers, celebrities, and industry insiders to share the stories behind the smells of their past and present.
Tina Chen Craig couldn’t have picked a more fitting name for U Beauty’s first-ever fragrance. The eau de parfum is called PROEM, a word defined as “the introduction or the preface of a work of literature.” A clever tie-in for a skin care brand that’s expanding into a new category — or starting its next chapter, if you will.
“PROEM is inspired by the idea that one can begin again and again” Chen Craig tells TZR. “This eau de parfum celebrates the fact that who you are changes moment to moment. You can choose who you want to be, whenever you want, wherever you are.”
The idea that everyone has layers to their personality folds into how Chen Craig approached creating the bold floral, fruity, and earthy scent. Instead of categorizing notes as top, layer, and base, the fragrance is meant to evolve and grow as you’re smelling it. The juice includes Centifolia rose, Chinese magnolia, night-blooming jasmine, rhubarb, lychee, vetiver, pistachio, and pink peppercorn.
“I’ve always thought of scent as a second language; before you speak, people smell you,” Chen Craig shares. “Whether you’re walking into a room or getting into a car, scent instantly introduces who you are to the people there.”
Ahead, Chen Craig shares the scent stories that make up her life, and have led her to create U Beauty’s fragrance.
The Most Impactful Scent Memory
“In Taiwan, it’s common to see fresh flower garlands dangling from the rearview mirrors of cars. My grandmother’s driver always had fresh garlands of woven jasmine and tuberose hanging from the rearview mirror. My grandmother also carried a special sachet of jasmine in her bag — she loved flowers and animals. Her garden and greenhouse where she cultivated orchids was her favorite place.
I was eight years old when I immigrated to the United States, and I missed my grandmother terribly. I remember smelling night-blooming jasmine one summer night in Los Angeles, and I instantly felt comforted. In a foreign land where I hadn’t mastered speaking the language, I sought familiar scents and the comfort that came with them.
These visceral scent memories were formed in my early childhood and have stayed with me since then.”
The Scent Of Confidence
“It smells like PROEM: unapologetically feminine and bold. Complex and layered with notes that take shape with you, it’s your entire fragrance wardrobe in one bottle — and that’s definitely a bold move.”
The Scent Of Joy
“Sunshine sparkling on Chinese magnolias. It’s a transparent, delicate, and petal-y scent that you can’t get enough of.”
The Scent Of Comfort
“Juicy lychee and tangy rhubarb of my childhood. The combination of sweet and tart feels so comforting.”
The Scent Of Nostalgia
“Jasmine and rose bushes always transport me back to a moment of pure nostalgia.”
The Scent Of Creativity
“Spicy pink peppercorns that open the senses catalyze my creativity, while green vetiver and cedarwood anchor the imagination. Together, these three earthy notes help turn dreams into reality.”
