In an industry that spent years selling aspiration, Chriselle Lim chose to build something far more difficult to capture: emotion.

It may seem obvious today, especially in the wake of the phenomenon surrounding Missing Person, Vanilla Skin, and Father Figure. But when Lim began shaping PHLUR, the fragrance conversation still revolved largely around ingredients, olfactive families, and perfumery heritage. She chose a different path.

One where nostalgia could become a perfume; where absence could have a scent and where a fragrance could speak to a version of ourselves just as much as it could to a note of musk, vanilla, or wood.

Perhaps that decision explains better than any business strategy the place PHLUR occupies today within the beauty industry

Author: Claudia Valdez

Long before becoming an entrepreneur, Lim spent years observing how women build their relationship with identity. She did so through fashion, digital content, and a community that grew alongside her. That perspective remains visible in every aspect of the brand. When she talks about fragrance, she rarely talks only about fragrance. She talks about memory, desire, confidence, vulnerability, and the different versions of ourselves that emerge throughout a lifetime.

And perhaps that is where PHLUR’s greatest strength lies: understanding that people are not necessarily looking for a fragrance to define who they are, but rather one that accompanies who they are in a particular moment.

During our conversation with Topics That Transform, Chriselle Lim reflects on building a brand with emotional resonance, the importance of listening before entering new markets such as Mexico, and why, in an era dominated by fleeting trends, what endures is often what makes us feel something.

What follows is a conversation about identity, intuition, memory, and the power of building a brand that understands emotions are also part of beauty.

TTT: Before PHLUR, you had already built a very distinct voice in the digital world. Beyond aesthetics, what do you think you understood about women and the way they see themselves that you were later able to translate into a brand?

Chriselle: I think I understood that women are constantly navigating different versions of themselves. We’re never just one thing all the time. Some days we seek softness; others, confidence. Sometimes we long for escape; other times, comfort. I’ve never viewed beauty as transformation in the traditional sense, but rather as permission to express different facets of who we are depending on the moment we’re living through.

That perspective became a fundamental part of PHLUR. To me, fragrance has always been emotional, not purely aesthetic. It has the power to reflect moods, memories, identity, and even fantasy. I believe people connect with products when they feel emotionally understood, not just visually represented. That’s why Missing Person feels intimate and comforting, while Vanilla Skin carries a completely different energy: warm, confident, and sensual.

TTT: Many brands have access to the same resources, yet not all of them achieve the same level of relevance. Looking back, what do you think you saw differently?

I’ve always seen fragrance as a form of self-expression. My career began in fashion, helping women communicate who they were through what they wore. Fragrance felt like a natural extension of that language—an invisible accessory capable of instantly evoking an emotion or energy.

With PHLUR, I never wanted fragrance to feel intimidating or overly traditional. I wanted it to feel modern, emotional, and part of everyday life. We began thinking of fragrance as an emotional wardrobe, where you choose a scent based on how you feel—or even who you want to be in that moment.

Whether it’s something indulgent like Cherry Stem, comforting like Heavy Cream, or deeper and woodier like Father Figure, each fragrance offers an opportunity to explore a different feeling.

TTT: You come from an environment where everything happens in real time—image, perception, and reaction. What changes when you move from creating content to building a brand?

Chriselle: Social media teaches you to react quickly. You’re constantly responding to culture and whatever is happening in the moment. Building a brand requires an entirely different perspective. You start asking yourself whether something will still matter one, five, or even ten years from now.

That shifted my thinking significantly. I became much more conscious of the importance of emotional consistency. Every launch, campaign, collaboration, and fragrance has to connect to a broader vision. I believe Missing Person, Father Figure, and Vanilla Skin remain our best sellers because people connect with the universal stories behind them.

TTT: PHLUR feels intimate and approachable, yet incredibly intentional. How do you find that balance?

Chriselle: I think balance begins with honesty. The emotional starting point is always real. It can come from a memory, an emotion, a relationship, a fantasy, or even a particular version of confidence I want to capture.

The next step is sharing it in a way that allows others to see themselves within that story. That’s why I think Missing Person resonated so deeply. I shared something very personal related to my divorce, but everyone found something different within it. Ultimately, we’ve all experienced absence or longing in some form.

ttt: As PHLUR grows, people inevitably begin interpreting the brand in their own ways. Do you prefer guiding that conversation, or watching where it naturally evolves?

Chriselle: I think both are important. You have to protect the essence of the brand because that’s what builds trust and recognition over time. But there also comes a point when people develop an emotional relationship with your products, and the brand starts belonging to them as well.

One of the most rewarding aspects of working in fragrance is seeing how the same creation can evoke entirely different emotions. A scent might remind one person of a relationship, another of a journey, and someone else of a period of personal confidence. I love that PHLUR can become part of people’s stories in ways we never could have imagined.

TTT: PHLUR is entering markets where fragrance plays a very different role in everyday life, including Mexico. When you think about that, what are you most interested in understanding?

Chriselle: I’m always interested in understanding the emotional role fragrance plays within a culture. Not just what people wear, but why they wear it. What memories are associated with certain scents. What rituals exist around fragrance. What feels nostalgic, sensual, comforting, or celebratory.

Fragrance is deeply personal, but it’s also deeply cultural. Entering a new market isn’t about imposing a vision—it’s about listening first. I believe the most meaningful growth happens when a brand remains true to its identity while creating space for connection and cultural nuance.

TTT: Entering Sephora completely changes the way a brand is discovered. What forced you to rethink what works digitally versus what works in-store?

Chriselle: The digital environment allows you to control the pace of the story. In retail, especially at Sephora, you only have a few seconds to create an emotional connection.

That forced us to think differently. The name, packaging, scent profile, and story behind each fragrance had to work together immediately. At the same time, retail gave us something invaluable: the opportunity for people to physically experience the brand. Once someone could smell Missing Person or Vanilla Skin in person, the emotional connection became even stronger.

TTT: Your life and the brand feel deeply connected. Was that intentional, or did it happen naturally over time?

Chriselle: It happened very naturally. When you build something from a creative place, your perspective inevitably becomes part of it.

PHLUR reflects many of the things that emotionally and aesthetically resonate with me: intimacy, nostalgia, sensuality, duality, and self-expression. But I also want the brand to be much bigger than me. My goal has always been for people to see themselves in the stories behind the fragrances and make those stories their own.

TTT: There is Chriselle as a public figure, and there is PHLUR as a brand. Where do they intersect, and where do you choose to separate them?

Chriselle: They intersect in sensitivity, emotion, and storytelling. There is a shared vision around beauty, fashion, and creating experiences through images and products.

But I also believe a brand should be able to exist independently of its founder. Today, PHLUR has its own voice, community, and identity. I’m very protective of that. Not every personal moment needs to become content, and not every business decision should revolve around me. That separation allows people to build a more authentic relationship with the brand.

TTT: Everything moves quickly today—trends, launches, attention spans. What do you look at when deciding what deserves to stay?

I always ask myself whether something generates a genuine emotional response or whether it’s simply part of the noise of the moment. Trends can create visibility, but emotional resonance is what creates longevity.

I’m much more interested in the things people return to. The fragrances they repurchase. The stories they continue sharing years later. The products that make them feel seen. I believe that in a world moving this quickly, what lasts is usually what feels emotionally honest.