Charli D’Amelio has come a long way from the viral TikTok dances that made her a household name at the height of COVID’s stay-at-home orders. Aside from her family-focused reality TV show, The D’Amelio Show, now streaming on Hulu, the 18 year old just announced she will be joining the cast of Dancing With the Stars in September with her mother Heidi. 

But the young maven is just getting warmed up as she launches her debut fragrance, Born Dreamer, available at Ulta Beauty now. We sat down with Charli to learn about the inspiration behind the scent, the process and the best beauty trick her mom taught her at a young age.

The Inspiration

D’Amelio says the reason for launching a fragrance was twofold. “I didn’t see a lot of people my age pursuing this and launching a fragrance,” she says of the wide open space she now calls home. “I also didn’t have a signature fragrance,” she says of the second, more personal reason behind the launch. “I always saw my parents spray their nice cologne and perfume before a big event and that’s something I never had. I was missing that ‘one’ thing I had to do before going to an event that made me feel ready and confident.”

The Process

D’Amelio says Born Dreamer has been in the works for more than two years now. She also says the process has been a “learning journey” for her. Explaining she was involved in every fragrance decision on the floor of French laboratories, the influencer-turned-businesswoman says she’s now patting herself on the back. “I’m really proud I didn’t just slap my name on something that was already made.” 

Sustainability was also important to her when creating the fragrance. As such, the fragrance is available in an eau de toilette for $48 and a refill for $35.  “I only want people to buy the bottle once,” says D’Amelio, explaining how easy it is to refill your own bottle once it’s empty. “We made the top completely removable so the bottle is fully recyclable as well.”  

The End Result

After years of edits, D’Amelio says she knew Born Dreamer was “perfect” the second she smelled it. “It was feminine but not too feminine. I felt strong while wearing it and it gave me confidence. It wasn’t too overpowering but it was enough to make people notice.” Born Dreamer offers up bright top notes of orange and pear, midnotes of jasmine and sweet pink sugar, and a dry-down of cedar wood, cashmere and skin musks. “It’s hard not to like it,” says the founder. “It has something about it.”

“I wanted to be able to make something that I can wear everyday for the rest of my life, whether I’m on a Zoom call or a red carpet,” she says. 

Family Ties

D’Amelio says family is very important to her, and she has learned “everything about beauty” from her mother, Paige, and big sister Dixie. “My mom has always been a huge part of my beauty life,” she continues. “She used to be a model so she knows how to put herself together, but she was always adamant about letting me embrace my natural beauty and also allowing me to know what I was doing when it came to makeup.”

“I’ve always been a huge fan of blush and that’s because of my mom,” she shared. “As someone who gets super, super pale in the wintertime, especially in Connecticut when I would always be at the dance studio all day and my skin would become almost translucent, my mom would always say, ‘Just add a little blush,’ and it helped so much at adding some life and color back to my face.” Now, she can’t live without it.

“I was lucky to experiment and try and learn what I like,” she recounts of her upbringing in beauty. “I’m very grateful that I have the family that I do who gave me the space to figure out who I am on my own.”