She might have been sniffling from a cold, but Kate Walsh is every bit as endearing on the phone as she is on television. Her new perfume line is amazing—Beauty Bets recently declared it one of her favorite scents of the year, and in my short interview with her she dishes about her inspiration, her venture into business and what is next for Boyfriend.
- You’ve stated that the idea for Boyfriend came about during a breakup. What else inspired the scent? I love the way men smell. Catching a whiff of Polo cologne takes me back to high school football games. It’s amazing how strongly we can connect scent with memory. What I wanted to capture was the memory. I didn’t want to create a scent that said “Oh my boyfriend is here”, I wanted to capture a scent that said “Oh my boyfriend was here”. Boyfriend is the memory of him.
- Summarize Boyfriend in five words or less: “The Feeling of Being loved”. That is what I wanted to capture.
- Boyfriend definitely lingers, I feel like the scent lasts for days, was that something you were conscious of when creating it? Definitely. I wanted that lingering scent that a guy leaves—so what I developed had to have staying power but I was also focused on quality without high prices. We decided on undertones of amber and I think we accomplished exactly what I wanted!
- What has been your biggest learning experience through the creation of boyfriend? I founded my own company! I didn’t develop a scent and sell it. I developed a scent, founded a company and developed the product with my hand in every aspect of the business.
- So…What’s next? Will we see a scent for men, perhaps called “Girlfriend”? There is totally a scent for men in the works. When I began working with a perfumer for “Boyfriend”, the first scent we created was “too manly”. It was amazing, but just stronger than what I wanted. However, I think it’d be a great starting point for a scent for men. Not sure what we’d call it. Something tells me “Girlfriend” might not go over well with the guys. Also, we’re going to release a new variation of Boyfriend for Valentine’s day 2012, so keep your eyes open!
- What is your favorite item in the line? And if you were going to add something, what would it be? My favorite item in the line is the Dry Spray Body Oil! It was very important to me to make one—because I fell in love with dry spray oils years ago while lying on a beach! I knew my line had to have one. What would I add? I would add more skincare type products—lotions, body wash etc.
- Is developing a perfume something you always knew you would do? Certainly not. But I also never thought I’d do 5 seasons of Private Practice, either. Fragrance has always been an interest for me—but not just the scent…the packaging, the bottles, the allure.
- What’s your favorite thing about Boyfriend? I love that it appeals to both men and women. I wore it on set during a crossover episode of Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy and several of my male co-workers asked what I was wearing and said they had to get it for their wife or girlfriend! I think it appeals to men in kind of a narcissistic way—-it smells feminine, but somewhere in there they know it also smells like them.
- For the guys out there, what are a few scents that you love? Polo, Drakkar and Aveda hair products. My boyfriend uses Aveda and the scent of it on his hair drives me crazy!
- Okay, and lastly, what’s is your favorite makeup product? Christian Dior Crème De Rose Smoothing Plumping Lip Balm. It’s amazing!
Isn’t she adorable? She is so genuine (don’t people say that about every celebrity? I’m not sure what we expect) and I love her honest approach to fragrance creation. You can nab a Boyfriend of your very own at Sephora.
