Can a shower give you better ideas? Studies suggest that it’s possible, and chances may improve with a neuroscience-backed functional fragrance in the mix. This hidden potential for heightened creativity was enough to inspire a few best friends to launch Baude (sounds like “bod”), a body care line that uses patented scent technology designed to generate brain activity.
“The three of us realized that we always get our best ideas in the shower,” says cofounder Heather Rosenthal of conversations with Monica Ha and Charlotta Hellichius. Next came the R&D (years of research and countless rain baths), followed by the first collection: Darkwave Utopia. It’s a wash and lotion that eschews marketing minimalism for nostalgia-drenched maximalism.
“Beauty has a special place in my heart because most of my family works in the industry,” says Ha, who “was essentially raised in a beauty salon.” The trio spent over a decade together as friends and amassed the kind of collective work experience that city life brings, with Ha designing denim and running a creative agency, Hellichius specializing in branding and product innovation, and Rosenthal working with fashion houses like Tory Burch and Opening Ceremony. (Designer turned restaurateur Humberto Leon and Moda Operandi’s beauty director Jessica Matlin are Baude’s advisors.) With lots of late nights out dancing, body care became a day-after recovery tool, and Ha remembers the group “constantly sending recs” before realizing that the simple act of bathing was having a shared benefit.
“There’s nothing new around fragrances changing how you feel,” Hellichius admits. “Scented body care is an ancient tradition that’s been around since the Greeks.” What’s new is the level of stimuli in our lives. “Sometimes the shower is the only time I’m really getting a break in my day,” she says, praising the absence of screens and distractions. The concept has long fascinated scientific and artistic communities: In Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being, he describes seemingly boring tasks as a way of unlocking creative thoughts. This is also discussed in a study where participants reported moments of insight happening in the shower, and Einstein is often credited for wondering why he got his best ideas in the shower. “Your mind wanders, and it often makes really interesting connections,” Rosenthal says. “We thought, If this is happening to us, this must be happening for other people. Then we started to look for waterproof technology that could really stimulate the brain even more, and we found functional fragrance.”
It brought them to Emotiwaves—developed by fragrance collaborator Firmenich—a so-secret-they-can’t-share-it blend of essential oils that fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) shows activates brain zones for excitement, pleasure, and peacefulness. “When you have feelings of pleasure, calmness, or happiness, you have that moment to be creative,” says Ha of building their own Darkwave Utopia scent notes like cut stems, moss, and juniper tar, on top of the patented accord.
Then there were the “very long conversations about bubbles and bubble size,” she laughs. Inside cellulite-inspired textured (and recycled) packaging, both the wash and lotion are hybrid gel-meets-cream formulas. The former can double as a shave assist with the slippery ingredient polyquaternium, while the latter hydrates with coconut oil and a lightweight ester for quick absorption. “All of our products comply with EU cosmetic regulations, and that’s a lot more stringent than the US—they ban hundreds more ingredients found to be harmful to humans,” Ha explains. The post-gender formulas also match the skin’s pH to protect the microbiome and respect the natural barrier.
“Once we got different options for the perfume, we would smell them and say, ‘What does this remind you of?’” says Ha. A year spent experiencing their inaugural scent brought comparisons to freshly mown grass, hair dye, and patent leather bouncing, alongside references from moody films like Edward Scissorhands and Blue Velvet and ’80s albums like Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration. Generating their own fresh ideas “fleshed out the fanciful world that we’re building.” It’s full of zines and synths and a lot of suburban goth talk, welcome to anyone interested in mood-shifting break from the basics.
