Laura Geller Just Made Her Italian Beauty Fantasy Into A Perfume

Laura Geller has spent years putting makeup on people's faces. Now she wants to put a little Tuscany on their skin.

Laura Geller Beauty has entered the fragrance category for the first time with Tuscan Sun Eau de Toilette, a perfume inspired by the founder's long-running connection to Italy, her annual trips there, and the brand's history of manufacturing many of its products in the country.

Basically, Laura Geller took her Italian fantasy and bottled it.

Meet Tuscan Sun

The fragrance opens with Italian lemon before moving into a creamy floral heart and eventually settling into amber and vanilla.

The intended effect is less “I am wearing perfume” and more “I have somehow spent the afternoon in Tuscany and everything is golden.”

Laura Geller describes the scent as being inspired by the warmth, ease and sensory richness of Italian living, with the whole thing built around that very specific la dolce vita fantasy.

And honestly, if you're going to make a perfume called Tuscan Sun, you might as well commit.

It Took More Than a Year to Make

Geller and her team spent more than a year developing the fragrance, working with perfumer Jacques Huclier of Givaudan and using feedback from several customer panels along the way.

That last part is particularly interesting.

The brand wasn't simply trying to make a perfume that smelled expensive. It wanted Tuscan Sun to feel as personal and approachable as its makeup, which is a pretty deliberate way to move an existing customer relationship into a completely different category.

After all, someone who has spent years buying Laura Geller makeup already has an emotional relationship with the brand.

Now the brand is asking her to wear it, too.

Laura Geller Thinks Fragrance Hits Differently

Geller has described fragrance as a way to reach emotions that makeup can't quite reach.

That makes sense.

Makeup can change how you see yourself in the mirror. Perfume can change how you feel when nobody is looking.

For Geller, Tuscan Sun is supposed to create feelings of relaxation, confidence and ease, essentially turning the memory of a Tuscan holiday into something you can spray on before leaving the house.

It is a very beauty-brand way of saying: wear this when you need to mentally disappear to Italy.

Image via @lauragellerbeauty

Even the Bottle Is Doing Italian Architecture

The Italian theme doesn't stop at the juice.

The bottle has a gold-tone cap inspired by classic Roman columns, while the rounded base is designed to sit comfortably in the hand.

That ergonomic detail actually came from customer feedback, with the brand saying consumers had asked for more comfortable packaging.

I like that the prettiness has a practical excuse.

It's giving Roman architecture, but make it easy to grip.

Fragrance Is Becoming Beauty's Favorite Expansion Pack

Laura Geller is hardly alone in deciding that perfume makes sense for a beauty brand.

More makeup, skincare and lifestyle companies are moving into fragrance because scent offers something products like lipstick and moisturizer can't quite replicate: an entire emotional world.

It can also make a brand feel much bigger.

Once a customer can buy your makeup, wear your perfume and associate both with the same fantasy, you're no longer just selling individual beauty products. You're selling a mood.

Laura Geller's mood happens to be a sunny afternoon in Italy.

So Yes, Laura Geller Is Going to Tuscany

Tuscan Sun is available now in full-size and travel formats, as well as a duo, through Laura Geller Beauty.

And I actually think fragrance is a smart next move for the brand.

Laura Geller already has a recognizable story built around warmth, confidence, Italian craftsmanship and makeup that feels approachable rather than intimidating.

Perfume gives all of that another place to live.

Sometimes a brand extension feels like a random cash grab.

This one at least smells like it knows exactly where it's going.