News

Dec 11, 2023

Lauren Conrad Used Her Own Love Story for Her Fragrance Inspiration

Lauren Conrad's early days with husband William Tell included scotch, flowers

Lauren Conrad's early days with husband William Tell included scotch, flowers and memories she wanted to bottle up forever

Lauren Conrad's husband, William Tell, played an integral role in the creation of her first fragrance, LOVED.

Launched in April, LOVED is Conrad's real-life love story with her husband, which she wanted to bottle up and wear all the time.

"When I first met my husband, I was wearing a floral perfume, and I would always wear it on our dates," Conrad told PEOPLE. "When we would go out, we would usually go out for drinks. He would always drink scotch, which has a really strong smell to it. When I smell that combination, it takes me back."

Conrad, 36, combined the musk and floral scents into LOVED, which launches on HSN today. Working on the fragrance during the pandemic gave her something to focus her energy on, but because of safety protocols, her process was unique.

"I worked with my favorite scents and created several starting points and then would narrow it down," she said of how she eventually got the final scent profile, which combines white tea, gardenia, peony and musk. "From there, it would get mailed to me and I would have to sit there and smell them, wear them throughout the day and sort of live in them."

Tell, 42, helped her navigate the process by giving her feedback on which scents he liked, as the fragrance eventually started to take shape. Pulling their love story together into a bottle meant including both of them to make sure it came out just right. Conrad even carried the story through to the bottle — using a decanter as inspiration for the bottle itself and her favorite roses as the top.

"The rose that's on top was based off a rose that actually grows outside of our kitchen window," she shared. "It's one of my favorite David Austin roses, so I took pictures of it from every angle." When it came time to craft the bottle, though, the plan changed.

"Originally, the top was either going to be white or brass and then the bottle was going to be glass, but they 3D-printed it and sent it to me to get the shape," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my God, I love it in all white,'" adding that she thought it looked too chic to pass up.

As a fan of fragrances and as someone who loves going back to her favorite scents time and time again, Conrad was excited to add her own creation into the mix. "I've always thought of perfumes as making me feel fancier, which sounds a little silly, but whether it's going out on a date or stepping into a meeting, I feel like having that scent accompany you is always so nice," she shared, adding that she loves to rotate scents with the seasons and with her moods. Now that she has LOVED, it's become a go-to on her vanity, but she's not afraid to "mix it up, too" and still reach for her other faves.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Conrad's fragrance originally launched on Scent Beauty but is also available through HSN now. "The more people you can be exposed to, the more people you can share your fragrance with, and hopefully that leads to growth," she shared of expanding her reach. The collection includes the LOVED Gift Set ($65), LOVED Eau de Parfum ($59) and LOVED Body Lotion ($25). It's currently only available online, but Conrad hasn't fully ruled out the possibility of it being featured on TV. She shared that they haven't discussed it "as of now" but it's not off the table.

The former star of The Hills and co-founder of The Little Market said she thinks scents are so strongly tied to memories, which is why her early days with Tell felt like the right place to start for what could be a growing fragrance collection. There are more ideas rolling around in her head and on the drawing board — some tied to memories, some simply tied to her favorite things — that could turn into a new fragrance at some point, but it's only one of the many things on her plate as an entrepreneur.

Conrad also runs her Kohl's apparel collection LC Lauren Conrad, her kids' collection Little Co. by Lauren Conrad, her nonprofit The Little Market and her overall brand Lauren Conrad Co. This is all on top of parenting her two boys, Liam, 5, and Charlie, 2.