Perfume is deeply personal. A scent that feels effortless on one person can feel completely overwhelming on another, and for some, that difference can come with an actual headache.
Octavia Morgan knows that experience firsthand. Before founding Octavia Morgan Los Angeles, the former hospice and palliative care nurse began developing sensitivities to certain fragrances, which changed the way she thought about scent, formulation, and what performance in fragrance should actually feel like.
We spoke with Morgan about why some perfumes can feel more triggering than others, what “clean” fragrance does and doesn’t tell you, and how she thinks about creating scent with presence without letting it take over. We also got into her newest launch, ROOM 33, and where it fits within the world she’s building.
In Conversation with Octavia Morgan
You were a registered nurse before moving into fragrance. How did that background influence the way you thought about ingredients, sensitivity, and what you wanted your own fragrance brand to stand for?
Being a Hospice and Palliative Care Registered Nurse shaped so much of how I think about fragrance. I worked closely with patients and families during incredibly sensitive moments, and I became very aware of how our environment including scent can affect how people feel
I also have my own sensitivity to certain fragrances, so when I started Octavia Morgan Los Angeles, I knew I wanted to approach fragrance differently. I wanted beautiful, luxurious scents, but I also wanted intentionality behind the formulation. Clean and cruelty-free became non-negotiables for me. I wanted to create fragrances that could have presence without feeling like they had to overpower a room.
My nursing career taught me to listen, observe and lead with empathy. I still bring those principles into everything I create.
When someone says perfume gives them a headache, what have you learned from your own experience and years developing fragrance about why that happens, and what factors tend to make one scent more triggering than another?
I always start by believing the person. Fragrance is incredibly personal, and people can respond very differently to the exact same scent.
From my own experience, I learned that it isn’t necessarily as simple as identifying one “bad” ingredient. The intensity of the fragrance, how much is applied, the environment you’re wearing it in, and the overall composition can all influence the experience. Certain scent profiles may also be more challenging for an individual than others.
That is why I encourage people who know they are fragrance-sensitive to discover fragrance slowly. Start with a small amount, experience it on your skin, and pay attention to how you feel rather than assuming that because everyone else loves a fragrance, it will work for you.
And if fragrance consistently causes headaches or other symptoms, that’s something worth discussing with a healthcare professional rather than trying to diagnose through a perfume label.
When a perfume feels overwhelming, what is usually happening from a fragrance perspective? Is it more about projection, concentration, certain notes, the way ingredients are layered, or some combination of all of those things?
It can absolutely be a combination.
People often assume concentration alone determines whether a fragrance will feel overwhelming, but fragrance is more nuanced than that. Projection, dosage, the materials being used, how those materials interact, and even where you’re wearing the fragrance can affect the experience.
I think of fragrance almost like music. You can have many instruments playing together beautifully without any single one screaming for attention. That’s what I’m looking for when we develop a fragrance. I want complexity and longevity, but I also want balance.
Luxury doesn’t have to mean loud.
Natural versus synthetic is another area where consumers hear a lot of conflicting information. Is it a mistake to assume a naturally derived fragrance will automatically be easier for a sensitive person to wear? What do you think about that distinction when you formulate?
Yes. “Natural” doesn’t automatically mean that something will be better tolerated by every person, just as “synthetic” doesn’t automatically mean something is harmful.
Natural fragrance materials contain chemical constituents too, and an individual can be sensitive to naturally derived materials. High-quality synthetic materials can also be incredibly important to modern perfumery. They can give a perfumer precision, consistency and creative possibilities that aren’t always achievable with natural materials alone.
For me, the conversation is less about natural versus synthetic and more about thoughtful formulation, ingredient standards, balance and transparency. I don’t believe consumers should be taught to fear an ingredient simply because of where it comes from.
“Clean fragrance” is everywhere now, but the term can mean very different things from brand to brand. What do you think consumers should actually be asking instead of simply looking for the word “clean”?
I think consumers should ask, “What does clean mean to this brand?”
That’s the important question because there isn’t one universal definition being used across the entire beauty industry.
Look beyond the marketing language. What standards has the brand established? What ingredients or practices does it prioritize or avoid? Is it transparent about its philosophy? Does it explain why those decisions were made?
At Octavia Morgan Los Angeles, clean fragrance is part of a larger philosophy that includes being vegan, cruelty-free and intentional about how we formulate. But I also think brands have a responsibility to communicate what their terminology means rather than expecting one word on a package to tell the entire story.
You just launched ROOM 33, which we love. What made ROOM 33 the fragrance you wanted to create next?
ROOM 33 came from wanting to create a fragrance that felt like entering a private world.
There is something intriguing about a hotel room—the anonymity, intimacy, anticipation and the idea that for one night, you can become whoever you want to be. I wanted to capture that feeling in fragrance.
ROOM 33 opens with pear and pink peppercorn, moves into tuberose, and settles into blond wood and amber. It’s sensual, but it doesn’t reveal everything immediately. It draws you closer.
That’s why our invitation is simply: Step Inside ROOM 33.
When you picture the person wearing ROOM 33, who are they? What do you imagine about their energy, style, or the way they move through a room?
They don’t need to announce themselves.
There’s an effortless confidence about them. They understand that presence isn’t necessarily about being the loudest person in the room. Sometimes it’s about the person everyone notices without quite knowing why.
Their style is polished but personal. They’re sensual without trying too hard. There’s also a little mystery there. You may meet them and immediately want to know more.
ROOM 33 is that energy in a bottle. SHOP ROOM 33 HERE
How does ROOM 33 sit alongside the rest of your collection? Where does ROOM 33 sit for you personally?
Every fragrance in our collection has its own personality, but they’re connected by intentionality, layering and emotional connection.
MIDNIGHT ORCHARD has this warm, decadent quality. DARK ROSE is deeper and provocative. VANILLIN SUPREME explores vanilla in a more sophisticated and unexpected way. LEGENDARY has an especially personal history because it connects directly to my time as a nurse.
ROOM 33 introduces another side of the house. It’s intimate, sensual and transportive. It feels like an evolution of where Octavia Morgan Los Angeles is today while still being unmistakably part of our fragrance language.
Personally, ROOM 33 represents stepping into the next chapter. There is something very special about creating a fragrance at this stage of the brand, after everything I’ve learned as both a founder and a perfumer.
Which fragrance in your collection feels most like a reflection of you, and what about it feels the most personal?
LEGENDARY. It will always have a deeply personal connection to me because its story goes back to my life as a Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse. I wanted something I could wear in that environment that felt polished and sophisticated without dominating the space around me.
LEGENDARY has amber, cocoa and vanilla layered with cedar, spices, musk, sandalwood, papyrus and cardamom. It’s warm, grounded and quietly confident.
In many ways, it represents both chapters of my life the nurse I was and the fragrance founder I became. My career changed, but the intention behind what I do never really did. I still want to create something that makes people feel seen, considered and cared for.
