Bee Shapiro and the body milk that started Ellis Brooklyn

You learn a lot about a founder from what she launches first, and Bee Shapiro launched body milk when everyone else would have launched perfume. That choice still explains Ellis Brooklyn.

Williamsburg in 2015 was strollers and construction dust, small beauty startups working out of apartments, the open plan New York Times office across the river where Shapiro filed beauty copy. She was pregnant with her first daughter, Ellis, testing products by day and living in Brooklyn by night. Luxury clean skin care had Tata Harper and RMS. Fragrance had nothing that felt equivalent.

Shapiro had spent more than a decade at the Times covering beauty, celebrity and fashion. She bootstrapped the brand with no investor and started with two body milks, because spraying parfum in that office felt obnoxious. Four eau de parfums followed in 2016 after three years of development. Now the line sits at Sephora, Ulta, Credo, Revolve, Bluemercury and MECCA, with a Series A behind it.

What we noticed, talking through the range and the sell through, is discipline about wear. Shapiro develops on skin, not on the blotter. She talks about safer ingredients with lawyer precision. And she still runs it like a founder brand, not a corporate one. That is the thesis for the next hour: scent that romanticizes the everyday, built to last to hour eight.

You started Ellis Brooklyn in Williamsburg in 2015 with two body milks, not parfum, because you were pregnant and sharing an open plan Times office. What did that restraint teach you about how scent should behave in real life?

Thank you for having me. I was the beauty columnist at the Times for about six years when I became pregnant with my first daughter, Ellis, and I was living in Brooklyn. That is why the name. I was testing products all day and I wanted safer luxury scent, but there was nothing like what Tata Harper and RMS were doing for skin and makeup. Nothing equivalent in fragrance.

I started with body milk because spraying perfume in an open plan office while pregnant felt obnoxious. Milk sat close to skin. It wore beautifully through the day and warmed to skin, which is what I wanted. I want different kinds of scents, like a scent that actually wears beautifully throughout the day, warms to your skin. And two, I wanted scents that use safer ingredients. That start taught me sillage, which is the trail scent leaves, should be considered. Skin first, room second.

You say four eau de parfums followed in 2016 after three years of development with Jerome Epinette, who did eight of your first ten scents. What finally made Myth ready to leave the lab?

Myth was about airiness with staying power, which is hard. The notes tell the story. Bergamot, ambrette seeds and cassis on top, then tiger orchid, pink lotus and jasmine petals, then patchouli, liquid musks and white cedarwood in the dry down, which is the final stage after the top notes evaporate. Jerome Epinette understood I did not want a blotter scent. A blotter is that paper strip you smell in store. Pretty on paper can go flat on skin in twenty minutes.

We kept testing on skin, morning to night. I purposely design scents to change as the day goes on because I was literally sitting with myself all day. Myth had to stay sophisticated at hour eight, not sweet, not sharp. When the musk sat soft and the jasmine still read clean at dinner, we knew. It now has 4.7 stars from 165 reviews on our site, and it sells steadily, not as a spike.

Your site used to lean on the word clean and now says, we do not use the word clean anymore because it is not defined clearly or regulated. What changed in how you brief safety?

I love that women founders were changing the conversation and really advocating for every woman out there with clean and safe ingredients. That is where the idea of a clean and sustainable brand, Ellis Brooklyn, was born. But clean became a marketing word. It is not defined clearly or regulated, so we stopped using it.

Our promise did not change. We decided at the very beginning that we would assess each ingredient for its safety, beauty and impact on its environment. Our pillars are clean ingredients, sustainable sourcing, unforgettable scents. In practice that means we use the EU baseline, which restricts more than 1,300 ingredients, instead of the US baseline of about 30. We follow IFRA safety standards, which set use levels for fragrance materials. No phthalates, no parabens. In perfumery, phthalates are a big culprit. Just as there are good naturals there are bad naturals, and just as there are safe synthetics, so are there unsafe synthetics that we avoid.

Salt pairs Tahitian tiare and magnolia with musk, sandalwood and a vegan ambergris via NaturePrint, and the copy calls it salty skin and creamy sun heat. How do you get brine without it turning sunscreeny?

Salt is sensual, complex and soul healing to me. Ylang ylang and violet leaves open it, then Tahitian tiare and magnolia, then musk, vegan ambergris and sandalwood. The risk with beach scents is they tip into suntan lotion. Too much coconut, too much sweetness, and you lose skin.

We kept Salt salty first. Pierre Negrin built that mineral edge, then rounded it with creamy florals and sun warmed wood. The vegan ambergris gives salty warmth without whale derived ambergris. It is one of our most reviewed scents, 4.6 stars from 238 reviews, and people wear it year round. Spray on skin, not clothes, and let body heat do the work. On me it starts bright and dries down close and warm. That is the test. Does it still smell like you, only better, after the commute.

You have said working with a perfumer is like dating and needs a shared vocabulary for words like sexy and fresh. What does that process look like on a current brief?

It really is like dating. You need a shared vocabulary. When I say sexy, what do I mean. When I say fresh, do I mean citrus or do I mean air. I do not send mood boards and marketing reports. It is just us. Words over decks.

I write the story first. There is no better way to tell a story more impactfully than without words, that is, via an unforgettable scent. Then Jerome or Pierre will send mods, which are small trial versions. I wear them, not just sniff. I live life through our nose, and scent memory is real. I test at my desk, on the subway, after cooking. I take notes like a writer. Too green at noon. Too flat at four. Then we talk. That back and forth can take months. A founder brand can afford that patience. A corporate timeline often cannot.

There is no better way to tell a story more impactfully than without words, that is, via an unforgettable scent.

Bee Shapiro

You bootstrapped, then raised a 9 million dollar Series A led by REDO Ventures in October 2023, with about 12.2 million total across five rounds. What did that money change about doors and reorders?

Bootstrapping taught me control. I have never had an internship. I just went out and did things and I got jobs. I was only a lawyer for seven months and then I quit. So I built slowly. Two milks in 2015, four eau de parfums and Sephora.com in 2016. Then Credo, Revolve, Bluemercury, Ulta, MECCA. Sephora and Ulta mean doors, which is store count, and sell through, which is what actually sells to customers, not just what ships in.

The Series A let us plan inventory and support reorders without guessing. Fragrance has long lead times. If Myth spikes, you cannot make more overnight. Funding helped us stay in stock, invest in discovery and show up properly in store. It did not change the brief. Scents of belonging. Fragrances that romanticize our everyday life. Fragrance that tells your story. That still guides what we make and what we decline.

Body mists at 26 and 39 dollars are booming while your 50 ml eau de parfums sit at 115 dollars. Banana Milkshake sold out in a month. How do you keep the mist buyer moving up without cheapening the parfum?

Mists are entry and play. They are lighter concentration, lower pigment load in makeup terms, or here lower perfume oil load, so wear time is shorter by design. Payoff, which is color or scent impact on application, is softer. That is fine for gym bags and desks. Banana Milkshake going viral and selling out in a month told us discovery works when price feels low risk.

Parfum is different intent. Finish, which is how a product looks or smells once settled, matters more. Transfer, which is movement onto clothes, and wear time matter more. We keep the lines distinct. Mists flirt. Eau de parfums commit. The Mystery Discovery Set helps too. Six 2 ml vials for 27 dollars, including Apple Love, Myth, Salt, Vanilla Milk, Sweet and Florist. Sample on skin for a week, then buy the bottle. Dupe culture, which chases lookalikes, fades when the original wears better and the story holds.

You blend naturals and synthetics and say synthetics are sometimes safer or more sustainable, with sustainable sourcing under CITES and Ecocert and carbon neutral shipping. Where do you draw the line?

We use both natural and synthetic ingredients. We use a high level of naturals compared to luxury peers, but we choose synthetics when they are safer or more sustainable. That is the tradeoff people skip. Natural does not always mean safe, and synthetic does not always mean bad.

We avoid silicones as a cheap quick fix. We are paraben free and phthalate free. All eau de parfums are PETA certified vegan and cruelty free. We source under CITES, which governs trade in endangered plants and animals, and work with Ecocert and FSC suppliers where relevant, and we ship carbon neutral via the Carbon Fund. If a natural requires overharvest or carries allergen load we cannot manage, we will use a better synthetic. Beauty first, safety second, impact third, and all three have to pass.

Shade ranges stop three shades short and fragrance has its own exclusions, from price to projection on different skin. Who is Ellis Brooklyn for, and who is it still missing?

We make for wearable luxury buyers who want scent that lives with them. Women founders changed this category by advocating for safety without giving up beauty. I wanted scents that wear beautifully and use safer ingredients. That buyer swatches before she buys. She knows a launch from a restock. She keeps a receipt for anything sold as universal.

Are we for everyone yet. Not fully. Price at 115 dollars keeps some people in mists and travel sprays at 33 dollars, which is honest. Projection varies by skin chemistry, so a scent that blooms on me may sit close on you. That is why we push skin testing over paper. I would rather someone buy the 27 dollar set and find her story than buy blind and return. What would make us sell harder is more sampling in doors and clearer guidance on strength. Tell her what lasts, what sits close, what to layer.

Last one, buyer to founder. If a reader buys one bottle this fall, which one, and how should she wear it for full value?

If you like airy white florals, buy Myth. Bergamot and cassis lift it, tiger orchid and jasmine keep it pretty, liquid musks and white cedarwood hold it. Spray once on each side of neck and once on wrist, do not rub. Let it settle. It is sophisticated day to night.

If you like warm skin scents, buy Salt. Tiare and magnolia over musk and sandalwood, that vegan ambergris warmth. One spray on chest under clothes, one on forearm. It blooms with heat. Both are 50 ml for 115 dollars, and both come in 10 ml travel sprays for 33 dollars if you want to date before you commit. Have a real vision, one that can include many others, and then plan, but do not overplan. That is how I built this. Start with skin, end with story.

Closing note from the desk

What stays after this conversation is how plainly Shapiro talks about tradeoffs. Paper versus skin, natural versus synthetic, mist versus parfum, story versus safety data. She picks skin, blend, parfum and both. That clarity reads in the bottles.

Ellis Brooklyn set out to make fragrance that tells your story, romantic and wearable, assessed for safety, beauty and environmental impact. A decade on from Williamsburg, Myth and Salt show what that means at hour eight. Soft, present, still you.

Product spotlight

Myth, 115 dollars for 50 ml. An airy white floral with jasmine petals, tiger orchid and pink lotus over liquid musks and white cedarwood. For daytime polish that dries down soft and warm. Spray on skin after moisturizer, wear alone, reapply only if you want more lift.

Salt, 115 dollars for 50 ml. A salty skin scent with Tahitian tiare, magnolia, musk, vegan ambergris and sandalwood. For creamy heat and beach memory without lotion sweetness. Spray on chest and forearms, let body heat bloom it through the day.