How Courtney Somer’s Wellness Journey Inspired the Creation of Fragrance Brand Lake and Skye
Fragrance is about so much more than just smelling great. It can also be an intentional tool for empowering and wellness, and Lake and Skye founder Courtney Somer knows this better than anyone.
After experiencing a health crisis in her 20s, she turned to holistic wellness and learned the overall power of aromatherapy. As a lifelong lover of fragrance, she realized she could help others use scent to improve their lives and practice self-care throughout the day, and in 2015 founded Lake and Skye. We got the chance to speak with Courtney to learn all about her journey with scent as well as becoming an entrepreneur, and here's what she shared with us.
Name: Courtney Somer
IG handles: @lakeandskye and @courtneysomer
Hometown: Manhasset, Long Island, New York
1. Courtney's foray into the fragrance world began with her health.
"I had a health crisis in my early 20s, went through multiple surgeries and was looking for a way to heal. I went to a healer as a last resort who was able to give me the information I had been looking for for years. It sparked a passion within me to learn more, and I went on to study various wellness techniques over a decade. This included aromatherapy, meditation, yoga and nutrition. When I created Lake and Skye, I wanted to infuse all this knowledge into products and bring them out into the world. I knew fragrance had the ability to uplift and transform people's emotions and I had always loved perfume, so I created Lake & Skye."
-Courtney Somer
(Image courtesy of Courtney Somer)
2. It's a challenge for her to pick just one favorite Lake and Skye fragrance.
"They all have a significance—it's hard to choose just one! 11 11 is the true original. It's the first scent in the collection and my forever favorite. I love to layer it or wear on its own. Santal Gray is our newest and just won an Allure Best of Beauty award. I have always liked sandalwood and set out to make a fragrance around that scent. Cote du Paradis is a beach day in a bottle. It's warm, sunny and sweet. It's the perfect pick-me-up."
-Courtney Somer
(via Lake and Skye)
3. The name Lake and Skye came from Courtney's daughters' middle names.
Also read about: How Her Mother's Lifelong Love of Lipstick Inspired Margarita Arriagada to Create Valdé Beauty
4. The brand is a modern, conscious beauty brand created around the belief that fragrance is a force for wellness.
"My background in the wellness industry is seeded into everything we do, from formulation to design to the stores we partner with in a mindful approach to our brand. I also consider us like the no-makeup makeup fragrance brand, like skin scents in the perfume world. Ours are more subtle and not overpowering for the person wearing them."
-Courtney Somer
(via Lake and Skye)
5. The best advice she ever got was to not sweat the small stuff.
"The things you're stressing about today, the majority of them are minor, and in the long run will work out. Why waste your valuable energy on them?"
-Courtney Somer
6. The habits of working hard yet still taking care of her mental health through meditation and knowing when to unplug have gotten her to where she is today.
Also read about: How Ashlee Elle Turned Her Passion for Crochet Into The Dream Crochet Shoppe and a Brand New Book
7. Her advice on picking out a signature scent is to "sample, sample, sample."
"The best way to know what you like is to try a variety of scents and find what types of scent families you like. Do you lean towards musks? Woody scents? Florals? A fragrance oil or eau de parfum?"
-Courtney Somer
(via Lake and Skye)
8. The most rewarding thing about her work as an entrepreneur is the chance to make people happy.
"I love being tagged on social media and we're part of someone's daily ritual or included in their fragrance wardrobe. The purpose of creating this brand was to bring something beautiful and uplifting into the world."
-Courtney Somer
For more from our favorite entrepreneurs, click HERE to read our interview with Kite Beauty founder Nina Liu.