Taya Tomasello grew up in the Central West End, roller skating on the meandering streets of Forest Park and enjoying frozen vanilla custard on long days under the sun. Years later, she would bottle up those sweet memories from her childhood in “Fleurish 1876,” a fragrance she created in honor of her hometown.
“Growing up as a girl whose mom had to pinch her cheeks because she wouldn’t wear makeup…it was strange to find myself in cosmetics and beauty but I really enjoyed it,” says Tomasello, who started her career in the beauty industry in Chicago. Throughout her young professional life, she helped build the fragrance category at Francescas, the women’s clothing and jewelry boutique, and launched a perfume inspired by The Windy City for the Chicago Botanic Garden. Along the way, she gained experience harvesting flowers, extracting their oils, and mixing them to create the desired aroma—experiences that helped plant the seed for a St. Louis-inspired perfume.
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“I’d done a fragrance for Chicago and I’m a St. Louis girl,” says the 42-year-old mother of two. “I’d always wanted to launch a perfume for St. Louis and Forest Park because I had the fondest memories there.”
After living in Chicago for 10 years, in 2014 Tomasello and her family, including her husband and two young sons, moved back to St. Louis. Within three years, she decided to make good on her dream. “Fleurish 1876” consists of flowers and plants that are easy to spot throughout Forest Park–including bergamot, honeysuckle, and Missouri primrose–as well as a hint of vanilla, which calls to mind the sweetness of frozen custard. The reference to 1876 is a nod to the year that Forest Park opened to the public. According to Tomasello, the goal was always to create a fragrance that makes people feel “confident and independent.”
Tomasello works full-time but runs the fragrance business from her home in Ladue, often with the help of her sons. “It’s really great to be able to make [the fragrance] with them–it’s special for them to see me doing this,” she says.
“Fleurish 1876” is available at Procure by the Women’s Creative and the Missouri History Museum gift shop, as well as on kotezi.com.
