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Bailly Fragrance

Written by the Symplicity team

Maritime Resilience is a series of stories on how local organizations are adapting to COVID-19.

COVID-19 lockdown prompts Bailly founders to look at new opportunities

For Ariel Gough and Edwina Govindsamy, the founders of Bailly, making fragrances is a chance to connect with and improve the lives of women. The company makes coconut-oil-based perfume oils that are not irritating or overpowering. Their scents are also free of harmful chemicals, such as parabens and phthalates, as well as cruelty-free and vegan.

But they realized they could do even more. Fifteen percent of every sale from the Bailly Girl Power collection of perfume oils benefits the Just Like My Child Foundation’s Girl Power Project which provides supports and programs to help girls in Central Uganda stay in school. They also run leadership programs for youth in Nova Scotia.

“We hope that our business journey inspires girls and young women to take action and achieve their dreams,” Gough said. “For us, it has always been more than making people smell good – it’s about giving back and making the world a better place.”
Gough and Govindsamy believe fragrances are personal, and some of the marketing for Bailly was focused on in-person sampling. When COVID-19 hit in March, many events and experiential opportunities were cancelled. Fortunately, Bailly has many repeat customers, women who have tried and loved the fragrances and continue to purchase online.

“We were able to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 since orders have continued to come through our website and we mostly use social media and digital to market our scents. However, we are heartbroken for businesses who have suffered devastating losses.”

Gough said the shutdown gave them much-needed time to focus on the next phase of their business. The team is spending time researching to develop a new collection. They are also looking at partnering with a manufacturer based in Atlantic Canada.

“Before COVID-19, we were ready to pull back and revisit our business, so this was a perfect time to gain perspective and look at new directions for our fragrances. We also realized it’s important to work with businesses closer to home,” Gough said. “Where previously we might have worked with partners in New York or Toronto, we’re now finding great resources in this region.”
Bailly is poised to take its scents in new directions. While COVID-19 could have been a setback, their drive to change the world helped them use it as an opportunity to develop and improve. They’re finding new ways to give back and extend their reach to make the world not only smell better but be better.

Bailly Fragrance is offering their product online and raising money for a great cause.

Visit their website or social media to see!

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