Chriselle Lim Created Perfumes to Heal Her Pain
By Kelli Luu | 23 Oct, 2025

After going through a public divorce, Chriselle Lim transformed her pain into purpose as she reinvented PHLUR into one of the fastest growing fragrance lines in the United States.

In a world that overflows with different scents, Chriselle Lim figured out how to turn a fragrance line into a multimillion-dollar fragrance brand that is influencing modern perfumery. Originally founded in 2015, PHLUR was established as a fine-fragrance brand that was carefully crafted and responsibly sourced, but it wasn’t until Chriselle Lim acquired the company and led it to success. 

Before becoming PHLUR’s owner and creative director in 2021, Lim was making a name for herself as one of fashion’s most recognizable voices. She worked as a stylist while posting styling videos on YouTube and began to grow a following, which led her to launch her own blog called The Chriselle Factor, in 2011. She was being recognized by major brands and was offered influencer collaboration deals with Gucci and Chanel. 

But behind the polished runway looks Lim would share with the world, she was actually going through a divorce that publicly left her in one of the darkest moments of her life. And that's when she decided to take the reins of PHLUR and make it her mission to translate emotions into a scent. 

The feelings that engulfed her during this time led her to create Missing Person, a perfume that took the internet by storm as it reminded customers of their former loved ones. PHLUR went from a quiet, minimalist fragrance line to one that screams emotional luxury with their clean ingredients and nostalgic offerings. 

For Lim, PHLUR was more than just her business. It was her way of healing. Each of the scents she developed represented an emotion she once felt, directing the true meaning of a fragrance from just being a luxury label to having actual connection. 

Under Lim’s direction, PHLUR evolved into one of the fastest growing fragrance brands in the United States with expectations to exceed $150 million in retail sales for this year. Many other scents like Father Figure and Not Your Baby have also gone viral on social media not just because they smell good, but because they tell stories. 

From fragrance to fashion and from heart break to healing, Chriselle Lim has shown the world that you can rewrite your story at any stage in life and that your feelings can be bottled and shared with the world.