Kayali Enters China With 300-Door Sephora Rollout

By Daniel Okafor

Kayali has entered China with a rollout across more than 300 Sephora doors, ending a two-year preparation for the Dubai-based fragrance brand.

The launch is exclusive to Sephora, Kayali's longtime retail partner. The initial lineup covers seven of the brand's cult scents: Vanilla 28, Yum Boujee Marshmallow 81, Musk 12, Freedom Musk Santal 34, Eden Juicy Apple 01, Eden Sparkling Lychee 39 and Fleur Majesty Rose Royale 31. All seven are also available on Sephora's WeChat Mini Program store. Nine additional scents arrive through November.

Founder and chief executive officer Mona Kattan is setting deliberate expectations for the market.

"We're patient, we want to build our local community slowly, we are not here just to move volume, we are here for the long run," Kattan said.

How is Kayali adapting to Chinese consumers?

Kattan said her team is researching local culture and preferences and wants to learn from Chinese consumers rather than assume the brand already knows what they want. She has even tried local desserts, known for their not-too-sweet appeal, as part of that homework.

The approach reflects the pace of Kayali's product development. Working with DSM-Firmenich (a fragrance ingredients and creation house), a Kayali scent takes around two years to develop on average, with the oil itself often requiring about 18 months. Kattan wants to bring that work in-house eventually, citing Chanel and Zara as benchmarks.

"My dream is to take everything in-house, which requires a lot of investment and even more risk," Kattan said. "Maybe 10 or 15 years from now."

Her China trip began Wednesday at a Sephora flagship, where she met local beauty advisers. She then hosted an intimate Scent Lab, demonstrating fragrance combinations for local beauty voices. Scent layering (combining multiple fragrances to create different moods) is a trending discourse in Chinese consumer culture, and Kattan used the Shanghai conversation to show how it works.

"People should know what they like and what they don't like, so they can make better decisions," said Kattan, who observed the Chinese consumer is "very studious and research-driven."

"We want to help people become perfume experts. I think Chinese consumers have already mastered skin care, fragrance has to come next," she added, framing the category as a catalyst for confident self-expression.

Kattan pointed to a cultural shift she sees in China. "There's a different shift I see in China, where people are able to be bold with fragrance and not feel like that's rude, which is really cool," she said.

She also hosted a masterclass with singer and creator Harrison Yu and spent a day on retail culture immersion, meeting the founder of Documents, a local label known for its artful narrative centered on Chinese traditional culture. "I loved their car scent, their diffuser, we should do a collaboration," Kattan said.

What does the launch change for Sephora China?

The meet-up forms part of Sephora's ongoing investment in its community of brand founders.

"What we would like to do is to make sure that all the great creativity can cross-pollinate, and this is what we've been doing for many years with many, many brands," said Agnes Brissiaud, Sephora's vice president of global merchandising for fragrance and hair care.

"We want to continue to bring what we believe is the most curated assortment that clients would want, both from international brands but also Chinese founder brands," Brissiaud added.

Sephora has been updating its China assortment with local players since last year, adding makeup labels Joocyee, Red Chamber, Passional Lover, Babi, Out Of Office and Censto. Last April, 11 beauty brands joined, including Florasis, Perfect Diary, Into You, Funny Elves, Nuscents, You&Pure, Guyu and C Ka.

The Kayali launch coincided with the fourth annual Sephoria Shanghai, held for the first time at Zhangyuan ahead of Singles' Day. With nine more scents landing in November and a founder willing to wait a decade for vertical integration, Kayali is positioning China as a long-term build rather than a volume play.