I wanted Efori to feel like a pause to busy women,” Erica Parham said, standing at the fragrance bar in her sensory studio and shipping hub. “We always leave self-care for when you’re already burnt out, you’re already tired, your body’s breaking down, you’re dehydrated. So I wanted it to be a quick little pause in your day. And this was also something I needed, too.”
Parham has been delighting the senses at local markets for the past two years, and those face-to-face interactions account for nearly half of her business. The rest comes through online purchases, which present challenges in the fragrance space. Parham mindfully developed her web presence to include an online quiz to uncover a client’s fragrance guide, one of the four Efori flagship fragrances that most speaks to them in the moment: Connection, Power, Peace and Self. “I wanted people to visualize themselves in a certain scenario to be able to pick that way,” she explained.
A nurse from 2009 until 2020, Parham knows how to nourish and nurture. With her husband deployed and a brand-new baby at home, she left nursing during the pandemic and launched her non-toxic candle company, Sugar & Grace, founded in Virginia and featured on “Good Morning America,” not once, but twice.
A 2023 Navy relocation gave Parham the chance to recenter herself in a mindful approach to entrepreneurship in the Coastal Bend. “I literally rebranded and created this in a hotel room on base,” she recalled. With the family of five in a single room, Parham and her support network crafted Efori, named for the Haitian-Creole term for joy. “Efori is your reminder to slow down, pause and just be joyful,” Parham said.
At the Efori studio in Portland, Parham offers DIY workshops and events on perfume, candles and body scrubs, which she also brings to the community for private bookings. Visitors blend bespoke fragrances from the scent bar’s floral, fruity, earthy and spice options. “This is just a mental health check-in for yourself that you can keep,” Parham said of the final product.
Efori’s fragrance of the month is available in the shop, online and in markets, with Parham creating limited-edition scents beyond those on the fragrance bar. For March, “Retreat” mingles jasmine, amber, coconut water, vanilla, musk, rose, driftwood, seagrass and a sand note. Parham, whose birthday is March 11, wanted the fragrance to represent a restart, which is also perfect for Spring Break. “I love the beach, so I definitely try to incorporate some saltiness when I can,” she said.
Efori scents can push boundaries, but at a pace that feels calm and natural, even for the company’s founder. “I love banana notes, so I’ve literally been working on a banana fragrance for a year, just trying to get it right,” Parham said. She’s intentionally not rushing the process, which comes across in the brand’s ethos.
Contact: efori.co
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