Scent memories inspire sisters' new fragrance company, Eau de Nous

Jasmine. Gardenia. Neroli. Lemon.

Growing up in Puerto Rico under the direction of a jasmine-loving actress mother, Daya and Vally Fernandez were besotted with celestial tropical scents.

Their fragrance company, Eau de Nous, has been around for less than a year, but already the scents have been embraced by celebs including Demi Moore, Hayden Panettiere and Rachael Leigh Cook.

We caught up with Daya at the Empire Hotel’s Allure Lounge during New York Fashion Week, and she explained how, exactly, she and her sister turned their olfactory memories into a fragrance company.

Celebrity acceptance came easily to the vivacious Daya, who worked as Tom Cruise’s personal assistant on three movies, created a Parker Brothers board game while playing dominos with Salma Hayek, and was an actress herself before becoming
a perfumer.

“Chanel’s Gardenia was the inspiration” that led to the redolent, Tahitian-tinted Gardenian Gift, said Daya, who started mixing essential oils she scrounged in L.A. and ended up supervising production in Shanghai.

Bebe Breeze, a potent lemony blend of rose and lilies that’s now the brand’s best-seller, was ignited by a Proustian perfume memory the sisters had of a cologne named “Baby” they used in high school. Jasmine Joy is a heady, tropical homage to their mom, while Citrus Charm is a gentle grapefruit-and-orange blend with an undercurrent of water lily.

The perfumes, which cost $15-$50, are available at eaudenous.com.