Lake & Skye Expands Its Horizons

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said the most difficult roads lead to the most beautiful destination. 

After years of enduring ongoing surgeries to fight a recurring ovarian cyst throughout her 20s, Courtney Somer longed to feel lighter. She found solace in wellness. One day, her yoga instructor, who practiced Kundalini, guided her class through an exercise on numerology. The teacher lectured at length about the significance of 11 11—a popular symbol of luck, spiritual awakening and manifestation. 

When seeing the numbers on their watch, some make wish. For Somer, her wish was for better health. 

The Boston College alum, who has degrees in psychology and business management, worked for Vogue as an assistant accessories editor, curating pieces for fashion and beauty shoots, as well as for a publication that catered to home décor. Somer had a nose for news as well as for good-smelling juice. 

One night, while dabbling with aromatherapy and essential oils at her kitchen table, a cherished pastime birthed a passion project. Determined to put a fragrance out into the world that would serve as a kind of olfactive medicine, she recruited help from a noted perfumer.

“I was so interested in the framework of it, what it meant, how it could help me,” Somer told Happi. “Over the years, I thought of taking all this information I had learned and helping other people feel better. Fragrance was something I’ve always loved. I was working with aromatherapy and essential oils. We leaned into fragrance when I realized that’s what people were craving.” 

Wellness-Focused Fragrance

With help from Givaudan and Robertet, specifically perfumer Jérôme Epinette, Lake & Skye—named for the middle names of her two daughters—was introduced in 2015.

The brand’s debut product, 11 11 Fragrance Oil Rollerball, continues to be a bestseller years after its launch. Like the other fragrances in the 11 11 hero collection, it bottles notes of amberwood and white musk.

Lake & Skye’s philosophy quickly won the admiration of Ulta Beauty in November 2019—its first major retail partnership—just four years after launch. The partnership continues its robust momentum. Last year, the brand released 11 11 Lychee, a “fruit-kissed” scent that aligns with this summer’s hottest fragrance ingredient. 

In January 2025, Lake & Skye was acquired by Tru Fragrance & Beauty, which had owned a minority stake in the brand since 2018.  And, a new fragrance collection is on the horizon this month.