Shawn Mendes Talks Launching His First Fragrance

There’s clearly nothing holding Shawn Mendes back from pursuing endeavors outside of his wildly successful music career. At 19, the Canadian singer-songwriter has hits such as “Stitches,” “Treat You Better” and what may be the song of the summer, “There’s Nothing Holdin‘ Me Back,” and recently released his first beauty venture: a unisex fragrance called Shawn Mendes Signature.

Christina Aguilera, 50 Cent, Keith Urban, Katy Perry and Rihanna have all released fragrances. Mendes is the latest to have reached the level where this kind of brand extension into the beauty market is feasible. Just ask his 24 million Instagram followers who learned about Shawn Mendes Signature through a series of four videos announcing the scent.

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The videos, shot by photographer and videographer Danny Clinch, comprise the campaign launch. In them, the camera quietly captures behind-the-scenes moments with Mendes on the road, writing, greeting fans and strumming his guitar.

“I wanted to make sure we weren’t doing the average photo shoot, but something very genuine and authentic,” Mendes tells The Hollywood Reporter. The videos have each garnered around 1.8 million views and tens of thousands of comments. And that’s before his fans and “likers” have even smelled the scent.

Inside the aquamarine-tinged glass bottle with a bronze guitar pick dangling from its guitar string-wrapped cap, is the perfume that Mendes says is “reminiscent of the smells he grew up wearing or were worn around him.”

At the heart of the fragrance (and perhaps the singer) is a maple accord that is a nod to Mendes’ Canadian roots. It’s enlivened by tropical top notes of pineapple plus McIntosh apple and lemon oil. Dulce de Leche, white cedar and skin musk make up the base.

“Growing up, I was very big on candles and lotions,” says the singer. “These are all the smells that I like.”

The design of the bottle and box was something he says was also very personal and took a long time to perfect to ensure it represented him as an artist.

“I wanted to create something very real,” says Mendes of the blue box and bottle with bronze details. The fragrance’s logo is an acoustic guitar made of trees to represent a sound wave and the Toronto skyline. The guitar pick that dangles from the bottle’s cap is engraved with Mendes’ signature.

“The process has been hugely different,” he says of making a perfume versus writing or performing a song. “I’ve never created something that will be put in stores. It’s always been something people can listen to or watch.”

If the response to his launch videos is any indication, there’s likely a rush of his fans clamoring to get a bottle. Naturally, his family already seems to be smitten with the scent. “My aunt was wearing it when she came to see me perform in Toronto,” says Mendes. “My whole family really loves it.”

Shawn Mendes Signature is now available at shawnsignature.com, Macy’s store and macys.com and ranges in price from $20 for a .33 oz rollerball size to $59.50 for a 3.4 oz size bottle.