Tyler points to cheap temporary tattoos that flake away in a day or two and car fresheners that trigger headaches, are way too strong at the start and only last a week or two. He says, “We’re taking some technological innovation and design innovation and making them a better product, and it still sits within this accessible price point.”

Starting with five varieties priced at $33 each, Olauto’s scents are intended to be atmospheric and grounded in nature. The brand employs a scent technology powered by a polymer infused with 40% fragrance oil that gradually releases the fragrance. A single freshener can last more than three months.

“Too often car scents smell like colognes or they try to mimic nature in a way that feels very artificial,” says Braden. “We wanted to use ingredients that actually made you feel like you were in unique environments, but not like the known version of those environments.”

The scent OMW is the brand’s spin on the ubiquitous cedar tree fragrance and utilizes eucalyptus and Japanese cedar. Root 66 features sandalwood and cactus water and takes inspiration from the desert landscape. Rooted in a personal memory of their father in the 1980s, Dad’s Truck incorporates bergamot and patchouli. Formula Sun is meant to conjure a sunny day with its notes of vanilla and coconut water, while ’67 Velvette has a prairie feel powered by driftwood and sweetgrass.

Tyler and Braden took cues from objects people already hang in their cars when developing the fresheners, most notably crosses. Tyler says, “We wanted to build a brand that feels like it has been around for a while, but then smoothed out with edges that feel contemporary.”

The duo worked with Sarah Dobson from Toronto-based Design of Brand Agency on branding. They wanted to tap into the concept of little luxuries. “Younger millennials and gen Z are priced out of the housing market, priced out of a lot of big purchases that you would traditionally make at that age…and so you’re seeing this rise in products that could be considered little luxuries,” explains Tyler, pointing to Aesop’s $46 Hand Wash as an example. “It becomes a bit of a status symbol. It beckons to people that, hey, I have some taste. I value aesthetics, I value wellbeing. And that’s where a lot of the branding elements came from.”

Tyler and Braden founded Inkbox in 2015 with the desire to create temporary tattoos that didn’t look like the ones sported by kids. The brand offers designs that utilize an Indigenous ingredient from Panama and last up to two weeks. The pair sold Inkbox to BIC in 2022 for $65 million when the brand was estimated to be generating $27 million in sales. They started ideating Olauto shortly after the sale with cousins Dylan Bisignano and Victor Chimenti.

Backed by $150,000, Olauto launched in September to family and friends, a decision that was strategic for the brothers. Braden explains, “It’s an idea I call ‘Berghain style marketing,’ like the German nightclub, where you have a closed off opening just to get more feedback, test out your website, test out your operations and get it into some people’s hands before you launch so you have a bit of content as well.”

The pair are distributing and striking partnerships for Olauto on a selective if-you-know-you-know-basis, at least in the beginning. “I don’t really want to see it everywhere,” says Braden. “I want to see it in specific people’s hands and let it grow naturally over time.”

As reported by Beauty Independent in 2023, beauty has parked in the world of automobiles before. Fragrance brands including DedCool, D.S. & Durga, Glasshouse Fragrances, Jo Malone and Diptyque also offer car fresheners, priced between $12 and $75. And a few brands like Drift and Layne have entered the car air freshener market to freshen it up.

Tyler and Braden hope to raise awareness organically, be it through attending car shows or targeting tastemakers who drive classic cars such as makes from Porsche or Ferrari. “At this stage, you cannot lean on performance marketing, it’s too expensive,” says Tyler. “So, I think building it with grassroots ventures, like putting it in a lot of people’s cars, or targeting Uber blacks, or going city to city and putting scent samples on cars that we’d love to see the product in, I think those are unique opportunities for us to market it in more of an old-school way.”

In the future, Braden hopes to see Olauto in gas stations across the country, noting that gas stations are places where people from all walks of life frequent. He says, “Unless you have an electric vehicle, everyone needs to go to a gas station, whether you have disposable income or not, but I think there should be more premium products in gas stations, and we’d love to be in every single one.”

Tyler and Braden plan on extending the brand’s scent wardrobe over time. They’ve seen friends use the fresheners in spaces other than cars like their bathroom, luggage, linen closet and office. That broader usage could motivate future formats.

Tyler says, “If the scents themselves are popular enough and people want them in different categories, then eventually you could see a brand like us expanding into other fragrance categories as well, but it’ll always be rooted in cars and car fragrances because it’s what makes us unique.”