Who Is Elijah? The niche TikTok-approved fragrance brand has reached the UK

We know how effective TikTok can be at crowning cult beauty heroes, but one fragrance brand that's exploded onto the platform to capture everyone's attention is Who Is Elijah? Intrigued? Us too. Even the name is giving mystery.

The brand story is about as scrappy and audacious as the scents themself. The perfume house was the brainchild of Aussie executive assistant Raquel Bouris, who started creating scents from her garage after a fragrance oil she picked up at Coachella started generating countless compliments. She began recreating her own scents, handing them out in the street and DMing fragrance buyers at top stores. Quickly, the brand was picked up by one of Australia's biggest beauty retailers, David Jones. Then, after setting her sights on going global, Raquel approached Boots in the UK.

She initially received a polite no, as the brand's buzz hadn't yet made its way across the pond, but determined to make an impression, she flew to the UK with 500 discovery sets and handed out samples to customers heading into Boots stores. After filming the reactions and tagging Boots on social media, she received a yes nine months later, achieving her goal of bringing her affordable cult scents to the UK market. A 10ml travel perfume costs £40, while 50ml bottles are £80.

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As for the big question: Who Is Elijah? The brand's name was never about one person. “It began as a fleeting idea, almost an accident. In the early days of building the brand, I had a business partner. He suggested we name it Raquel & Elijah. His own name is Matthew, but he was obsessed with the name Elijah. [There was] something about the way it sounded – strong yet soft, familiar yet intriguing,” Raquel reveals.

“When he stepped away from the brand early on, I found myself alone at my desk one night, scribbling in a notebook, dreaming of what this brand could become. I wrote down the words Who is Elijah?  Not knowing then that I had just named my future. Elijah was never real. It was an enigma, a blank canvas, a character who could be anyone, and yet no one – and that’s what made it powerful. It became a question, a challenge, a mystery to unravel. It represents the many selves and characters we carry, the bold, the soft, the seductive, the untouchable. Who Is Elijah is whoever you want to be that day,” she continues.

For those already familiar with the brand, it's likely your introduction would have come via Nomad, the perfume house's cult scent. It's a little Baccarat coded, tapping up a similar jammy candyfloss ethyl maltol note and blending it with rich, woody amber to make it smell rich. But it has its own addictive identity which has seen it sell out repeatedly.

In fact, it's already picked up a celebrity fan in the form of Sofia Richie Grainge, after a clever video on the brand's TikTok compared the fragrance to Sofia's aesthetic. “I have a theory that if Sofia Richie was a scent, she would be this one," it said. "It’s Nomad by Who Is Elijah. Nomad is such a versatile fragrance. It’s effortlessly luxurious and refined, but with just the right amount of edge. It’s timeless, powerful and undeniably chic, just like Sofia. So if this is your vibe, Nomad is that girl.”

Underneath in the comment section, Sofia Richie Grainge herself wrote “Ordered!!” after the post caught her attention.

Elsewhere, Nomad has been picking up a loyal fan base across social media. One creator, @samanthajs_4 took to TikTok to tell others: “I have never had so many compliments on a perfume before I started wearing this one and I am onto my third bottle, which is saying something. I have never stuck to a perfume consistently […] and used every single last drop in that bottle […] It's kind of like a unisex perfume and it smells bloody unreal. I wish you could smell stuff through the phone. Every time I wear this, which is every single day, people always compliment me on it.”

Meanwhile, another creator @smellyhoesonly explained: “As it dries down, all of the sweetness goes away, which is what I like about this. You're left with this really rich, woody, dry scent, which I love.”

But, there's a new fragrance combo that's also vying for the top spot at the brand: Rebel Rose paired with Wall Street. “I get so many compliments when I wear Rebel Rose. Think about being a sexy rockstar's wife, that's what you're gonna embody when you wear this,” described @thedallasaesthetician on TikTok.

“It was actually made to be paired with Wall Street – and this is the one that I get the second most compliments on out of all my perfumes (I have $500 perfumes, $600 perfumes) and the ones I get the compliments on the most? This duo," she continued.

“When I wear them together it's amazing. This one [Wall Street] has some floral smoke and wood and I usually do not like that type of scent at all, but the way it pairs so well with the Rebel Rose, you're just gonna smell like a bad b*tch – someone who's confident, who knows who they are. You're going to be a showstopper if you wear this duo and everyone's going to ask what you're wearing,” she insisted.

And another user, @belindalouisee, described how she was chased down, for the first time in her life, to be asked about the same fragrance combo. “Oh my God, I have just had someone stop in their tracks and turn around to come and ask me what scent I was wearing. It's the biggest compliment that you can ever receive, like, ‘you smell good.’ I just love that.”

She revealed, “I have been wearing this perfume for the last six months and I have never got more compliments on how I smell. I literally never used to. Nobody ever used to tell me I smell good. I hadn't had the experience of where someone stops dead in their tracks. Today, I was sitting in a cafe, they walked past me, did the biggest U-bolt and were just like 'what are you wearing?! It smells so good!' I've been wearing Who Is Elijah Wall Street and Rebel Rose layered on top of each other. The only reason I've been layering them is because I saw it on their Instagram that you can do that, and that's 100% why I'm getting so many compliments because when I wear them separately, I don't seem to get as many. But together they're just *chefs kiss,” she said.

Elsewhere, other favourites are emerging. Morning After is capturing a fan base for its soft sandalwood notes, while Muse's clean blend of citrus, florals and musks has become a go-to skin scent.

The good news is, you can get a taste for the brand with the discovery set of 11 best-sellers for £45. Or you can pick up a trio of Who Is Elijah's most-loved scents (Nomad, Morning After and Nightcap) in 10ml sizes for £7 more than buying one individually.

Or of course, you can head into Boots to sniff your way to a new favourite.

For more from GLAMOUR's Senior Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk

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