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Few things have made me feel as effortlessly cool as discovering Dedcool. Suddenly, I was that girl from the movies – the one strangers catch a whiff of as she passes, stopping mid-step to wonder who she is and why she smells so good.
Founded by LA-native Carina Chaz, the clean, genderless fragrance brand has helped put perfume layering on the map. Now stocked at Sephora, Dedcool built its reputation on unique, mix-and-match scents – and expanded into fragrance-adjacent categories like laundry detergent and hand and body wash long before the rest of the industry caught on.
I’ve long been devoted to Xtra Milk, a skin-but-better blend of bergamot, white musk, and amber that somehow lasts all day without overwhelming the room. It’s one of the few fragrances – alongside Parfums de Marly Delina La Rosée and Skylar’s Double Date – that I reach for on repeat.
More recently, I put Dedcool’s “Dedtergent” to the test in the brand’s newer scent, Mochi Milk. Think marshmallow, sweet rice milk, and vanilla bean – warm, sweet, and genuinely addictive. I’ve caught myself pulling back the sheets at night just to breathe it in.
I caught up with Chaz to talk about building a fragrance brand that feels both cool and wearable, how she broke into the industry, and how she even landed a Twilight collaboration before the vampire franchise’s next chapter.
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Dedcool: The Beginning
TQE: Dedcool is such a unique name. What does it mean?
CC: DedCool doesn’t actually have a literal meaning, and that’s very intentional. When I started, it was just a fun Instagram project, not a business plan. I liked that the name challenged everything traditional fragrance stood for. It felt a little irreverent, a little unexpected, and open to interpretation. That freedom is still at the core of the brand.
TQE: How did your journey in the fragrance world begin?
CC: My parents ran a small beauty manufacturing business in LA, and I spent most of my childhood after school and summers there. I was surrounded by products and holistic living from a young age. Around 13, I became obsessed with scent specifically and started experimenting with essential oils and working with chemists to create fragrances for myself. Fragrance became my way of expressing identity when I didn’t have access to traditional perfumes.
TQE: What was the first product you launched, and why did you start with it?
CC: The very first fragrance I created was Taunt, originally just for myself. It felt like a coming-of-age scent, something that helped shape how I showed up in the world. When I officially launched DedCool, I started with fragrance because it felt like the most honest extension of who I was and how I wanted to express creativity.
TQE: I heard a fun story about how you helped create a perfume for the Twilight movie franchise when you were young. Is that true?
CC: It’s true! When I was younger, I was already experimenting with fragrance through my parents’ business, and there was an opportunity to help create a scent inspired by Twilight. It wasn’t anything official in the traditional sense, but it was one of my earliest experiences seeing how fragrance could connect to culture and storytelling. It definitely planted a seed.
The Dedcool Persona
TQE: How would you describe the DedCool customer?
CC: Our customer is intentional, curious, and expressive. They see fragrance as part of their lifestyle, not something reserved for special occasions. They care about how products make them feel, not just how they smell. They’re into layering, mixing, and making scent their own.
TQE: What does being non-toxic mean to DedCool?
CC: For us, non-toxic means being intentional and transparent about what goes into our products. It’s about creating formulas that align with a more holistic lifestyle while still delivering an incredible sensory experience.
TQE: If someone is new to the brand, what would you recommend they try first?
CC: I always suggest starting with Milk or Xtra Milk. They’re our best entry point and work beautifully as base scents. From there, you can layer and explore depending on your mood and personality.
Beyond the Typical Scents
TQE: What’s the story behind the iconic Ouai collaboration?
CC: The Ouai partnership happened very organically. It started from a shared community and mutual respect between brands. We both care deeply about product experience and how scent shows up in everyday routines. The collaboration felt natural because it wasn’t forced – it was about creating something people would genuinely live with.
TQE: What made you enter the pet beauty space with DedCool Pets?
CC: Pets are part of our daily lives and our routines, so it felt natural to extend scent into that world. We approached it with the same care and intention as everything else – clean, safe, and designed to enhance everyday moments without overpowering them.
TQE: What’s next for DedCool in 2026? Anything you can share?
CC: We’re continuing to think about fragrance beyond the bottle – new formats, new categories, and new ways people interact with scent. I’m excited to keep pushing the idea of fragrance as lifestyle and self-expression.
You can shop at Dedcool.com and Sephora.
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