Funmi Monet only started sharing her beauty tips as a result of therapy.
Funmi Monet started her TikTok beauty page after going through therapy (C) Funmi Monet/Instagram
The 31-year-old TikTok star has amassed more than 150,000 followers on the video-sharing app by sharing her fragrance and beauty tips and admitted that it became a "meaningful" part of her recovery from depression.
She said: "I was seeing a therapist at the time after going through a few months of horrible depression and anxiety. My therapist urged me to find an outlet to share things that spark joy and create community. Pivoting my content towards fragrance was something that occurred naturally over the course of my social media journey. Sharing my daily skin-care and beauty routine was something that became meaningful for me while I was in therapy. "
The social media influencer - who has since become known as TikTok's "favourite fragrance auntie" and launched the Exalté Eau de Parfum earlier this year - added that she "didn't realise" there was an audience for fragrance-themed content until she started to share her collection on Instagram and created her perfume with a "large spectrum" of people in mind.
She told Allure: "I didn't realise there was an audience for fragrance content as well until I began sharing snippets of my collection through my Instagram Stories. People respond enthusiastically to perfume because it doesn't necessarily require a certain level of expertise to pick up a bottle and enjoy how you interact with the scent.
"I created Exalté thinking about the woman looking for a signature scent. For people who don't necessarily have a vast perfume collection, your signature scent is the fragrance people associate with you and can often identify you before even seeing you. I wanted to create a classic fragrance that could be enjoyed by a wide spectrum of ages and lifestyles that also invites intimacy. "
During the launch of the perfume back in February, she wrote on Instagram: "From fragrance auntie to fragrance boss. Just your friendly neighborhood perfume pushaaaaaa!"(sic)