This week, we chat with Simone Haynes, Founder of No Common Scents. This British-owned brand proudly crafting candles and room fragrance in Dubai, UAE.
Welcome to the Emirates Woman weekly series ‘How I got my job as…’ where we speak to some incredible entrepreneurs and businesswomen both based in the UAE and globally to find out about their career paths that led them to where they are now; what their daily routines look like; the advice they’d give to those starting out; and the hurdles they’ve had to overcome.
Infused with the finest oils from heritage perfumers and created with vegan coconut soy wax, designed to elevate your everyday moments into extraordinary memories. Each candle is carefully crafted to evoke deep emotions and memories.
To delve into the brand’s story, spoke to Simone Haynes who shared how it all began.
What was your favourite subject at school?
English by far. Being loquacious and wielding a fierce vocabulary is my nature. My parents still have the typewriter copy of the play I wrote with a school friend. We decided to do a Roald Dahl-esque rhyming version of Cinderella and charge the parents a pound to get into the assembly hall to watch it. We wanted to raise money for the children in a warzone we’d seen on the news. We raised over a hundred pounds, not bad for a 10-year-old in 1992.
What was your first job?
Is my Mum reading this (of course she is…). I told a small lie about my age so I could get work in a sausage factory. I was 14 and my job was to twist the sausage meat as it came out of a machine into packs of 8. The factory was refrigerated, I wore wellingtons and a hair net. I lasted a week. My first grown up role was as a team assistant; my love language is looking after people coupled with problem solving and my career grew from there. As an Executive Assistant, I have seen it all in 20 years; from managing delegations at WEF Davos to supporting HNWI’s every need, we are there to make everything work like clockwork, uncredited, in the background, creating time from thin air like Doctor Who.
What brought you to Dubai?
My brother’s friend from school would post her life in the UAE on social media. I had not yet visited the region but it looked incredible. After leaving my life behind, I asked if I could take her up on her kind offer to finally visit. I stayed for 72 hours and on the last day, I had made the decision, this amazing place was where I was meant to be. I had no network out here, no close friends, no job. I quit my two EA positions, packed 1 suitcase and with my grand savings of Dhs3,000 moved three months later. It was so lonely, it was so hard at times missing my family but not once did I think I had made the wrong decision. It has always felt right in my heart. Almost a decade later, I still feel this sense of awe every morning, you know? Really, my life is here?
What inspired you to enter the candles space and launch No Common Scents?
I grew up beguiled by the fragrances of those around me, it is such a powerful tool to evoke memories, it transports you instantly. My Mum had such distinct signature scents growing up, like most 80’s kids I would try to replicate perfume by squashing her prized roses from the garden into a bottle of water . Everything from the bottle to the packaging was an obsession. My first grown up present from my Dad on my 13th birthday was a travel set of 5 miniature Yves Saint Laurent scents.. It was my prized possession, so naturally, my youngest brother poured at least 2 in the toilet. I think the bottles are still in the loft. My eldest sister Nicole had a magnificent collection of perfumes adorning her bathroom, I knew better than to use them, but I was fascinated by the bottles and their individuality. When I moved into my own flatshare, trying to make it smell liveable, I was thoroughly fed up with underwhelming products: they either barely smelled of anything, were overwhelmingly artificial and gave me a headache or were simply too expensive for me then. My first time in Dubai Mall was sensory heaven. Discovering oud was mind blowing. I will never tire of sampling new scents, the combinations are limitless. Jo Malone, the iconic perfumer, is actually from my town in the UK, what a businesswoman she is. When I moved here, I realised this was the place to make it happen.
Talk us through the concept?
I have designed everything for No Common Scents myself. I wanted attainable luxe with a quirky edge – truly beautiful scents made with the best of human ingenuity and a little Mother Nature. Every detail is intentional in the branding: there is our tribute to the UAE, both a falcon and the dallah is centre with an English rose inside. We have dragonflies sand the little bird is my British sparrow as a nod to the UK and the hummingbird is for Guyana, where my Dad hails from. The cream and gold presents a traditional luxurious feel, with calming green inside to reflect nature. I love the Discovery Set box, because it opens up like a window, with paper curtains inside.
What are the key elements of your role?
Like anyone starting up, you wear a spectacular array of hats. Everything from sourcing new fragrance houses to glass designers, to every piece of content written, is me. I won’t approve of any scents I don’t love and quality control is paramount. I taught myself to chandle years ago so I know how to troubleshoot and I still test everything myself. I am creative by nature, whether writing screenplays and novels as a hobby or designing clothes (I’m like a magpie around trimmings and buttons in Satwa) But it became clear that I was struggling to roadmap how to launch, that to be successful, you must also be able to delegate or you can drown. Ideas without a plan will remain pipedreams. My best decision was appointing Base Brands as our business coach. I now brain dump my crazy ideas and Abbie executes them.
Talk us through your daily routine.
As anyone with pets knows, you often wake up not at the time you wanted. By 7am we are feeding our three rescues, our Saluki Husky, Handsome Mog the one eyed Persian and our little girl cat, Mouse. My partner Dani travels often for work so a perfect start is a cup of Yorkshire Gold tea, and to sit on the balcony together now winter is coming, giving the family all the treats and cuddles. I will water my trees and plants, always with music on, could be opera or UK garage depending on my mood. I have to play music constantly, I cannot focus in silence. We run everything by one another, he’s in the beauty industry so appreciates everything from formulas to branding, he is my sound board.
Every day is different; I could be filming content with Abbie which is always hilarious, writing the newsletter or new scent descriptions (yes that’s me, not AI!), on boarding new products with the fulfillment centre, negotiating freight rates, or trying new samples (always the best part of the week).
If I am working from home, I will spray our room perfumes depending on my mood, usually The Drawing Room if I’m writing or reading and there is a candle on in the bathroom and bedroom. I will drive to the factory in Jebel Ali to discuss new collection launches and ideas. With my favourite time of year upon us, I have been spritzing Eternal Forest for a glamorous alpine chalet vibe.
Before I even realise, I haven’t had lunch and I am peckish. Since a major neuro surgery last year, I struggle to lift anything heavy so my love of cooking has gone and I rely on deliveries. Whenever I am in traffic, I will put on a Masterclass or BBC Maestro to listen to other business owners stories or call my parents who I speak to every day on WhatsApp. Hearing their voices is just the best pick me up.
Date night is once a week, we take it in turns to find somewhere new – we are so spoiled for choice in this country. I catch up with my friends whenever we can; I am so fortunate to have met such an inspiring group of women; we’re all from such different backgrounds yet most of us are business owners. By 8pm we have walked Snuds and these days, I am still working in bed at 11pm. I am a night owl who struggles to sleep so I spritz magnesium oil on and work with Sleepover burning until I finally yawn. I keep a pad by my bedside table for random thoughts which wake me at 3am.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to follow in the same footsteps?
Success leaves clues: if you have no clue where to begin, start by researching how other people did it. Protect your ideas with mutual NDA’s where applicable and understand that not everyone will root for you. It can be quite painful in the beginning when someone doesn’t support you who you thought would but don’t hold on to it, it’s not a reflection of you.
Be interested in the world around you always and uplift others any chance you can without an agenda. Above all, always pay people on time, never lose your integrity and don’t be a ‘knock off’, be an original. As my favourite boss once said ‘Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity’.
Tell us more about the products?
I tested for 4 years before coming to market; I knew from my philanthropy consultancy days that green-washing is rampant, and I would need to dig deeper into suppliers and credentials. It’s why I created ‘The Big Clean Burn Lie’ I found so much conflicting data out there, I wanted to offer people a way to debunk the myths and empower the consumer to start their own research.
I dislike consumers being misled, we as brands need to do better. I saw a candle company here post ‘soy wax has health benefits’ and I was furious. Utter nonsense. As for this bonkers obsession on essential oils and ‘synthetics’ in fragrance, it is just the toxic side of the wellness industry. Yes there’s no place for parabens and phthalates but not all ‘synthetics’ are equal- without them, we wouldn’t have Chanel No. 5!
It is crucial to understand that man made doesn’t equate to toxic and poisonous and that natural doesn’t mean safe to burn, you can harm yourself and your pets by burning random essential oils; Mother Nature deserves some respect on her name!
As for the pieces, I really wanted a collection for all homes and occasions; so you have the Discovery Set with 3 travel size candles to introduce you to us, our Classic every day, two wick 350g candles and my favourite child, our colossal 1,300g Al Bayt centerpiece. It’s 2.7kg in the glass. We urge people to only buy our plastic room perfume spray bottles once, then refill using our recyclable room perfume pouches. Our first ever reed diffuser launches shortly, The Floating Teardrop, so elegant, such an effortless, low maintenance way to transform your space, as we appreciate everyone’s needs are different.
At the heart of it all, philanthropy is what truly matters to us as a brand. It is only a small start, but 20% of the retail price of all our ‘Soteria’ collection are being donated to Hakini, an organisation providing psychological first aid to those on the ground in Gaza and Palestine. People like Dame Anita Roddick who founded The Body Shop and Sir Richard Branson showed me that you really can do good.
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Too many to mention, but my particular favourite is a poem, Faith, by Patrick Overton, my Dad cut out for me from a newspaper and gave to me when I left the UK. ‘When you come to the edge of all the light you know and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught to fly.” Believe in yourself, essentially.
And what is the worst?
That I had to go to university to be a success. I have my GCSE’s to my name, good ones, but no degree. I am proof that grafting hard, being keen to learn and showing up every day are just as valuable as a degree.
What’s the biggest challenge you have had to overcome?
Where to begin? Raising capital to launch. Being let down by unscrupulous service providers. Having to constantly stay on top of every service you engage with, every single promise made to ensure what you asked for is delivered. Entrepreneurship is like a game of ‘Whack A Mole’, you nail one challenge and two more pop up. But it’s part of the fun and I enjoy using everything I’ve learned as an EA to problem solve, be efficient and multi-task. I am basically an octopus juggling tasks.
What’s lies ahead for the brand?
Global domination! But first we wish to be the number one go to for UAE corporations looking to leave an unforgettable impression on clients: to have your brand on a candle in someone’s home or their desk is such a powerful way to keep your name in their mind. We already did our first wedding at the venue where the Beckhams were married so we cannot wait for more of those in 2025. A physical space is the next step, scent is so personal, we cannot wait for people to be able to hold the collection.
W7, the female owned factory we work out of is run by the extraordinary perfumer Julia Volet, we’re honoured our brand is produced by the best in the business, she understands my values and vision. I am already blending samples for Ramadan and Eid; the UAE has given me so much,and it coincides with my tenth year here: it feels really special and I need to ensure everything about that first collection is nothing short of perfection, whilst staying true to the brand’s ethos of effectively helping those most in need. Whoever said shopping couldn’t do good, hadn’t met me.
