- Leah Kateb, CCO and "Refounder" of Skylar, has launched True Love's Cake, her third signature fragrance for the brand, following Double Dates and Pomegranate Princess.
- The scent is rooted in a centuries-old Persian Love Cake legend passed down through Kateb's family, with notes of almond cake, caramelized pistachio, rosewater, damask rose, and sandalwood.
- True Love's Cake drops exclusively on the Sephora app on June 15, hitting retail stores and Skylar.com on June 16.
- Kateb will host a Sephora Century City pop-up in Los Angeles on June 27 for a fans-meet-fragrance moment.
Leah Kateb and Skylar have unveiled True Love’s Cake, the Love Island USA breakout star’s most personal fragrance to date.
Inspired by a Persian legend, the one that says baking someone a Persian Love Cake will make them fall in love with you, the scent draws directly from Kateb’s grandmother’s kitchen and her Iranian heritage.
The gourmand eau de parfum opens with rosewater, plum, and cardamom, blooms into orange blossom honey and cherry blossom, then dries down to almond cake, caramelized pistachio, and sandalwood.
This is the third fragrance Kateb has helmed since Starco Brands tapped her as CCO and “Refounder” of Skylar in July 2025, a role born from her organic, viral promotion of the brand’s Vanilla Sky scent.
Skylar’s celebrity partnership story begins and ends with Kateb; she is the first and only creative figure to hold an executive role at the brand. Beyond Skylar, Kateb has recently worked with Charlotte Tilbury and Avène.
Much like Dove Cameron’s ambassador role with Diesel Fragrances and Emma Chamberlain’s campaign with Mugler, this deal shows that authenticity-first casting is now the defining strategy in celebrity fragrance marketing.
True Love’s Cake is vegan, cruelty-free, and hypoallergenic, in line with Skylar’s clean beauty identity.
Takeaways
This isn’t just a campaign drop, it’s a statement about where celebrity brand deals are heading. Leah Kateb didn’t walk into a photo shoot and lend her face to a bottle.
She co-created the scent, rooted it in real family memory, and is showing up at the pop-up herself. That level of ownership is increasingly what separates a deal that moves product from one that builds a brand.
Skylar’s bet on Kateb as “Refounder,” not just face, is paying off: three fragrances in under a year, each with a distinct personal narrative, is a rare cadence.
Does naming a fragrance after a culturally specific tradition (Persian Love Cake) broaden or narrow its commercial appeal? Is the CCO/Refounder model, where a celebrity co-owns the creative direction, the new standard for beauty brand deals?
