One Year In, The Secret To Papatui’s Success Is Scent (And The Rock)

Dwayne Johnson co-founded men’s grooming brand Papatui a year ago, with the goal of created accessible products with elevated scents.

If you ask a man why he chose his body wash or deodorant, chances are he’ll say, “because it smells good.”

Data shows that scent is extremely important to men when it comes to the products they use, and that’s why Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his co-founder Jenna Fegnan (with whom Johnson has also launched Teremana Tequila) made scent their guiding light when they launched men’s grooming brand Papatui last year.

The name combines the Samoan word “papa,” meaning “dad,” and “Tui,” a nickname his grandfather gave him. His grandfather “epitomized true masculinity and ‘self care’ before self care became a popular term,” Johnson wrote in a recent Instagram post. “[He] was a big influence on me, respected everywhere he went and knew how to take care of himself, and he was also the inspiration behind my character Maui from Moana,” he wrote.

He and his team wanted to take fragrance seriously, and also make it accessible.

But when they researched high-end scents, in particular ones that Johnson loved—“he is a big scent guy,” Fegnan says—they found the accessibility part was easier said than done.

They connected with superstar perfumer Frank Voekl, the nose behind Le Labo’s Santal 33, Calvin Klein’s Eternity for men, Marc Jacobs’ Daisy Delight, and more than 100 other lauded scents,

“His wife is Polynesian, and DJ (A.K.A. Johnson—he has multiple nicknames, it turns out) is half Polynesian so there’s a really nice personal connection,” Fegnan said. “After spending some time with him we realized creating layered notes is expensive.”

But they were committed to making the brand accessible, so their approach was to narrow the profit margin.

“The brand takes a lower margin, and we develop products that truly have those luxury scents, but at an affordable price point,” she said. “That took us from the beginning to launch in over three years—it wasn’t a fast thing.”

Papatui is expanding its offerings to include a tattoo spray and more.
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It was a worthy time investment, it seems. Scent expert and perfume developer Yosh Han said, ‘great job for that price point, because it’s well thought out and looks high-end even though it’s pretty accessible.’’

Papatui launched in 2024 exclusively at Target with a line of body washes, deodorants, skincare, and tattoo care products—the latter a category that the actor who plays Maui couldn’t be more perfect to represent.

Earlier this year, they added Walmart, and the products are also available direct to consumers via the Papatui website. All products are less than $13, and have been in such high demand that several have had sold-out moments and the brand’s retail footprint expanded by 300% in its first year.

Several studies have shown that smelling good is powerful. It can help men feel more confident and physically attractive, and one study even showed that scent improved overall body image in both men and women.

Other studies have shown that scent significantly impacts other senses. For example, researchers found that fabric was perceived as softer when accompanied by a lemon scent. Another found that pleasant-smelling shampoo positively impacted how people perceived their hair texture.

The Papatui team started with 36 scents, and through dozens of rounds of testing with “real guys,” they eventually narrowed it down to three: Lush Coconut, Sandalwood Suede, and Cedar Sport. At the brand’s year anniversary, it launched a fourth scent: Vanilla Shea.

The brand’s scent profiles may skew traditionally masculine, but Fegnan says women tend to be just as attracted to them.

“We get notes from women all the time saying they’re using our antiperspant,” Fegnan says, “and people are hugging them and asking why they smell so good and they’re like ‘it’s my pits.’”

In its first year, Papatui has grown its portfolio by 80%. They recently launched a scented tattoo spray—a product Fegnan says did not previously exist—and will soon launch a full-body deodorizing spray in the brand’s signature scents.

Performance and clean ingredients are also central to the brand’s ethos. It offers both aluminum-free and aluminum-based deodorants (aluminum blocks sweat), and all are formulated without sulfates or parabens.

“In the last couple of decades, men have really cared about what they’re putting in their body,” Fegnan said, “and now they’re asking, “Okay, what am I putting on my body, in terms of clean ingredients?”

Dwayne Johnson reportedly uses grooming products exclusively from his own brand, Papatui.

Some have expressed skepticism about a bald man creating a shampoo and conditioner, but they receiving largely positive reviews. As for the rest of Papatui’s products, does Johnson actually use them?

“He uses nothing else,” Fegnan says. “And that was his litmus test. He was like, ‘We’re not launching until it’s all I use and I don’t want to use anything else.’”

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