Apprenti is a natural, mindful home and body care company that was first born of Alexandrine Pierre’s love of perfumes. As of January 2024, Apprenti is in the hands of Mélanie Ouellette and Brice Salmon, who continue to produce natural skincare and home fragrance products that stir the senses and nurture the body. We spoke with the co-owners of Apprenti, Brice Salmon and Mélanie Ouellette, to learn more.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Our business is called Apprenti. We create natural body care and home fragrance products designed to enrich daily rituals and awaken the senses. Our range includes body washes, moisturizers, eau de parfums, herbal soaps, body butters, candles, incense, and room sprays. All products are made with natural, conscious ingredients and free from harmful additives. Our fragrances are crafted using both natural essential oils, for their botanical richness and complexity, and carefully selected high-quality synthetic molecules, which allow us to achieve lasting, safe, and refined scents.
What made you want to do this work?
It runs in the family, quite literally. Brice’s mother has an exceptional sense of smell and has always been passionate about scents. On Mélanie’s side, her great-grandfather was a perfumer, a figure her grandmother spoke of often. That shared family heritage in fragrance drew us both toward this world long before we took over Apprenti. When the opportunity to acquire the brand arose in early 2024, it felt like the natural next step in a journey we had quietly started years before.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
Most conventional body care products are loaded with synthetic ingredients, parabens, artificial fragrances, and fillers. Our mission is to offer a genuine alternative: products that are as good for your skin and your home as they are for the planet, without compromising on quality or sensory pleasure.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Our customers are adults who are mindful of what they put on their bodies, curious about natural beauty, and drawn to refined, botanically inspired scents. They tend to skew toward men and women between 25 and 45, though anyone with a love for quality fragrance and conscious living finds a home with us.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
We sell directly through our online store and through a network of retailers across Quebec and Canada. We also serve the luxury hospitality and wellness sector: our products are carried by establishments like Auberge Saint-Antoine, Hôtel Saint-Sulpice, Bota Bota spa, and select fine dining restaurants. Additionally, we offer private label services for businesses looking to create their own branded line.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
Our products are available through several local retailers across Canada. The full and most up-to-date list can be found on our store locator.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
“Are your fragrances made with natural essential oils or synthetic molecules?” This is an important question because the answer is nuanced. At Apprenti, we use both natural essential oils for their botanical richness and high-quality, carefully selected synthetic molecules to achieve complex, lasting, and safe fragrances. The key is transparency and quality at every step, not a blanket rejection of one or the other.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
The best part is seeing a customer fall in love with a scent they have never smelled before. That instant of recognition, emotion, and wonder never gets old. The worst part is not yet having a physical public space of our own, apart of the lab and warehouse we work in, where we can welcome customers in person, show them how our products are made, exchange with them directly, and let them discover everything hands-on.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
The effort that goes into creating a product is absolutely colossal: months of testing, sourcing, formulating. And at the end of it all, you hold a small, elegant little bottle or bar of soap in your hands. There is something genuinely funny about that contrast. All of that, for this! And yet, that tiny thing is exactly the point.
Where can we follow you?
Instagram | Facebook | Website
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
Two, actually. Baltic Club, our sister company based in Montreal that designs original stationery and home fragrance objects, and Miels d’Anicet, a family-run Quebec honey producer whose commitment to quality and nature aligns deeply with our own values.
