Jovan

The Jovan Musk line has become one of the most iconic fragrances in the United States, offering diverse scents for men and women. It all started in the late 1960s when a Revlon representative named Barry Shipp noticed a line outside of an incense and fragrance shop in Greenwich Village during a business trip to Manhattan. Shipp saw promise in the sweet fragrance known as musk oil, and he took a vial to a perfume house to develop the fragrance.

After leaving Revlon, Shipp and entrepreneur Bernard Mitchell founded Jovan in 1968, and the signature scent, Jovan Musk for men, was released in 1973. The fragrance had simple packaging and was relatively inexpensive to purchase, but its popularity took off. By the end of the 1970s, the fragrance design house boasted more than $85 million in sales.

In 1981, Jovan became the first fragrance brand to ever sponsor a rock band during the Rolling Stones’ “Tattoo You” Tour. Shipp sold and bought back the company several times over the years, and as of 2014, it belongs to Coty Inc. Shipp died in 1999 at the age of 62.

Jovan has released numerous memorable scents from the 1970s to the 2000s and beyond. Island Gardenia for women was released in 1982, and Ginseng NRG for men entered the market in 1998. In 2000, Jovan released its Individuality line that it named after the four elements. In addition to those, Jovan released Silky Rose and Secret Amber in 2012.