Scent Salim: 'I started selling perfume from my family home - now my Leeds store supplies royalty'
What began as a teenage hobby for NHS worker Ilyas Salim has turned into a global success story - his Leeds-based store now supplies bespoke scents to celebrities and even royalty.
Since founding Scent Salim, the Harehills-based store has become a go-to destination for high-end, luxury, and niche perfumes.
Customers include YouTubers, influencers, musicians, Bollywood stars, and even Kuwaiti royalty, all seeking the exclusive oils Salim sources from around the world.
His passion for fragrances started early. As a teenager, he would save up to buy high-end perfumes, drawn to their craftsmanship and scent profiles.
After university, he decided to turn that passion into a business, launching Scent Salim in 2010 from his family home in Harehills.
"I started off just from the house, with a small £1,000 investment," he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. "I never took a loan or borrowed money from anyone - it was all about reinvesting and growing the business gradually."
In the early years, Salim juggled multiple jobs, working for the NHS, doing youth work, and even taking an evening job with Just Eat.
Word-of-mouth and clever social media marketing helped his business grow steadily. Soon, a bookings-only office gave way to a permanent flagship store on Roundhay Road, welcoming customers from across the UK and beyond.
Today, Scent Salim offers speciality perfumes, diffusers, car fragrances, and more - hand-selected from regions including the Middle East and Asia.
"I've travelled all over the world, from China and Thailand to Dubai, just to source the finest and most unique fragrance ingredients," he said. "That personal touch and attention to quality is what I believe has helped build the trust and reputation of our brand."
A key focus of Salim’s business is oud; a rare and prized oil extracted from dark resinous wood, deeply significant in Islamic culture.
"Specialising in Arabian scents was a real passion of mine," he explains. "But it also meant I had to educate a lot of customers in the West who were more familiar with traditional cologne and perfume formats."
To bridge this gap, Scent Salim offers in-store sessions and bespoke consultations, allowing customers to create their own signature fragrance.
This hands-on approach has contributed to the brand's expansion, with locations now in Bradford, Manchester, London, and beyond.
Balancing multiple jobs while growing a business was no easy feat. But today, at 36, Salim has transitioned into a semi-retired entrepreneur with stores across the UK and an international customer base.
"Don't force yourself into a business you don't like," he said. "Stick to what you're good at, what you like. I never thought about this as work. Even now, I'm sitting in my living room with three boxes in front of me that need testing."
He also emphasizes the importance of perseverance: "The biggest mistake people make is giving up too quickly. I'm not scared of my competitors - I now supply 30 other sellers of perfume in the industry. If I was scared of competition, I wouldn’t have supplied them."
Despite his success and frequent travel to fragrance conventions in Dubai, Indonesia, and Qatar, Salim remains deeply connected to Leeds.
"I still feel a strong connection to this local community. I'm proud to be able to give back and support initiatives here, while also exploring new opportunities to grow the business nationally and internationally."
In 2017, Scent Salim launched a "perfume bank", offering free bottles of perfume to low-income families.
The store has also sponsored several businesses in the city and supported charitable efforts during Ramadan.
"When I see customers traveling from Germany or Switzerland just to visit our small shop in Leeds, it really makes me reflect on how far we've come," Salim said. "I sometimes wonder if I even deserve that level of dedication from our clients."