Behind the Brand OffCourt
We don't usually ask a lot from our deodorants — at the bare minimum they need to make us not have a stinky funk that makes people crinkle their noses in our presence. Seems simple enough. But finding an aluminum-free, odor-controlling deodorant that is both high functioning and high-end is a rare occurrence — which is what makes OffCourt such a delight.
The hybrid deodorant and fragranced body spray features powerful prebiotics and three deodorizing ingredients to stop the sweat stank in its tracks and leave you smelling fresh and fabulous. With scents like Coconut Water + Sandalwood and Fig Leaves + White Musk, it's a blend of sophisticated fragrances with powerful odor-stopping technology.
The story behind how this B.O.-banishing brand came to be is fascinating, which is why we sat down with husband and wife founders Jonathan Lawrence and Bani Bahari to talk about how they created their performance body spray, what makes it like nothing else on the market, and the cool collabs they've got in the works. Keep reading to hear their story.
What was the inspiration for the line?
My husband! He’s very active and athletic and he would complain about how bad the products, branding, and fragrances are for mass market grooming items. But at the same time, he didn’t like how fussy the premium products are. He wanted something that was high-quality that he could throw in his gym bag. I wanted clean ingredients and I wanted him to smell amazing. We combined these and created OffCourt.
What is the OffCourt philosophy?
OffCourt creates body products for athletic lifestyles. The products are clean, effective, and differentiated in that they counteract some of the negative impacts of sweat — which are principally dehydration and odor. We also seek to bring sophisticated fragrances into the mainstream.
What was the first product you developed?
We started with our Performance Body Spray — an aluminum-free deodorant and cologne combined. We started with this for a couple reasons. First, the body spray category really needs innovating! Second, we love developing fragrances and thought we had something interesting to bring to the market in a category that has had no innovation.
What makes the Performance Body Spray so unique compared to other similar products on the market?
Two things differentiate this product — the first is the base formula. Other body sprays are just ‘fragrance in a can’. The base of our body spray is comprised of multiple deodorizing ingredients that actively fight odor. The base also contains prebiotics, which are food for the skin’s ‘good’ bacteria. With regular use, probiotics help the good bacteria crowd out the odor-causing kind, which reduces odor. The second differentiation are the fragrances we use. We worked with world-renowned perfumers and fragrance houses to create elevated scents. It took us two years and infinite number of rounds. Our goal was to create fragrances that are fresh and have longevity, but won’t overpower. I think we have achieved it!
What do you personally love most about the Performance Body Spray?
I love the fragrance and the convenience (portable, goes on dry, no residue, easy to reapply, etc.). Due to the convenience, I find I’m wearing a fragrance more often. I treat it like an eau fraîche.
What makes OffCourt unique?
Our focus on athletic lifestyles and also our commitment to creating differentiated products at accessible prices.
What's one surprising thing people might not know about OffCourt?
We originally designed it with men in mind but none of the products or fragrances are really ‘gendered’. Now that we’ve launched, we’ve found a lot of women are embracing the brand.
What do you want people to think of when they think of OffCourt?
We want OffCourt to be synonymous with athletics, innovation, and accessibility.
What was one of the biggest challenges you faced when you launched?
It’s not so much a single challenge as it is the volume of challenges, tasks, and decisions that need to be made. We’re juggling building an online business, developing relationships with select retailers, managing the manufacturing and logistics, preparing to launch new products — all the while we have to keep working on developing new products. The development cycle for these products is very long, so it’s important to keep investing in new product development.
How did you know you'd made it as a brand?
We’ll let you know when we get there!
What is your proudest moment as a founder?
We just recently launched and have been fortunate enough to receive some great press and some awards, but our favorite moments are definitely when customers take the time to reach out and email or DM us to let us know how much they are enjoying the products.
What can we expect from OffCourt in the future? Any exciting news you can share?
So many exciting things coming up — great endorsements, a really cool collab with a fitness brand, new product launches. I think that one we can share now is that our Protein-Activated Facial Hydrator is dropping in June, just in-time for the summer days. It’s become a mandatory part of our post-workout routine. We think it will be a hit!