Jasmine Tookes has worked in the fashion and beauty industries for almost two decades, but it wasn't until she met Sabrina Castenfelt — former private equity investor and Harvard MBA graduate — that creating a beauty line made sense.

"Over the last 15 years, I've been approached many times with opportunities in the beauty space, but it never felt like the right time, the right product, or the right meaning behind doing it," Tookes tells PEOPLE exclusively.

She adds, "Sabrina and I met almost two years ago — we came together and found this incredible white space where we felt like it was a perfect time to bring Brunel into the world."

The women joined forces and realized that they felt body oils were looked at as an afterthought in the beauty industries. But with Tookes being known for her luminous skin, and with Castenfelt having a business background to back up research, the pair came together and co-founded Brunel with the aim to add wellness and mindfulness into their beauty routines (and with a little help from AI).

"What really united us in our conversations was that we both have really stressful lives," Castenfelt explains. "We both don't sleep a lot. With my background in private equity, and Jasmine's life as a model and mother, looking for a way to bring wellness into beauty was something we really wanted to explore."

The result of their combined efforts created these first three offerings: the Awakening Body Oil ($48), Renewal Body Oil ($48) and the Golden Hour Glow Body Oil ($53).

The Awakening Body Oil hydrates and protects the skin against environmental stressors through vitamin C and VitaGlow-D — derived from the lithops pseudotruncatella, a succulent plant native to the deserts of Southern Africa — while the Renewal Body Oil promotes relaxation and beats the appearance of fatigue with Immunight, a mix of lavandula hybrida seed extract and trihepatonin that helps calm the body.

Tookes wore Brunel's shimmer-infused Golden Hour Glow Body Oil, which has caffeine to brighten and plump skin, at the 2025 Met Gala, giving the brand its unofficial debut at the event.

"I actually took a little bit of the Glow Oil and dabbed it on my cheekbones and the points of my nose. It gave just the most beautiful and luminous glow. It was sneakily there," the 34-year-old says of the product.

Ahead of Brunel's launch on May 15, Tookes and Castenfelt spoke to PEOPLE about the story behind their co-founded brand, and how they modernized their body oils by using the IFF Scentcube™ Algorithm, an AI-powered tool, to nail the self-care vibe of their brand.

I could have very easily come out with a concealer or a blush, but I feel like the makeup world is very oversaturated right now, and I wanted Brunel to enter in its own unique way. I think people are so focused on these 10-step face care routines, but they forget about their body.

Our conversations were focused on where is there was a need in the market. With the wellness angle, body oils came out as such an important category that not everyone uses every day. People who know Jasmine also know that she's so deep into body care. The chips started to fall into place and we landed on the massive culture and ritualization behind body oils — we thought could bring a modern twist to body oils, as well a wellness experience to your self-care routine.

If you look at interviews from over 10 years ago, I talk about how much I love body oils, and I would use Johnson & Johnson's baby oil, which is so funny. When I was a little girl, my mom would always cover me in so much moisturizer. I think also being African-American, we want to make our skin shine and glow as beautiful as possible. It's always been a natural for me to constantly layer lotions and oils, to the point where I would carry around little body oils or lotions in my purse, or the mini Johnson & Johnson's. My husband never used any moisturizers or oils before we met. Now, he's in my cabinet stealing mine and stealing Brunel.

We wanted the Awakening Body Oil to be a little bit more floral. Our perfumers crafted this beautiful fragrance, put the notes into the IFF Scentcube Algorithm, which said, "You guys nailed it. This brings more happiness and confidence." We were happy, because we hoped the scent would match with the AI outcome. The Renewal Body Oil has lavender and eucalyptus, which we know is very relaxing and calming. But the perfumers put those notes in the AI computer too, and it confirmed that those scents give the brain chemistry a sense of relaxation.

Our fragrance house's AI model that has included data from over the last 50 years worth of their history and their scents to effectively analyze what scents creates certain moods. We used the most advanced technology to help us balance the old, with artistry, novelty, and science while still honoring the history behind fragrance.

How do you want people to feel after using the products?

Tookes: The first word that comes to mind is confident. Growing up, there were things I would steal from my mom's medicine cabinet that I made me feel like, "I feel good today. I feel like I can take over the world." I want Brunel to make every woman and man out there feel that confidence too.