Yasmin Sewell – The Witch of Vyrao

Yasmin Sewell, the visionary founder behind wellbeing brand Vyrao, has learned to embrace every facet of her identity – celebrating her whole, unapologetic self. “I’ve never struggled accessing my inner voice. Now that I’m getting older, it only gets louder.

McQueen top & skirt, Fernando Jorge earrings

On the morning of our interview, Yasmin Sewell catches her reflection in the mirror of her New York hotel room and pauses for a moment. The past few years have brought clarity. Vyrao has crystallised into something fundamental – it comes from the deepest part of her. “Pouring my heart, soul and guts into Vyrao has ignited who I truly am,” she explains when we start. Yasmin’s state of being couldn’t be more in sync with Vyrao, a name literally meaning “I am verdant; I am vigorous; I sprout new green growth.” But it took her some years to get to this point in life. Raised in a Lebanese family in Sydney, Yasmin’s early years were shaped by a strong sense of community. “I was part of a close-knit Lebanese immigrant community built by those who moved to Australia between the 1930s and 1950s. There’s so much love, beauty and joy in it. When I visit them, I feel instantly comforted.” It’s the women, especially, who anchor her. “They are a little witchy,” she explains. “My mum is incredibly psychic. She always knows what I’m up to because she dreams about it. I didn’t love that at the time.” Watching her mother taught Yasmin how to trust her intuition. “The conversations we had early on were very otherworldly. When someone in the community passed, we’d talk about their spirits – whether we could feel them. There was always an openness around these things.” School was never Yasmin’s cup of tea. “I realised I learned differently from how they were teaching. School was unbearable – I hated every minute of it. And I didn’t know you could be bright without following an academic path. I felt like a failure.” She’d spend lessons staring out the classroom window, watching planes pass every few minutes. “I wanted to be on board every single one of them.” Hence, one of Yasmin’s first big decisions was to escape. She left school at 15 with no plan. “I thought about getting a job in a coffee shop near Bondi Beach.” But the universe had other ideas. “A job in real estate landed in my lap. It turned out to be an incredible opportunity and made me realise that I’m capable of doing things.” By 17, she was running the company alongside its founder. In about two years, she left the role to work at bars and on the door at several clubs. Not much later, fate would step in again.

Bimba y Lola dress, Pandora rings

Miu Miu tops, skirt, gloves, socks, necklace & sleeves

She met the man who would become her husband – a British actor – and she swapped Australia for the UK to build a life in London in the blink of an eye. Once there, she knew she wanted to do something that made people feel good. So, she opened a clothing store, curating the brands she loved – mostly emerging designers. Yasmin still remembers the fear like it was yesterday, but an inner voice kept her on track. “I’ve never struggled to access it. Now that I’m getting older, it only gets louder.” Her instincts proved correct: the store became a sensation, attracting a devoted following – including Courtney Love, one of her closest clients. Around the millennium, Yasmin’s mother fell ill, and she moved back to Australia. Her relationship ended, and a series of “wrong choices” led to losing the store. Back at her roots, she immersed herself in healing – seeking out naturopaths, studying reiki and energy work and running her mother’s hair salon on the side. One day, the phone rang. It was Joan Burstein, the legendary matriarch of Browns. With an offer you can’t refuse, Yasmin was back in London.

She thrived, but a profound longing for wellness yearned as she threw herself into the fashion industry’s fast pace. Eventually, she walked away, betting on freelance consulting — until a significant role at Style.com emerged. What followed was Yasmin’s final chapter in fashion. It led her to the words that set her on a new path – spoken by Natalie Massenet, co-founder of Net-a-Porter and co-chairman of Farfetch: “You should start a brand.” And so, in 2019, driven by her belief that good feelings are fundamental to our wellbeing, Yasmin decided to direct her lifelong passion for energetic medicine into creating her own brand. The idea, which came to her “like a light bulb moment”, was to explore whether she could channel energy into a product with the intention to raise and alter it. For Yasmin, wellbeing is about how we amplify our energetic, spiritual and emotional health. “I’m a big believer in healing through the senses – particularly scent, one of the most potent tools for shifting your mood and spirit.” To bring Vyrao to life, she turned to “the best witches in the field.” The first was Louise Mita, an energy worker specialising in Integrated Quantum Medicine (IQM). “When the idea of Vyrao struck me, Louise was the first person I called.

She came up with the concept of the Herkimer Diamond crystals holding energy. To this day, she charges them from her home in Hawaii.” Next was Lyn Harris, a master perfumer with an unerring instinct who had “never created a bad scent.” The brief was clear: fragrances rooted in emotions and specific ingredients. It turned out to be one of the most exciting projects Lyn had ever worked on. The third “witch”, Kathy Hall, a psychic who had always known Yasmin would help create Vyrao. “I developed Sixth Sense with her. She helped select the ingredients that open your intuition.” Though Vyrao was born from a deeply spiritual place, science plays an equal part. “The scents are based on 40 years of neuroscience and thousands of years of knowledge on how plants and rituals have been used to shift emotional states across cultures.” Each fragrance carries a personal meaning.

Edward Cuming top, Loewe trousers, Hai necklace