Hpnotiq creator is back in the pink

Blue is for boys, pink is for girls. Unless you're Raphael Yakoby. Then, both will do just fine, thank you.

When he was 25, the Long Island, NY, native came up with a blend of cognac, fruit juices and vodka, made sure it was colored light blue, and slapped the name Hpnotiq on it. Through some deft marketing at hip hop clubs, awards shows after-parties and the like, it became a big hit. Yakoby went on to sell the brand for tens of millions of dollars.

Now, at 32, he's hawking a pink sparkling vodka liqueur he calls Nuvo, contained in a tapered square bottle that resembles a perfume bottle.

He makes no bones about it: Nuvo is aimed at the female market niche. Like Hpnotiq, the packaging was inspired by the perfume industry.

Why so long between products?

As Yakoby said in an interview with the New York Post: "In this business, you have to be so perfection-oriented in not settling for what you don't want. I must have tried at least 175 different blends and seen 75 different packaging concepts before deciding this is the right fit, the right look, the right feel. It takes incredible patience to get a product exactly right."

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