It is a truth universally acknowledged that parties these days smell like ‘Baccarat Rouge‘. Even children’s parties. Even kimchi-making parties (more of these please.) “Hey!” We hear you cry. “Everyone loves ‘Baccarat Rouge!’”. Yes, we know. But that’s the problem. How can your ex be expected to think of you and you alone whenever they catch a whiff of it in public?
What we choose to wear on our skin says so much about us to the outside world. As Patrick Süskind writes in Perfume: The Story of A Murder, “Odours have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odour cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.” Why not choose a perfume as unique as you are? With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of the best niche perfumes you might never have heard of.
We apologise in advance for all the people chasing after you to ask what they are.
Tubéreuse Astrale – Maison Crivelli
A raucous yet intricate scent that offsets a bubblegummy sweetness of tuberose with a dose of leather, wood and spice. This thoroughly modern take on the white floral will last on your skin all day and all night, and is one of the best niche perfumes money can buy.
Experimentum Crucis –Etat Libre D’Orange
This beautiful scent opens with fresh apple and lychee and then unfurls into a honeyed rose, weighted down by patchouli and cumin. A thoroughly modern and niche perfume that celebrates rose. We can’t get enough of it.
fallintostars – strangelove
This unabashed oud bomb, sweetened with honey and vanilla and spiced with pink peppercorns, is mesmerising and masterfully blended. A smouldering sexpot of a fragrance. It’s expensive, sure, but it’s the best oud we’ve ever smelt.
ABU DHABI – GALLIVANT
Somehow both dry and fresh, this woody scent is peppery, and herbal – a modern unisex fragrance that evokes hot sand in a desert breeze. It’ll grow on you every time you smell it, and – lets be honest – it just has to sit pride of place on the shelf of any desert dweller.
Poets of Berlin – Vilhelm Parfumerie
This creamy-sweet gourmand, where blueberry and vanilla are matured by sandalwood and vetiver, is so much more than girlish whimsy. In a nutshell, it’s a sweet fragrance for people who don’t like sweet fragrances.
Encens Suave – Matiere Premiere
Like a quiet moment in a cathedral as the light of day starts to fade – this church-inspired fragrance is sweet, spicy and smoky. Notes of incense and frankincense are given a buttery touch with labdanum, and just a touch of candyfloss adds a hint of sweetness. It’s sophisticated-sexy and lasts all night long.
STEAMED RAINBOW – D.S. & Durga
Last, but by no means least on our best niche perfumes list, is this earthy, green scent. Brightened with citrus, it recalls thunderclouds and petrichor. It brings together ingredients of every colour in the rainbow (violet, red mandarin, orange and indigo grass included) and will have you humming “Somewhere, over the rainbow” with each spritz.
