Niche Fragrances - and never learning to appreciate them quite enough.

[Ralph Nord]

Hey Forum,

I'm an avid traditional wet shaver and I also enjoy a vast number of fragrances.

As many other frag heads I have ventured into the world of niche fragrances lately (last 2 years) and sampled, tested and blind bought my fair share of niche fragrances.

With most niche frags you really DO smells that they are higher quality from the first second you apply them.
They lack the alcohol cloud many designer frags have upon first sniff, and they tend to smell more natural, pure and more well made.

With that said, I find that after I have owned a good 50+ niche frags, I find a lot of them harder to wear in public and I also honestly find them harder to appreciate personally.

I feel like drinking a very fine Bourgogne wine, priced 2-3 times higher than a lot of the more powerful darker red wine from overseas (seen from a European perspective). But I honestly appreciate the cheaper darker more powerfull one dimensional red wine a bit more than the finer Bourgogne wine (not always, but quite often this is the case)

With niche fragrances I feel they are absolutely higher quality, they smell natural, and often have great longevity on my skin.
But I find scents like Tom Ford Tuscan Leather, Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur, Serge Lutens Chergui & Andy Tauer L'Air du desert Marocaine increasingly more difficult to wear and also to enjoy.

I find that the niche frags I actually prefer are more higher end designers than real niche frags - Creed, Bond No.9, Hermés, Commes de Garcon.
I do still enjoy a couple of Malle, TF Tobacco Vanille, an Amouage and a Xerorff, but I seem to go back to my old favorite designer classics more and more the longer I'm in this frag gamne.

Anyone else have this same feeling ?

For instance is Andy Tauer L'Air du desert Marocaine increasingly more difficult for me to enjoy and actually find places to wear. It has this powerfull dry smell of hay, amber and animalistic notes to my nose. Definitely high quality scent, but not a scent I really can say that I enjoy highly, and I have never received one compliment wearing.
Okay, I wear frags for me, myself and I - but this frags takes some time to learn to appreciate and understand, and I'm not sure I want to have to spend time learning this appreciation of a fragrance.

So I'm finding that I increasingly use my old trusty designer frags and some of the more mainstream niche - and seldomly use the more advanced niche frags.
Personally I prefer Mugler Pure Havane, Pure Malt, Eau de Baux, Kors for Men over my Serge Lutens Chergui, which have this sweet honey note that almost makes me gag
Serge Lutens Musc Koublai Khan actually smells of dirty underwear on my skin, Fumeire Turque of a burnt fire with a lot of hay mixed in it.
Malle's Musc Ravageur is a very nice cosy daring close quarter scent, but I have now had two women telling me it makes them feel sick - so now I can't use this frag for that purpose anymore

Tom Ford Tuscan Leather is a beautiful leather scent - very high quality and very natural smelling, but while I do enjoy the scent of leather, I have a hard time finding the right place for smelling of the inside of a high quality leather jacket........maybe it's just me

I actually prefer Dueto Golden Boy over Tom Ford Tuscan Leather because the leather scent iin this is more subdued and mixed with vanilla and sweetness, so better and easier to wear.

Montale fragrances are just very intense and heavy and prokjects like beast on my skin - and I feel they all share the same DNA. Dark Oud and Black Oud smells very close to my nose, and again I find it hard to wear them out in public and not sure I really enjoy the scents. They are 'demanding' in a sort of dark heavy way.

A niche house that makes some very nice versatile scents are Frapin - I really enjoy a lot of their frags highly, but the 4 I have all suffer from smelling very naural and wonderful - but they all lack in the longevity and projection department. While they are not the priciest niche frags, I still feel when you pay more than $125 and up for a 100 ml frag, I almost demand a certain level of longevity (6-8 hours solid and more) Frapin frags do not deliver that, on my skin at least. I'm a huge fan of 1270, 1697 and L'Humaniste


Am I the only one feeling like this......not quite feeling I get value for money in my niche fragrances any longer

 

[GarrettReid]

Personally I'm willing to pay niche prices for the longevity.

 

[mdevine]

I have about half niche and half designer fragrances. There are several designer fragrances among my favorites, including Eau des Baux, Azzaro pH and Eau Sauvage. But there are a handful of niche fragrances that I find myself reaching for more and more. While I enjoy a challenging fragrance on occasions, I usually pick something that smells great to me. L'Air du Desert Marocain is one that I absolutely love, and I have worn it both at home and work. Creed Windsor and Domenico Caraceni may be my two favorites. There are some designer scents that I enjoy but can find challenging to wear: Third Man, Red. In the end, wear what you enjoy the most.

Mike

 

[Wildalaska]

If I dont enjoy a fragrance, no matter what it is, I dont wear it.

Niche frags? Where them when YOU want not when you think you should. Tonight I wore TF TV layered with TF Italian Cypress to a minor leauge hockey game. Throw convention to the wind

 

[crfcom]

Some designer houses do a great job and others seem to be managed more by marketers and bean counters. I think I see more overall artisan-caliber work among the niche houses. No designer does anything like Lubin Idole, or Domenico Caraceni 1913, or Mazzolari Lui, or Ambra Nera, or any Montale. Dior, Acqua di Parma, & Chanel do nice things, but the niche houses do things the marketing-driven designer houses won't. JMHO.

 

[Ralph Nord]

Some designer houses do a great job and others seem to be managed more by marketers and bean counters. I think I see more overall artisan-caliber work among the niche houses. No designer does anything like Lubin Idole, or Domenico Caraceni 1913, or Mazzolari Lui, or Ambra Nera, or any Montale. Dior, Acqua di Parma, & Chanel do nice things, but the niche houses do things the marketing-driven designer houses won't. JMHO.

No question about the fact that Niche houses make higher quality fragrances, I just question their overall wearability and versatility on my skin for my preferences.
Once you find a good quality niche frag, that smells mainstream - the longevity often also seems to be mainstrean.
I never want to carry decants around with me (thinking of Frapin and to some extent Creed here)

Montake frags to my nose for 90% of their entire collection is build around the same base, sort of like with Creed, but even more pronounced with Montale.
They smells so similar to my nose, that I feel once you own one or two, you own them all (slightly exaggerated, but almost true)
They are also very difficult to wear in public because even two sprays projects like a beast and the dark oud in them is not exactly discrete smelling.

 

[crfcom]

No question about the fact that Niche houses make higher quality fragrances, I just question their overall wearability and versatility on my skin for my preferences.
Once you find a good quality niche frag, that smells mainstream - the longevity often also seems to be mainstrean.
I never want to carry decants around with me (thinking of Frapin and to some extent Creed here)

Montake frags to my nose for 90% of their entire collection is build around the same base, sort of like with Creed, but even more pronounced with Montale.
They smells so similar to my nose, that I feel once you own one or two, you own them all (slightly exaggerated, but almost true)
They are also very difficult to wear in public because even two sprays projects like a beast and the dark oud in them is not exactly discrete smelling.

You're describing subjective experience. I find it difficult to believe that anyone could possibly confuse any of the fragrances I specifically mention in my post, however it seems almost reasonable to expect to find a common theme within the frags of any one house, although that certainly isn't always the case. I get the impression in reading your post that you haven't tried very many of the niche houses that are available because there are quite a few with a great deal of variety between them.
As to the strength of the juice, I've always felt that to be a good thing. One bottle of Montale will last as long as several bottles of the typical juice you find at most department stores. When I use Blue Amber its one maybe two sprays. In my world thats great.
Like I said, though, its all a matter of taste. If you don't like niche frags, don't wear them. The designer product is fine, especially if you like it.

 

[joshmpdx]

Some designer houses do a great job and others seem to be managed more by marketers and bean counters. I think I see more overall artisan-caliber work among the niche houses. No designer does anything like Lubin Idole, or Domenico Caraceni 1913, or Mazzolari Lui, or Ambra Nera, or any Montale. Dior, Acqua di Parma, & Chanel do nice things, but the niche houses do things the marketing-driven designer houses won't. JMHO.

You've got outstanding taste.

 

[crfcom]

You've got outstanding taste.

Well, it doesn't hurt to frequent this forum and do some experimenting at LuckyScent. I'm really just a student, but I enjoy the journey.

 

[Ralph Nord]

You're describing subjective experience. I find it difficult to believe that anyone could possibly confuse any of the fragrances I specifically mention in my post, however it seems almost reasonable to expect to find a common theme within the frags of any one house, although that certainly isn't always the case. I get the impression in reading your post that you haven't tried very many of the niche houses that are available because there are quite a few with a great deal of variety between them.
As to the strength of the juice, I've always felt that to be a good thing. One bottle of Montale will last as long as several bottles of the typical juice you find at most department stores. When I use Blue Amber its one maybe two sprays. In my world thats great.
Like I said, though, its all a matter of taste. If you don't like niche frags, don't wear them. The designer product is fine, especially if you like it.

I have sampled maybe 150 niche frags total from 12-15 niche houses.
I have owned 50 niche fragrances, now down to less than 10.
I think I'm not into the heavier weirder deeper newer compositions.

I still whole hearted believe YSL Kouros & YSL Opium can beat ANY niche frag hands down regarding quality of scent - not blinking an eye.

Will still own a few Niche frags, but I'm dumping the ones that are hyped up, which I don't like.

 

[Schad]

Ralph you make some very good points.

I think of niche as OVER THE TOP scents. It's like if you're into sports cars....you're not satisfied with a Subaru WRZ base model. You want the STI. You want that massive muffler sticking out. You put the fin on the car for aerodynamic.

The problem is that these over the top scents are not necessarily good workhorse scents to wear to the office. Case in point - Portrait of a Lady by Malle. It is a beautiful scent - one of the best I've ever smelled. But as others have said you dont wear it, it wears you. It's so dense and complex. Can't wear this everyday. Cant wear it easily to work IMO. But something designer like Allure Homme Sport or Bvlgari Extreme is easy to wear.

So if you're looking to be wowed and amazed at scents niche will get you there. If you're a wetshaver that just wants a nice light scent for work it's very likely the niche will not be a good fit. I find there's a place for both for specific occasions.

And of course someone will always respond with KJ style "I wear whatever I want whenever I want when I wake up in the morning" LOL

 

[joshmpdx]

A lot of the scents you're considering niche, others may consider not so.

Part of the fun for a lot of us here is the journey exploring different houses and discussing each of them. If you've already decided kouros is your #1 and the journey is over, you've got my blessing.

Keep in mind if you are interested, that while perhaps you've tried many scents, you haven't tried 10% of what's easily available to find.

 

[crfcom]

I have sampled maybe 150 niche frags total from 12-15 niche houses.
I have owned 50 niche fragrances, now down to less than 10.
I think I'm not into the heavier weirder deeper newer compositions.

I still whole hearted believe YSL Kouros & YSL Opium can beat ANY niche frag hands down regarding quality of scent - not blinking an eye.



Will still own a few Niche frags, but I'm dumping the ones that are hyped up, which I don't like.

I'm not sure what you mean by "hyped up". Niche houses are called that because they address the smaller pockets of the available market that mainstream houses ignore. Most of the "hype" is generated by the big houses who have the advertising bucks to spend. Niche suppliers pretty much have to depend on word-of-mouth (industry reviews, forums). If you are saying you don't agree with those reviews and forum posts, well, that's to be expected. Niche houses don't address mainstream taste's, as a rule. My frag collection runs about half and half, so I do understand the attraction to Dior and Chanel, but I find the niche suppliers to also offer compelling product which I enjoy exploring, whether I buy or not.

 

[sharpen]

I have some niche frags that I wear to the office / school. For example : Luten's MKK (smells weird at first but once it has really dried down it gets quite unique and loses that "dirty underwear smell"; some people who wear this frag just really don't like it though).

Also, Van Cellf and Arpels' MiP is one hell of a beast. It's very soft and you can wear it everyday. I don't know if it's a niche frag or a very high-end designer one though, as it's getting more and more popular.

I guess it's a matter of well choosing. Niche frags can smell very unique, as long as you don't use the over-the-top ones that are designed more to be an olfactory experience than a "wear it at the office thing".

Designer gfrags are popular, because, well, they are well-liked by the vast majority of the population, and thus, are more likely to be appreciated by your colleagues / family if they are not into frags as much as you are.

I think you need to wear niche frags for yourself, and not in the only intention of pleasing your surroundings. Although it's a huge plus if you get compliments while wearing them!

 

[tehtimmeh]

Everyone makes solid points here. I'll only add that price does not in any way equate to quality or that you will love something. There is zero correlation.

I love both designer and niche scents and rarely if never pay any attention to the price tag. It has absolutely nothing to do with whether you will like or dislike a scent or how profound/complex the scent is.

It is best to judge a scent entirely based on the composition and whether you feel your appreciation warrants the price. There are some niche scents I wouldn't pay $5 for. There are some designer scents I would pay hundreds for. Just wear what you like and don't worry about classifications.

 

[sharpen]

+ 10000.

I wear scents for myself, not for others.

Although I try not to use offending scents at the office.

Some designer frags I have and really like did not cost me a lot (Azzaro PH, amongst others). They are not niche frags, but are a classic in the cologne world, and they did not become such classics for no reason!