The Deep End of Niche Fragrance
A no-B.S. curation of the best discovery sets to take a chance on, from Pearfat to Jorum to Maya Njie. Just jump in—the water's warm (and smells reallllly good).
As someone who has, in the past few months, truly fallen down the rabbit hole of “niche” and “indie” fragrance, I find it interesting that there’s such a market for “transitional” perfume houses—i.e. labels with which to “transition” from more conventional, mass-marketed or designer fragrances to more artistic endeavors. These “entry points” into more esoteric fragrance, some of which I’ve smelled (such as Snif, Phlur, and designers considered more “experimental” like Maison Margiela), have never not underwhelmed and disappointed me—I’ll save my breath, but let’s just say there isn’t a single fragrance I’ve tested from the three brands mentioned that felt like it should cost more than $17.99 for a few bottle. One-note, cloying, so obviously trying to be cool in a way that I find, quite honestly, repulsive*. If you’ve tried a scent from any of these “transitional” labels and find it delightful, you’ve hit the jackpot—your nose and/or skin chemistry agrees with fragrances you can likely shop in-person, wherever you may be (in the States, at least), and I don’t find you repulsive or “basic” for liking them—I love how amorphous and subjective all this smelly stuff is.
My frustration lies in the fact that so many TikTok videos, newsletters, and the like by fragrance nerds intended for newbies looking to start experimenting with weirder scents feel like they’re assuming we’re babies—incapable of handling the deep end of the pool without first being eased into the warm, non-threatening shallows. My *insufferable voice* fragrance journey began in quite a funny way, thanks to the incomparable
(their newsletter is an excellent repository of creative inspiration, especially scent-wise) who recommended I try Kismet Olfactive’s sample set a year or so ago. A week ago, I saw this video that classifies Kismet as being at the VERY BOTTOM of the indie fragrance iceberg (note that “niche” labels refer typically to mid-size companies that create more exclusive, esoteric, experimental scents while “indie” labels tend to be less necessarily exclusive and more simply small and scrappy—the two labels can intersect or not) , yet that’s where I started loving scents, falling head-over-heels for my first signature fragrance, Nostalgia (A Sonnet for Grasse).To me, the whole point of investing money and mental energy into fragrance is to experience it in its multitudes, be they challenging, seamless, or anywhere in between. I almost always despise the idea of “introductory” artwork, as it perpetuates this conception of esoteric art as being on a different plane of reality from uninitiated viewers, as if one couldn’t possibly appreciate Proust before getting comfortable with Percy Jackson. There’s a difference between needing certain tools or background information in order to have a fair shot at appreciating a work—for instance, I wouldn’t recommend someone who couldn’t read attempt to launch themself into In Search of Lost Time—but luckily, with fragrance, each and every one of us (save the few who can’t smell like uhhh Jason Sudeikis, don’t ask me how I know that) has countless tools at our disposal just by virtue of having lived lives in which we’ve unavoidably encountered scents, from hot trash to fresh flowers to the inside of VHS tapes. Acting like any average Joe can only experience pleasant and/or unchallenging fragrances in a meaningful way is completely missing the point of fragrance art, which is creating experiential work that deals with the subjectivity of our universal experience as humans. Every single person from, say, age four or five up, has references with which they can associate, compare, and contrast fragrances, no matter how facile or complex that may be. This is why it’s so thrilling to ask a child to sniff a weirdo perfume and ask for their reaction—it might be “this smells like a diaper” or it might be “this smells like Grandma went into the third room of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride” or any number of other insights, which are typically very revealing and thought-provoking to adults who are convinced that their every artistic insight must be Poignant and Essential to be generative.
All this to day, several of the fragrances in the discovery sets below may be "pleasant” or “nice”—god knows I love an appealing spritz—but that’s not their essential objective. I believe that we, as adults (if you’re a kid reading this, comment or respond to this email and I’ll comp you a year of Esque because you really shouldn’t be paying for a Substack at your tender age), can handle a scent that’s confusing, paradoxical, multifaceted, or strange. I think that if you want to join the frenzy for niche/indie fragrances, you really should jump into the deep end, because that’s where all the best stuff is. Save your money on the glorified Bath & Body Works dupes (if that’s what you’re into, why not just get the BBW originals? I will never, EVER speak ill of White Musk which I’m now seeing might have been discontinued—I’m very sad) and get some discovery sets that will entertain, engross, and inspire you. These are some of the best of the best on offer right now (with the pick from each I like most or am most interested in testing)—I can’t promise you’ll love any because as I mentioned scents present so differently to different people AND I’m not rich enough to have tested them all, but I can promise you that these are worth the investigation. I’d love to hear from you if you try any!
*I want to note that I don’t dislike these labels because they’re lower “class” than the below scents. The dividing line between “high-end” and “low-end” is not the same thing as the line between “good” and “not so good”—some of the below perfume houses, such as Pearfat, revel in making fragrances based off scents like fast food and scratch-n-sniff stickers, and some really great indie houses like Death and Floral are EXPONENTIALLY cheaper than labels by Snif—the houses I don’t like show a lack of thoughtfulness, mischievousness, creepiness, or genuine romance that I find present in the below labels.
NB: Please don’t be mad, but at the time of writing (right before the 2024 holidays), a ton of these sets are temporarily out of stock or won’t be shipped until after Xmas. I almost never recommend items that aren’t available for immediate purchase, but since you really can’t help it this time f year, I’m throwing convention to the wind—sign up for the houses’ newsletters to be notified when the sets are back in, or check out Ministry of Scent or Twisted Lily to see if one of them is offering your desired set (Lucky Scent I like less, but it’s there, too).
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My Pearfat discovery kit is coming on Friday, and I legitimately cannot wait. OH MY GOSH I typed that and it CAME EARLY! Guys… it’s as good as people like my favorite fragrance TikToker, Eau De Oddity, have said. With references like french fry wrappers, dolls’ heads, and fresh, crusty bread, these are heart-rendingly nostalgic and ingeniously formulated fragrances that are SO INCREDIBLY worth a $40 test run, especially since you get *nine* fragrances in a cute drawstring bag. My favorite perfume house thus far. Bravo, Alie Kiral (the perfumer!).
Top pick: Amicus Cumulus - I hate strawberries, so imagine my shock when this strawberry and oolong-based perfume instantly stole my heart with its brash, almost lemongrassy strains that reminded me, I finally realized, of Even Sisters, the now-defunct boutique where I bought my first-ever article of clothing: a brown Paul Frank monkey x Lego T-shirt on sale. I think it was $10 and I’m sad I don’t still have it, but now I have this. Because I can’t help myself, I’ll also shout out that Bread & Roses is really as good as everyone says it is. Ahhhhh, Big Floppy Flowers is almost fishy in its saltiness but in a REALLY GOOD way. They’re just all winners, man.
I ordered this *right* before it sold out for the month, and I feel so lucky. I can’t wait to get it—both Clue and Pearfat come from Chicago, so now I wish I lived in that damn cold city. The illustrations and style of Clue make me want to cry—I know, because they’ve named one of their four fragrances after it, that the house is familiar with the Harry Nilsson song vehicle narrated by Ringo Starr (yep) The Point, which the house would make me think of even without the direct reference. It’s a very important film to me. I’ve actually smelled these fragrances before, but it was quite a while before I got super into scent, so I need to refresh my memory.
Top pick: The Point, for sentimental reasons, but of course I can’t wait to smell the famous Warm Bulb, notorious for smelling like… a warm, just-burnt-out lightbulb.
Weird, witchy, super-natural scents with copious herbs, creepy backstories, and sophisticated formulations.
Top pick: I’ve also smelled these and hope to refresh my memory soon—I did recently re-smell Mistpouffer which made my heart catch in my throat with its intensity (it’s named after the unexplained phenomenon of sonic booms over bodies of water noted everywhere from China to Sweden, so that misty heft is fitting).
Feminine scents I challenge even the most butch fellow not to fall in love with—this set especially has several clarion-sweet but deeply poignant smells that are less challenging and more easy-to-wear than many others on this list but are still very moving and compelling.
Top pick: Studied—I just love pear so MUCH as a food and as a scent note, and this scent was revelatory from first sniff. I could Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet huff it and never get sick of it. Apparently, Phoebe Bridgers likes it too, lol. I want a bottle, if anyone’s feeling generous!
I’m so excited to try this one soon—Puppet is a one-person operation based close to where I am now, and I love its concept and packaging!
Top pick: Haunted Baby - I am craving something green, dark, and damp right now, and no, that’s not a dirty joke about Elphaba.
One of my first-ever discovery sets was a different combo of Andrea Maack fragrances, and it gripped me like a cult horror film. Icelandic perfumers are built different—you can smell the igneous rocks and mineral water in every scent.
Top pick: Solstice — watermelon that is AGGRESSIVELY not summer-y. Like eating watermelon in an Icelandic hot spring after almost dying in the cold plunge.
Another set, this one from a Scottish studio, that I desperately want (I’d be happy with the Scottish Odyssey pack, too). The descriptions sound like strolling through an apothecary, adding a pinch of this, a dash of that, a spill of this into a burbling pot of scalding liquid, or like that famous painting of Ophelia floating , freshly dead, in the marshy shallows of a lake.
Top pick: Trimerous — I’m a proponent of purple flowers and a co-conspirator of carrot seed. The rooty, suedey orris composition sounds divine to me.
As someone who lived in Argentina for the better part of two years, I didn’t even know that there was an Argentine scent scene—duh—and now the thought of smelling these makes me pretty emotional, because I miss it there.
Top pick: Verano Porteño — a Porteño is someone from Buenos Aires, and Verano is summer. I miss summer in that damn city, and the combination of clementine, cardamom, jasmine, and mate sounds heady but earthy and blissful.
So, Troye Sivan made a fragrance brand, and… everyone clapped? It’s famously one of the best celeb perfume houses ever? Full of experimental compositions and weird notes. Thank you Troye.
Top pick: Pool — smelled this a long time ago and was struck by how intensely savory it was, which I love in a scent.
Shoutout to LONG-time Esque reader Syd for creating such a gorgeous scent house—the scents start off kind of crude and confusing, but dry down into gorgeous, thought-provoking creations that are truly virtuosic. The set also comes with a GORGEOUSLY illustrated, postcard-size scent card for each fragrance. Amazing presentation.
Top pick: Ribbon Dance — though not officially released yet, a sample comes with every discovery set. I’ve never smelled anything like it—resinous incense floating over a bed of molten caramel. Both transcendent and cozy.
Distinctive, nature-oriented scents with plenty of surprises to twist even fragrances you thought you could understand offhand.
Top pick: Ok, this isn’t in the discovery set, but I want Faqqua Iris — as I mentioned, I love purple flowers, and the proceeds of this incredible-sounding fragrance go to Gaza-assisting charities, which fuck yeah.
A Mexican fragrance house with a commitment to “olfactory vastness” and Central/South American-sourced ingredients.
Top pick: Ummo Xinū — when tobacco is done well, it’s one of the best scents in my opinion, and backed up with styrax, tonka, and juniper, this one sounds bitter in the best way.
This guy seems like a pill in a fun way—his website screams at you that he does NOT gift PR to influencers—and he only makes tiny batches of like two scents at a time, so everything is hyper-limited-edition, but it all sounds incredible. I am compelled to take a chance on this surly dude (to be clear, I like and respect his attitude and think he’s probably earned it if the scents are as fantastic as I suspect they are).
Top pick: Caji — I love the smell of real Indian jasmine, the kind with the pink heart—it’s my favorite scent in the world and I’ve only ever encountered it in Buenos Aires and SoCal—but no one has yet been able to capture it in a scent to my liking. Maybe this is the one? I also need to know what the animal musk civet smells like.
A Latin American brand that prioritizes “clean,” cruelty-free, natural ingredients and earthy compositions. People feel pretty polar about the label, but I thiiiink I’d love it.
Top pick: Salvia Salvia — I need to match a scent to the term “fougére” (a mossy, grassy scent), and this scent sounds so sage-y and greenly savory, like a desert nymph’s salad.
Oh my god all these scents sound INSANE. It seems each is named after a piece of media—a ton are named after Murakami novels, which could be either a really good or a really bad thing, but there’s also influence via Ryuichi Sakamoto, Moonlight, and more, plus the bottles are simply gorgeous, maybe my favorites I’ve seen.
Top pick: Amore — the scent inspired by the song of the same name by Sakamoto, with purple flowers fading into a woody underbelly.
Everyone goes wild over this one-woman show. The discovery set also comes with a booklet of the photos that inspired the scents, which I find charming. What can I say—I’m intrigued.
Top pick: Syren — another attempt at jasmine I’m interested in evaluating, though this one seems to take a fruitier-aquatic tack, with bergamot and peach augmented by sea salt (one of my favorite notes in general).
I’m sorry, a discovery set that comes in an iridescent cigarette box??? More perfume companies need to make their products viable accessories, as I mentioned in yesterday’s paid post. The fragrances also sound incredible in their skanky, sweaty club vibes—will report back soon.
Top pick: Heathens, Cowboys, and the Santa Ana Winds - I went to high school in Santa Ana and those damn winds still do make me emotional, even when Jack Black makes fun of them in The Holiday. I also like that two notes are “Freudian slips” and “loose lips.”
A London perfume house where you can make your own tester sets, which I adore! Sounds like there are a bunch of really compelling, complex fruity scents here, which might be interesting to me as I’ve recently fallen for several fruity scents despite a historical distaste for them…
Top pick: Fluffy Lemon Top — I find it hard to believe that a perfumer could make lemon smell not like a cleaning product, but with orris and tonka backing it up, I’ll give this scent a chance to impress me…
This is SO MANY perfumes, all with witchy botanical compositions and many based off historic poisons, which absolutely makes my ears perk up.
Top pick: Hemlock — there’s some smutty copy about a bondage session on a flower bed, but really, I just love the smell of plastic in concert with sweet stuff, in this case, vanilla. I need to find a vanilla scent I *love*—let me know if you have any recs.
Naomi Goodsir is a pretty deep cut solo perfumer and everyone I’ve seen talk about these scents simply RAVES, so I’m gonna follow the herd on this one.
Top pick: Nuit de Bakélite - apparently “obsessive and addictive” with notoriously intoxicating tuberose underlined by leather and styrax (an oily, balsamic shrub). I’m sold.
Again, please let me know here or on Instagram if you end up trying out any of these scents! I’m dying to know your thoughts. Happy smells!
<3 ESK
I fell down a fragrance rabbit hole thanks to the Molly Young piece about the mad perfumer of Parma. If you have not read, I highly recommend. This piece was truly thoughtful and thorough. 👏🏻
Morel Map by Clue is UNREAL and I haven’t been to get my hands on a bottle. I think about it regularly