I know, I know, it’s a very broad question. But I thought: if “Do you like vintage perfumes?” is a legitimate question, why wouldn’t this one be?
Saturday Question #209:
Do You Like Modern Niche Perfumes?
Give your own definition to what you consider “modern,” and what you classify as “niche,” and after that tell me whether you like them, find new favorites, I’ll even dare to say – buy them?
My Answer
As a rule, I do not feel old (or even “older”). But recently I caught myself thinking that the way I feel about new niche perfumes that I come across makes me sound old, because my mental mantra these days is: “in my time” perfumes were better.
I am not talking about ingredients that were banned and substituted (even though, of course, that plays its role in my perception of new perfumes). I am not even complaining about lack of originality or not being memorable. But more and more I test new perfumes that smell either very minimalistic or too gender-neutral or overly artificial or not really perfume-y.
And after a while, I realized that those are not just poorly constructed perfumes (well, some of them are), but it seems like a new style. The industry keeps creating new aroma chemicals that become popular, and many new brands eagerly utilize them. They are not necessarily unpleasant, they don’t even smell identical. But many of them have some recognizable characteristics that just don’t excite or inspire me. And if perfumes aren’t expensive, I think: “Of course, how much could these aroma chemicals cost?” And if they are expensive, I think: “How could these aroma chemicals cost that much?!!”
I’m not a fan of vintage perfumes. I remember hundreds of perfumes of the past that I didn’t like. And I still come across some perfumes I like. But in general, I do not like the prevailing style of modern niche perfumes.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
I hear you Undina but like the past there is a lot of dross and some really beautiful magic being made. To be honest though I think the %s have shifted. It seems like more and more new niche/mass-tige releases are utterly derivative and so many have that scratchy woody/amber/pepper/oud dry down (that can be quite nice but often is rough as guts).
I’m also smelling more and more BR450 baseline running through the 2020s era. So now loads of it smells like Cloud to me.
There is a broad seam of good stuff (to me anyway) though, just harder to find.
Portia xx
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Ha! I think you pinpointed the root of my issue with at least some modern perfumes: I dislike even the original BR450, so any derivatives from it would’ve even less chance with me :)
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Yeah, I think for all the love it gets many people feel the same. Much like Angel.
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Agree with you and Portia. I guess the market for perfumes has always followed a trend- clearly noticeable by looking at the most popular fragrances through the decades from aldehydes to chypres to musk to fruity to caramel etc. The market has become massive because sales provide an amazing return for comparatively little investment, and the manufacturers are pumping out generics/copies because they are what appeal generally. ”Niche” lines seem guilty of this habit too. I used to think that niche would mean an outstanding, really different, individual fragrance, but that’s not necessarily so. But then I don’t get to smell much now so maybe that’s unfair of me to say that.
Thank goodness there are some attractive fragrances being produced, niche and otherwise, and I am patiently waiting for the current trend to pass, and hope for better things! Meanwhile, I have my favourites still – some vintage and some new niche.
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In reality, I think not only I shouldn’t complain about the situation – I should welcome it since it should allow me to use more of my current favorites before they become vintage ;)
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Great question, and I love that you have that same feeling that I do, that I must be getting older cause I am often thinking to myself that perfumes used to be better years ago. I also agree with a lot of points Portia and Jilliecat made, there are still great niche scents being created, you just need to search harder for them because there are so many “niche” scents that, to me, are not at all niche. Even my beloved Amouage doesn’t seem “niche” in my definition of the term any longer. I find myself following smaller houses and artisan brands more and more. As I smell my scent of the day, Racque by Roberto Greco, I am reminded that there definitely are masterpieces in the niche world being created, you just have to search them out.
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I think that changes in direction for Amouage upset me the most (though, to be fair, they started not today): even though I still manage to find one or two newer perfumes from the brand, in general, they started smelling more artificial and … well, cheap.
I haven’t tried Rauque yet, and it looks like currently even samples are sold out on Luckyscent. But hopefully it’ll be back because now I’m curious to try it.
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From 2000 to 2020 I was a modern niche fan. But the last several years there are very few releases that excite me as I dislike most of what seems to be the latest crop of aromachemicals. Fortunately I already have enough perfume to last several lifetimes and I’m happy to just wear what I already own. Plus the prices are ridiculous nowadays. I feel lucky to have what I do and not compelled to buy any more.
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I could sign under each of your words! :)
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I would agree, Undina. Whether you’re talking about music, art or perfumes, there is always some reference point. What is truly original anymore? It’s really just variations on a theme. Niche perfumes, as some have said, are trapped by this concept of acceptance by the general public. If the perfume is not popular, and doesn’t provide the brand with revenue, what’s the point. Perfume has become more about the business aspect of their products and subsequent profits.
There are so many perfumes over the last several years that I have sampled that either remind me of something else, or are just pale refection of that perfumer, and are uninteresting at best. Modern doesn’t necessarily need to carry the connotation of boring, but it generally does these days.
I find very little in modern perfumery that leaves me saying WOW!
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I’m not sure I really long for originality: I remember that it took me several years to warm up to (and then fall in love with) Angel. I probably would appreciate something similar to what I like but with some additional angle that would make it worth having in addition to what I like. But when everything smells like poured from the same vat of aroma chemical du jour (that I do not like to start with), and there’s no way I could tell one concoction from another if I smell them tomorrow – that’s where they lose me.
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Given that about half of the perfumes I own (that I bought in the last 5 years) came out in the last 10 years or so, and most of the rest of them came out after 2000, I suppose I do! But if we’re talking about since 2020, I’ve certainly slowed down, and I’ve also sampled a lot without finding new loves. I don’t like perfumes too minimalistic, too syrupy, too Ambroxan-y, or too woody-ambery,… so that leaves a much narrower range of options.
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I find that I sample a great deal as well, and just don’t seem to have any other response but “that was OK” or “that was nice, but…”
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My personal definition of “modern” spans for the last 4-5 years. I also have most of my favorites from this century. But sampling recently got even more frustrating than it ever was: I can go through a dozen of perfumes from some brand without finding a single one I would be willing to wear for free – let alone paying those current prices for them!
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Who knows the difference between niche and indie? For what it’s worth, aren’t all new perfumes modern? In any case, I pretty much just go with what I read is available although I must agree that my heart beats a little faster if it’s a line I like.
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In my book, I define indie perfumes as brands where the owner is the perfumer. If a perfumer is an “hired gun,” I consider that brand just niche (if they have limited “doors”). All indie are niche, but not all niche are indie.
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That definition makes a lot of sense to me.
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I am not a fan of vintage only, and I have found many modern perfumes I like, but there are so many new materials my nose does not pick up in the intended way (Ambroxan, musks, “wood”) so I expect that is why I have to sample much more now to find new favourites. Byredo is one brand we find everywhere here in Scandinavia, even if they want to be seen as niche, and so far I never found a favourite from their line. I don’t usually buy skin scents or anything too minimalistic (unless it is a real cologne to be used in quantity, but where I know it disappears within an hour or so).
So often these days I find one or two notes ruin my experience of a perfume. Generally I have no luck with fruity florals, especailly not with a caramel note or vanilla added. Woody notes, oudh, leather, pink pepper and many musks can also turn me away. So I tend to agree that the style of current modern niche is not a favourite.
I do keep sampling, but had to slow that down a litte (buying samples), because I felt an urge and obligation to give more to charity than before. We now have something like 70.000 refugees from Ukraine here in Norway and even if they are taken care of by social services, they also need extra help at times.There’s also MSF and other NGOs needing help to fund vital activities in areas at war or otherwise in crisis.
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First of all, thank you and your country for the support to Ukrainian refugees. I know that all the countries have their own issues, and I appreciate that you find it in your hearts and budget to help those who were misplaced,
I slowed down buying samples as well: not only we have our own “refugee situation,” but I also don’t want to support and encourage production of bad perfumes proliferating demand by buying decants/samples.
Surprisingly, I found several Byredo to like – Pulp and Bal d’Afrique are my two tropical vacation perfumes, and Mojhave Ghost has grown on me. But all these are still only decants in my collection.
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Now that’s an essay worthy question! I’ll keep it shorter though ;-)
I think it depends on the experience each one of us has with perfumes and experience means a solid number of years testing, trying, contemplating about perfume. I suppose your readers are all familiar with vintage perfumes and that makes it harder to answer. Like our life and lifestyle, the perfume industry has changed in the past 50 years and the changes are quicker than before. Sometimes our tastes don’t change at the same pace and we feel like: perfume was better when I was younger. New raw materials are popping up and there are plenty of self-taught perfumers experimenting without knowing the basics of the trade. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes it’s a strange concoction (to put it mildly). Thanks to social media, some perfumes are hyped and get too much recognition just by being “different”, “strange”, “made by a certain nose”. Opinions are easily influenced by others.
I love my vintage perfumes, which are mostly 80-ies and 90-ies perfumes, but I also like newer niche and indie perfumes. The strange thing is – there’s a hyperproduction of perfumes but the right one is hard to find. Earlier we could choose among 50 perfumes in a perfumery, nowadays it’s 50 brands.
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Now that’s an essay worthy question! I’ll keep it shorter though ;-)
I think it depends on the experience each one of us has with perfumes and experience means a solid number of years testing, trying, contemplating about perfume. I suppose your readers are all familiar with vintage perfumes and that makes it harder to answer. Like our life and lifestyle, the perfume industry has changed in the past 50 years and the changes are quicker than before. Sometimes our tastes don’t change at the same pace and we feel like: perfume was better when I was younger. New raw materials are popping up and there are plenty of self-taught perfumers experimenting without knowing the basics of the trade. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes it’s a strange concoction (to put it mildly). Thanks to social media, some perfumes are hyped and get too much recognition just by being “different”, “strange”, “made by a certain nose”. Opinions are easily influenced by others.
I love my vintage perfumes, which are mostly 80-ies and 90-ies perfumes, but I also like newer niche and indie perfumes. The strange thing is – there’s a hyperproduction of perfumes but the right one is hard to find. Earlier we could choose among 50 perfumes in a perfumery, nowadays it’s 50 brands.
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I completely agree! But when we had 50 perfumes, it was easier to try most of them and decide “good,” “bad,” or “not for me.” (I’m talking not about “civilians” but rather people like us who have a huge exposure to perfumes and can appreciate those that don’t work for us or like those that aren’t that unique or great but still hit some spot. Nowadays, with 5,000 perfumes released per year (OK, maybe slightly less, but it feels like that), if you test the same 50, the chances are all 50 are subpar.
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My comment may have gone to spam.
I’ll try to be shorter.
Niche meant limited sales points. It doesn’t now as most things are available online. Many early niche scents were original & beautiful. Niche lines released new ones on rarely.
Niche now seems to mean anything not designer, drugstore or celebuscents.
Modern? To me anything since 2000.
Oddly modern niche seem to have adopted the oud/woody/amber faux “Arabian” trope. Not my thing.
I have discovered a couple of wonderful modern niche in the last year. Neither are woody/amber/ouds
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I think that either online or brick & mortar, if something is ubiquitous and is sold in thousands of places, it might be high-end but not niche.
It is tiresome when everyone uses the same 2-3 popular aroma chemicals: with naturals, at least those differ by batch or crop :)
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Tara C said it well. Most of the newbie niches in the last 4 to 5 years seem to be heavy with ambroxan, some kind of musk, oud or weird attempts to conjure the scent of pistachios, wet lumber piles or cherry cola. Nope, don’t need that. The one niche perfume house whose recent offerings I do love is Manos Gerakinis from Athens, Greece. His Immortelle and Methaxis fragrances are gorgeous and not run of the mill musky aromachemical mishmashes. Immortelle has a burnt sugar gourmand opening note, but it develops into a floral leathery beauty that is longlasting and not too sweet at all. I haven’t found anyone in the US carrying his fragrances so I’ve ordered direct from his website. If I want something new I’ll stick with my favorite houses like Ormonde Jayne and Chanel, that continually turn out high quality beautiful creations.
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As it happens a lot, I haven’t even heard of Manos Gerakinis. Hopefully, I’ll test it eventually.
Chanel and OJ would me my “go-to” these days.
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Using Undina’s excellent definition, I find I usually prefer independent perfumes to niche. I love several by Sarah McCartney at 4160 Tuesdays, and happily bought two by Miguel Matos on a recent trip to Barcelona. I haven’t tried any recent new releases by Diane St. Clair, it that’s because I’m trying to use and think about what I already have.
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I try to support independent brands, even if I don’t totally “click” with them. DSH, Andy Tauer and Hiram Green are among those. I hope that their passion for perfume would keep producing something of a great quality – regardless whether those work for me or don’t.
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And Ormonde Jayne is a standout! Independent, I assume.
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