2025 is the year of niche perfume. Fragrance as a beauty category has exploded in the past few years (thank you, TikTok) and all anyone wants right now is to smell unique. The best way to do that is by wearing something no one else is wearing. Enter niche perfume. We know and love the Le Labo’s of the world, but if you want something truly surprising, we’ve curated 13 of the very best niche perfume brands. From strawberry mochi notes to ancient recipes reimagined by a French design studio, find the best scents you’ve never heard of, below.
Maison Louis Marie
Maison Louis Marie is a clean perfume brand by former style editor Marie du Petit Thouars, inspired by her grandfather’s career as a botanist. Her perfumes are the kind that stop people in the street; edgy, sophisticated, nuanced. If you love Le Labo or Byredo, you’ll love Maison Louis Marie.
Bois de Ballencourt Perfume Oil
Régime des Fleurs
Alia Raza was a visual artist before she turned her skills to fragrance. Régime des Fleurs is all about the magical alchemy of plants and flowers; layered scents that tell a story of the natural world. Raza often collaborates with other master perfumers, as well — Toor Toor for instance is a white floral created by Dominic Roipon, a man known in the industry as the master of Tuberose. There’s also ‘Little Flower’, a vibrant rose co-created with Chloë Sevigny — who doesn’t want to smell like Chloë Sevigny?
Toor Toor
Altaia
Altaia is by the same husband and wife duo who created Eau d’Italie (he’s an explorer, her family own Le Sirenuse, the famed Italian hotel). Inspired by Argentina, the scents are evocative, bold and energising. I have met them both, and the ways they create scents that take you some place is magic.
Tuberose in Blue
Fueguia 1833
Fueguia 1833 is a fragrance brand from Patagonia that prioritises natural raw materials. I’ve visited the boutique in Tokyo and it’s incredible (I’m told the Mexican retail location is out of this world). I love Milonga Verde, a nutty/milky ‘green’ fragrance that’s difficult to describe, but beautiful on the skin.
Milonga Verde
Marissa Zappas
Marissa is a perfumer and poet with exquisite taste. Her eponymous brand is home to whimsical scents like, ‘Dream Sequence’ and ‘Annabel’s Birthday Cake’. It’s yet to ship to Australia but worth knowing about regardless.
Maggie The Cat Is Alive, I’m Alive!
Nasommato
Nasommato is a cult niche perfume brand known for bold, sexy scents. Nasommato translates as ‘crazy nose’ and each scent is an extrait, meaning a higher concentration for long-lasting projection. Black Afghano is the best-seller — a blissful mix of tobacco, hash and oud.
Black Afghano
Orto Parisi
Orto Parisi is the work of Alessandro Gualtieri (he also founded Nasommato). He’s known as a provocative perfumer, who prefers to talk about his scents in the context of a mood or feeling, rather than individuals notes. Orto Parisi isn’t about mass appeal; the perfumes are bold, concentrated and like nothing you’ve ever smelled before.
Brutus
St Rose
St Rose is a boutique Australian fragrance brand known for its ‘slow’ perfumery processes, sourcing the finest raw materials and using traditional perfume-making techniques for concentrated results. My pick is French Poetry, a syrupy amber-floral that smells like a languid summer afternoon in Paris.
French Poetry
Perfumer H
Perfumer H is by Lyn Harris, a British perfumer who is known for her Marylebone studio, where she creates scents directly for her clients. Her scents are classic with a twist. Take ‘Ink’, a shadowy interpretation of a library after dark (papyrus, vetiver, cedar, rose, patchouli and ambroxan).
Ink
Ex Nihilo
Hailey Bieber loves Ex Nihilo — what else is there to say? The French house taps perfumers to create memorable scents that are uniquely their own. Bieber’s pick is Fleur Narcotique, a stick-sweet candied floral with notes of peony, lychee, peach, woods and musk.
Fleur Narcotique
Essential Parfums
Essential Parfums works with some of the world’s top perfumers including Anne Flipo and Quentin Bisch, giving them a blank slate to create whatever their heart desires. What’s most noteworthy is the price; a 100ml EDP by a top nose is only 88 euro.
Divine Vanille
Astier de Villatte
Astier de Villatte is an artisanal workshop in Paris that produces ceramics, publishes books and creates perfume. Best-selling Ambre Liquide is an old recipe from 1348 to ward off evil that was reproduced by Dominic Roipon (the same perfumer behind Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady, as well as Régime des Fleurs Toor Toor). It’s mystical and ambery with sweet rose, myrrh, frankincense and vanilla.
Ambre Liquide
d’Annam
d’Annam is a Vietnamese perfume house that celebrates Asian culture. Housed in little glass water droplet bottles, the scents have the making of a viral product. Take ‘White Rice’, a soft, nutty interpretation of the smell of white rice. There’s also Vietnamese Coffee, Matcha Soft Serve and Strawberry Mochi.
Strawberry Mochi
Images: Régime des Fleurs, Orto Parisi
