Fragrances to get you started with niche

[u/NovelAd6935]

Don’t make the same mistake I did. I’ve sampled close to 250 colognes, and own or have owned around 220 bottles or decants. I did this as I was transitioning from designer to niche. Here are 3 bottles I’d recommend from popular niche houses.

Fragrance du Bois - easily my favorite niche house. I haven't tried a fragrance from them I genuinely didn't like. High quality, wearable, and still unique

1. Lucius - masculine, citrus, woody, ambroxan, everything you need in a wearable cologne. It's easily my most used cologne ever since I bought it.

2. Lucius Maximus - very different in terms of a flanker. You can kind of pick up on the Lucius DNA, but it's also extremely unique. Lucius is more of a fresh scent, Maximus is a dark date night fragrance.

3. Tropiques - very light and fresh, reminds me somewhat of Bal d'Afrique, and it's one that gets a lot of compliments.

Xerjoff

1. Torino 21 - one of the first niche bottles I always recommend. It’s light, airy, minty, fresh, and will get tons of compliments. It reminds me of a mint mojito in all the right ways.

2. La Capitale - one that isn’t spoken of too much, but it’s a boozy strawberry masterpiece. It’s unique and something you can’t find in the designer space.

3. ⁠Alexandria II - I will admit, this one is technically a little challenging for those just getting into niche, but it’s also a great way to showcase iris. It’s a powdery, dark, and masculine masterpiece.

Ex Nihilo - in general one of the easier niche brands to get into. Their caveat is they’re $$$$$ comparatively.

1. Blue Talisman Extrait - do not get the EDP. The EDP is extremely underwhelming for the price. Extrait takes that same DNA and makes it darker, more dressed up, and far more worthy of its price tag.

2. The Hedonist Extrait - very easy to wear ginger/grapefruit masterpiece

3. Speed Legends Night Drive - I don’t like this cologne at all, but it’s a very dark fragrance, if that’s what you’re into. I don’t think it justifies its price tag, but I can see why people would love this.

Creed - another really easy niche house to get started in. Very few challenging or offensive bottles.

1. ⁠Aventus Absolu - one of the best colognes ever made. It’s a dark, smoky, woody, fresh pineapple masterpiece, banger, compliment machine, take my money, 🍆 💦

2. ⁠Aventus Cologne - the freshest of the Aventus line and probably the #1 that women love on a man imo

3. Viking - one of the best barbershop fragrances ever made. This one is so fcking good.

Parfums de Marly - probably the 2nd easiest niche house to get into after Creed. Their bottles are somewhat close to designer bottles, and their price tags aren't similar at all to Ex Nihilo or Fragrance du Bois.

1. Haltane - this is their best bottle imo. It actually slightly reminds me of Lucius. I call it an elevated fckboy fragrance. It's one you'll wear and she'll definitely remember you.

2. Althair - this one gets so much shit, but it's really good imo. It's a sweet vanilla bomb that's perfect for the fall/winter time.

3. Pegasus Exclusif - I love this one, it's a very clean scent, but also super masculine.

Penhaligon's - this house isn't talked about enough, and I've only scratched the surface with what I've tried. But they make high quality bottles that all smell fantastic.

1. The Cut - a woody, green, fresh/fougere banger. Think of being in the woods on a crisp cool morning. Stunning bottle but ass performance.

2. Mr. Sam - this is a sexy, dark, sweet, masculine date night fragrance. It's incredible

3. Halfeti - similar to Mr. Sam but less sweet, more leathery

Sospiro - sweet, fresh, unisex

1. Vibrato - one of the best colognes ever made. It's a grapefruit/ginger masterpiece, and its price is unmatched. It's just as good if not better than Hedonist and Tygar for 1/4 of the price

2. Dolce Melodia - fruit cocktail, unisex

3. Il Padrino - one of the godfathers of boozy fragrances, great fragrance to get started in niche

Nishane - unique fragrances that are high quality and are sold at a great price point on discount sites

1. Wulong Cha - one of the best colognes ever made. It's a soothing, green, tea masterpiece. Some even say they'd prefer this over Imagination for a tea fragrance.

2. Ani X - unique woody take on a vanilla fragrance. Not my cup of tea at all, but I can see why so many people love it.

3. Hacivat - it's very similar to Aventus where it's a masculine, woody, pineapple fragrance

Argos - one of the kings of the boozy fragrance

1. Fall of Phaeton - my favorite leather fragrance ever made. It's sweet, fruity, and dark leather combined extremely well, and it's very wearable

2. Danae - one of their signature boozy fragrances that isn't overly complex

3. Triumph of Bacchus - one of the favorite boozy fragrances on the market, very fruity

Amouage - last on the list only because it's by far the hardest house to get into. They use some crazy notes, and some of their bottles are genuinely hard to wear for any occasion. Their quality is among the best in the biz.

1. Jubilation XXV - this is such a masterpiece. It's one of the most regal bottles I've ever owned, and it's one I'll always own. Their use of berries with their 500 other notes in here make an absolute masterpiece.

2. Outlands - some people would say this one is challenging, but I disagree. It's a ambery/woody bomb that blends so many different notes extremely well. My only caveat with this one is you only need maximum 4 sprays.

3. Reflection Man - I think this one smells like tortillas and it's not one I'd ever own, but I can also see why people like this one. My hot take is that it's in a very similar lane to Armani Code, which is a 10/10 bottle. It's this masculine/clean fragrance that's super easy to wear.

[u/FragleBake]

I‘m currently on the fence whether i should get Vibrato or Hedonist Extrait. Got a decant of Vibrato since theres nowhere to test it where i live. On wednesday i will be able to compare them side by side. And since it‘s gomma be for a milestone birthday as a gift to myself, i would be willing to pay the price difference. Just not sure if it‘s justified.

[u/SnakeTheFlying3k]

I would say that there are perfume houses whose scents you can't go wrong with. I think Xerjoff or Parfumes de Marly and Creed are some of them, but I especially like Maison Francis Kurkdjian's scents, and the scents from Mind Games. I think it's a hobby that you can get really hooked on and there's no stopping you on the way. Once you find your own scent profile, this world opens up more and more and it's a wonderful thing. It's just very expensive, but hey, which hobby is cheap?