How to choose niche perfumes

Niche perfumes: the history of this segment’s creation and the emergence of its name

The term “niche perfumery comes from the French word “la niche” and translates as “the niche” or, in other words, “the subunit”. Another unofficial name for this product is “selective perfume”, from the word “selective” that means handpicked “particularity”. The founder of this concept was the perfumer Serge Lutans, who in the late twentieth century created a revolutionary women’s perfume with arboreal notes. According to the canons of that time, such perfumes could only be men’s. Therefore, by his act Lutans expressed a complete refusal to follow the tradition of dividing fragrances into women’s and men’s, as well as singled out niche perfumery into a distinct direction of perfumery.

The phenomenon of this craft itself appeared in the 1970s thanks to the brand Penhaligon’s. But creating unique fragrances back then, their authors did not yet realize that they give birth to a new perfume art.

The active development of niche perfumes began in the 2000s, when large fashion houses (for example, Christian Dior) began to produce exclusive fragrances. As of now, it continues to gain momentum.

Now we will explain that there are niche perfumes in the contemporary sense.

The entire aromatic market is believed to formally be divided into 3 (sometimes 4) segments:

• Mass market. It is those perfumes that can be found without problems in any store (not necessarily cosmetic). Usually, their scents are easily perceived, they sound quite familiar and are characterized by affordable prices deriving from the use of budget raw materials in their production. Such perfumes are being created with a conveyor method, and since given the low price, the demand for them always remains high.

• Luxury. They are the creations of world fashion houses and large perfumery companies. These perfumes are more expensive than mass market because a small bottle is always worth a lot of cost factors: wide-ranging advertising campaigns with world media personalities, high-quality commodity, a series of test stages and promotional deals.

• Niche or selective fragrances. Products of perfume art that are difficult to find on the shelves of regular stores or in catalogues of famous brands. It is due to their uniqueness as they are frequently tailor-made perfumes handcrafted by lone artisans or the best masters of perfume houses. They may be quite complicated for regular perception, so not everyone can wear such fragrance. During their creation, the goal is never pursued to meet the needs of the market and customer masses. They are produced in order to open new planes of the perfume world.

To better understand what selective niche perfumes are like, it is worth telling about the raw materials from which they are made.

For the mass market, this point is not particularly important. There is a certain technological card, where the main players are widely available inexpensive components. In the luxury segment, more attention is paid to this because the aroma must not only possess an original sound but also reveal itself through the balanced, thoughtfully-chosen notes.

But the maximum attention to the components of perfumes is paid in the sphere of niche perfumes. Here, natural ingredients and aromatic oils are considered an absolute priority. Usually, the products chosen by niche masters stand out due to their rarity in nature and difficulty to access. Many have to wait for years for the necessary components and sometimes even travel for them to the other end of the world.

Why complicate things like that, you may ask? The thing is that the special ingredients make it possible for the fragrance to open up and sound differently on each person. The chemistry of their interaction with the skin differs by being particularly complex, thus creating an opportunity to achieve uniqueness. Currently, the extraction of components for niche fragrances is concentrated in France, so the production of the most famous perfumes in this segment is located there.

Niche perfumes have a number of peculiarities that in total give them the right to obtain this honorary status.

They include:

• special scent. The master does not guarantee that his work will sound good, nevertheless, he promises that his fragrance will definitely be special and unique. Niche perfumes are created in accordance with human emotions and memories. Therefore, you can find here representations that are capable of shocking you, will make you embarrassed, surprised, fulfill with joy or remind you of past travels. They will awaken your emotionality and reveal its new facets. Niche compositions are of widely varying kinds. Giving an example, we are able to offer you the scent of native Kyiv and mysterious Singapore as well as other absolutely unique Poetry Home fragrances ;
• small production volumes. Raw materials for this perfume segment, as we have already noted, are not easy to extract. Therefore, its quantity is simply not enough for the large-scale production of niche perfumes for mass market;
• the lack of mass advertising. Investing in quality raw materials, not in advertising campaigns is one of the main rules of niche perfumery. So, no one will impose such a product on you, you will rather have to make an effort d to find it yourself;

• minimalist product design. Normally, niche fragrances are sold in modest and laconic bottles, as if hinting at the most value being hidden exactly inside. But there are also perfumers who prefer to make the product bright and expressive to the fullest and place their fragrances into delicate bottles with precious stones;
• legend. Conceiving a niche creation, every perfumer delves into a certain emotion and attempts to convey it with the sounds of perfume. Aside from that, behind every master there is a perfume house, which also has its own legends and long-standing traditions. All this is part of a beautiful story that enhances the uniqueness of the image of the final product;
• cost. As now niche perfumes are not produced by a few craftsmen, like it was 10-15 years ago, their cost is not cosmic in most cases. Usually the price is formed somewhere close to the level of luxury perfumes. However, an important difference is that the discounts, sale or promotional deals are rarely available on them.

We will emphasize once again that selected raw materials and special points of sale are the main characteristics of selective samples.

How to choose the first niche fragrance in your life?

The ideal option is to allocate some free time and to come to a specialized boutique in a good mood. There you will be able to talk to a consultant and tell about your favorite natural scents and emotions you would like to feel. You will be given several options in the boutique. Try them on and give time to open up and interact with your mind and soul. “Your” perfume will start flirting with you, change your character and gradually demonstrate new facets. And most importantly – they will become a medium of associations for you, evoking special images, memories and feelings from the depths of the unconscious.

If you do not have the opportunity to meet the perfume one-on-one, then all that is left is to communicate long and in detail with the consultants of online stores. The professional will not only listen to you carefully but also will ask many correct questions to come up with the ideal option with you.

As soon as you find “your scent”, do not dwell on it, develop your olfactory outlook and you will be amazed at what amazing melodies the smell of the world will sound for you as a result!

Honestly, we ourselves do not know which niche perfumes are the best, so we never stop looking for new exciting fragrances. However, we are sure of one thing – exclusive selective perfumes Poetry Home, created by French perfumers, can be a worthy beginning of your love story with the world of new fragrances. Let’s start writing it together!