Prestige talks to the purveyors of niche perfumes to discover why finding your own unique scent is a journey worth exploring.
Scent is a powerful thing. Numerous studies have shown that the sense of smell is closely linked with memory – and that memories linked to odours are more emotional than those brought on by visual or verbal cues, often triggering positive recollections of our past, the people and places of days gone by. Scent also has the powerful ability to define your personality: a great scent can help create a unique style and unforgettable identity for a person.
During the 1980s, the fragrance industry underwent a major shift in which many ateliers, pressured by the needs for mass production, abandoned traditional codes and values. Henry Jacques CEO Anne-Lise Cremona, who took the reins of her family’s business in 2011, recalls their bold decision in the face of increasing commercialism to uphold perfume-making traditions and continue producing bespoke perfumes. “For my family,” she says, “it was simply impossible to abandon their passion for beauty. On the contrary, driven by their creative madness and their spirit of independence, they even continued to push for excellence by developing a laboratory where natural materials had the greatest place.”
That perseverance paid off. Today Henry Jacques ranks among the most luxurious haute perfumery brands with a loyal clientele. But niche perfumes didn’t have to exist only at the highest levels, and the time soon came when consumers, disenchanted by countless variations of the same best-selling scents, began searching for more original fragrances. And that’s where boutique fragrance shops such as Parfumerier Tresor come in.
Opened in 2014, Parfumerie Tresor remains one of the great destinations for those looking for unique blends of scents. Its founders Pauline Lau and Benny Tung set out to unearth independent artisans and niche perfume makers that they could introduce to Asian consumers, and their store now stocks 21 niche and artisanal brands that can’t be found elsewhere.
For Lau, storytelling, quality and craftsmanship are key criteria when it comes to sourcing her perfumes, though she says it “goes beyond a rigid checklist” and they “prioritise the intangible element we call the feel factor” – something that evokes a profound sense of passion in her team.
Exclusively available at Parfumerie Tresor are brands such as Xerjoff, launched by the Italian perfumer Sergio Momo, who goes to the ends of earth to search for the best ouds. “He seeks to find only the best,” says Lau, “even if it means going to dangerous parts of the world just to ensure he finds the best raw material there is. Because of this insistence, his creations are different from others and simply unforgettable.”
Lau says their clients come because Parfumerie Tresor offers more than just scents. “We provide emotional enhancers that bring out various facets of their personalities. Fragrances to us aren’t merely products but catalysts that evoke emotions, memories and confidence. This personalised approach sets us apart in an industry saturated with generic options, allowing us to create meaningful connections through the power of fragrance.”
She explains the key disparities between mass-market and niche perfumes lies in the ingredients, formulation and overall approach to fragrance creation. Mass-market perfumes typically use common ingredients and simpler formulas to appeal to a broader audience. “These fragrances often prioritise commercial viability and cost-effectiveness, resulting in scents that are familiar and easily likeable, but may lack complexity and uniqueness,” she says.
Niche perfumes, on the contrary, focus on creativity, quality and storytelling. “They frequently utilise higher concentrations of rare and exotic ingredients, allowing for more intricate and sophisticated scent profiles,” Lau explains. “The formulation process in niche perfumery involve meticulous attention to detail, resulting in complex, nuanced fragrances that evoke emotions and memories.”
Henry Jacques is driven by similar motivations. “Some of our formulas can have 250 different components,” says Cremona. “They’re true masterpieces where the balance must be perfect. This is the thing I absolutely wanted to preserve and, above all, never give in to the ease of simplified perfumery. Today when we create a new perfume, such as the latest Collection de l’Atelier, we perpetuate the spirit of Henry Jacques by respecting codes and savoir-faire that have now almost disappeared.”
Cremona and her team planted their own roses to further elevate their perfume, which led to the development of a new collection made from its first harvest of the flowers. The Collection de l’Atelier contains Henry Jacques’ own Rose de Mai absolute extracted from the 2023 harvest, a collection of three fragrances that comprise the spicy Rose Soleil, the pure Rose Très Rose and the woody Rose Azur. The hand-made perfume is limited to just 500 bottles, meaning the collection can never fully be recreated.
“Having experienced it, I can say that using our own harvests makes a difference and elevates perfume to the most noble place there is,” says Cremona. “Let’s not forget that it’s the ultimate refinement – it’s not visible, yet it leaves a mark, a presence, and a memory.”
Today, even beauty conglomerates are recognising that consumer tastes are changing. Brands that make niche perfumes, such as Jo Malone, Serge Lutens, Frédéric Malle, Maison Francis Kurkdjian and Le Labo, have been acquired by luxury groups to enhance and diversify their portfolios. It’s a great step forward for many independent perfumers, though it does come with certain limitations and risks over loss of control and creativity.
Read more: Legendary Perfumer Frédéric Malle on Expanding his Footprint in Asia
It’s not necessarily all bad though. I ask Benoît Verdier, co-founder of independent French brand Ex Nihilo, for his opinion and he believes that while the “borders of niche and mainstream are more blurred than ever before”, ultimately “customers are going to be the grand winners of the market shift, benefitting from a larger choice, better education and rejuvenated experiences”. Ex Nihilo is still independent, and Verdier considers “all these M&A movements as more of a challenge” that “stimulate us to improve and do better every day”.
Independence is fundamental to the brand. “We never did a marketing focus group or obey classic rules,” says Verdier, who prioritises total creative freedom. Along with Verdier, entrepreneurs Olivier Royère and Sylvie Loday founded Ex Nihilo in 2013 with the aim of disrupting the existing luxury fragrance market by offering an alternative and more personalised experience. The brand’s three founders considered the idea of an omnipotent creative director at the head of a perfume house outdated, favouring a more collaborative approach in which the best artisans can be brought on board to work with raw materials of the highest quality.
“Not being perfumers helped us to think outside the box and bring fresh and disruptive ideas about the fragrance experience as a 360-degree journey,” says Verdier. The brand’s latest addition to its Iconoclaste Collection, Speed Legends, is a full-throttle fragrance created by self-made perfumer Jordi Fernandez, with pulsating top notes of bergamot and pink pepper to mirror the exhilarating rush of wind against the face, blackcurrant at the heart and vetiver, tonka bean and amber to mimic an adrenaline-fuelled moment. Perhaps we’ll have to smell it to feel it.
But that’s what perfumes are about: emotions, moods and feelings. “One doesn’t forget a beautiful perfume,” Cremona tells me. “Especially not one from an absent and beloved person.”
Should you have one signature scent, or several? I ask. “Several,” she says without hesitation, “to gradually build a beautiful collection.”
Editor-in-Chief
A print and multimedia journalist, Stephanie has written for several of Hong Kong's most prominent luxury lifestyle publications on topics spanning watches and jewellery, travel, beauty, and fashion. She ..Read More
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