Give The Gift Of Niche Fragrance This Holiday Season

Have you ever heard that we often marry people who are like our parents? Often, men marry women who have characteristics similar to their mothers. And often, women marry men who have the characteristics of their fathers.

And although it depends on the parties involved, Paul constantly tells me that I remind him of his mother. And Paul constantly reminds me of my father.

When I first met Paul, we spoke about our love of fragrance. But I don’t think I could comprehend just how much fragrance Paul had.

See Paul was a daily connoisseur of a website called Perfume Parlour. A website that would sell cheap knock-offs of your favorite mainstream fragrances.

Many of these fragrances smelled close to their originals, but I found that they had zero lasting power (hence Paul buying so much ). And as they were mainly duplicating the top mainstream fragrances, I just found that there was nothing unique, and you could go out and often smell like many of the people around you.

Needless to say, 3 months after moving to Bristol, I was introduced to Maria from Shy Mimosa perfumery… And our fragrance purchases have been altered ever since.

If you've never heard the term before, 'niche fragrance' refers to a small batch, of one-of-a-kind perfume made in-house and sold through the company store.

Some of these hard-to-find niche perfumes are called "artisan fragrances." 

Niche scents can only be made by perfumers who work by hand. 

Each scent is made by following the industry's strict rules and only using the best ingredients. 

The perfume that's also made is unique, strong, and of high quality.

These perfumes are made with natural ingredients. 

There are very high standards for quality, so you won't get a product that irritates your skin or has cheap ingredients.

If you buy a niche perfume, you can get a scent that few others have. 

It was made from scratch with love, so it smells better, lasts longer, and gets lots of attention for all the right reasons. 

It's about having something unique that you can't buy on every high street.

Niche fragrances are made in small batches, which means they can use a wider range of notes and make much more interesting scents. 

Each highly trained artisan perfumer has their own style, so instead of getting a mass-produced designer scent, you get a scent that you won't find anywhere else.

Perfumers who are highly skilled at what they do make perfumes because they love the fragrance. Niche perfumers always have something wonderful and new to offer because they take their time to come up with and make each scent by hand.

These enticing smells are what bring people to an artisan perfumer instead of 'sensational' marketing. The niche perfume industry is very proud of how well it sticks to this rule.

So, if you look through a collection of niche perfumes, you're more likely to find one that you really like.

This is why we love stopping into Shy Mimosa Perfumery here in Bristol. There is such an array of Niche Fragrances for us to choose from. All are uniquely special in their own right.

At the end of the day, everyone wants a scent that is their own and stands out. You can get that with a scent when you shop niche, and the best part is that nobody else will have it or know where to find it.

It is not about 'gatekeeping', it's about savoring something special.

Now that we have cleared up what ' niche fragrance ' is... Let's talk about designer perfumes.

A designer perfume is a brand-name scent that you can buy on the high street at big stores like House of Fraser, Boots, and John Lewis. The most famous designer scents come from Dior, Guerlain, and Chanel, which are all well-known fashion houses around the world. Designer fragrances are easy to recognise and are worn by many people.

They are easy to find on any main street and will range in price.  Because of this, there are a lot of people who always wear more than one designer scent. People usually start with these perfumes before moving on to niche scents that cost more.

There is a lot of advertising for these products, but because they are everywhere and everyone wears them, they are almost no longer special.

It's like arguing about whether to shop at Zara or Net-a-Porter.

If you want to buy a scent for yourself or someone you care about, you could splurge on a niche fragrance that is special, unique, and of high quality.

If you want a temporary scent to take on vacation or a cheap gift for a friend, you will probably choose a cheaper designer perfume.

The market for niche fragrances keeps growing because more and more people want to buy artisan items and unique things. In fact, niche fragrances are the fastest-growing part of the global perfume industry.

As we look to the future, we can expect more people to choose niche perfume over designer fragrances because niche perfume is better, harder to find, and smells better.

As for us, we have just recieved two lovely niche fragrances from Manos Gerakinis via Shy Mimosa Perfumery. We have had the privelge of working with them both a few times now. And we were blown away at the generosity of this Christmas gift.

Paul choose 'Immortelle' which is his favourite fragrance from Manos, and i chose something new for myself, and went with the Pivoine.

Pivoine is a perfume that celebrates the delicate flower peony and Manos Gerakinis has made it sensual and luxurious.

A rich bouquet of flowers, Pivoine is a perfume with many nuances, unusual for this type of flower. Slightly fruity with floral freshness, but the mystery lies in the nuances of the composition; sophisticated jasmine on the backgrounds, just enough without taking away the attention of the Peony. With velvety dry down, which manages to maintain the freshness of the composition, the result is a plush and sensual perfume. Manos describes this fragrance as The Lovers.

Immortelle on the other hand is an oriental and gourmand fragrance.

Immortelle comes from the golden-hued plant everlasting flowers (Immortelle in French) or Helichrysum. Manos' interpretation of this honeyed note is on the sweet and spicy accents, with notes of cinnamon. The result is resinous without being heavy, balanced with sandalwood and benzoin, and the musky depth of the perfume gets better when it dries down and stays poised for hours.

Manos describes the scent as Fortune, inspired by the good luck charm that the Everlasting Flower stands for.