Frequently Asked Questions
Why are niche fragrances more expensive?
That’s not necessarily true: Niche fragrance prices vary depending on a variety of factors, including the ingredients used and the concentration of perfume oil. “For most fragrances around the world, when you buy a perfume, only 10, 15, or at most 20% of the value goes into the fragrance oil itself,” says Aurélien Guichard, perfumer and cofounder of Matiere Premiere. “The rest goes into marketing, the bottle, and the packaging.” At Matiere Premiere, they “maximize the quality” of the fragrance oil; Guichard grows some ingredients himself at his farm in the South of France, including rose, lavender, and tuberose. “By having direct access to these raw materials, we can use them in exceptionally high concentrations while keeping the economics viable. Other fragrance houses simply couldn’t use these materials in those quantities, because the final product would become too expensive.” If you’re on a perfume-shopping budget, you can still find a great niche fragrance with a price point that works for you, or consider buying decants on sites like ScentSplit.
How do you store a niche fragrance?
There are a few best practices when storing a niche scent—or any, really. If you’re collecting or rotating scents for the season, store them away from heat, light, and humidity, says Guichard. These can all degrade a fragrance.
If you’re wearing your niche perfume daily, you should follow the same advice and keep your perfume in a cool, dry environment, and definitely not a steamy bathroom. But, as Guichard says, “If you really love your perfume and wear it every day, your bottle will be empty very quickly. When it’s good, it’s never enough.”
Meet the experts
How we test and review products
When Allure tests a product, our editors look at it from every angle to best serve you. We review ingredients, scrutinize brand claims, and, when necessary, examine peer-reviewed scientific and medical studies. In addition to testing each and every product that’s included in every review, we rely on experts who shape their fields, including dermatology, cosmetic chemistry, and medicine, to help us vet the ingredients and formulas.
For our list of the best niche perfumes, we considered each product’s performance across four primary categories: key notes, packaging, longevity, and overall appeal. Every product was determined to have excelled in each category by our editorial team, which is composed of in-house writers and editors as well as contributors. To learn more information on our reporting and testing processes, read our complete reviews process and methodology page.
Our staff and testers
A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors—in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon—is essential to reaching that goal.
After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we can fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.
Time is of the essence, so get ready quickly with these 10-minute beauty routines:
