Three fragrance brands that are thinking outside the box

Fragrance is such a personal thing, and can often be quite an expense, so when buying we often look for a uniqueness or a fresh approach from the brand we buy from. Here are the brands changing their scent perspective…

LE LABO

Why they’re unique:

• They believe the future of luxury is in craftsmanship
• All of their scents are hand blended
• You can personalise your label
• None of their fragrances are for a specific gender
• They’re only available in Ireland in Dublin Airport

They have one of the funniest and most interesting manifestos for a brand that I’ve ever read, with lines including: “We believe it is more humane to test cosmetics on New Yorkers than on animals” and “We believe celebrities should pay full price” – both sentiments I can get on board with.

On a personal note (pun completely intended, much like the intention with which they design their fragrances) I bought a bottle of Another 13 from Le Labo recently, and already it is by a mile the most complimented thing I’ve ever put on my person. People stop me in the street to ask what I’m wearing, and that’s a sign of a good perfume.

Le Labo Another 13 (50ml), €155

FLORAL STREET

Why they’re unique:

• Vegan and don’t test on animals
• Free from superfluous packaging
• Combine synthetically made notes with a whole bunch of flowers per bottle
• Believe florals can be edgy and tough as well as soft and feminine
• They don’t do top, middle and base notes

Floral Street founder, Michelle Feeney, said: “Since the age of three, when I first smelled the gardenias in my great grandmother’s cottage in Ireland, I’ve been captivated by scent.”

She says it was important to her that the brand be accessible and affordable, while maintaining a fine fragrance standpoint, and she wanted to allow a woman to have a fragrance wardrobe “which can express the many facets of who she is”.

Related: Why can’t I smell my own perfume?

They also ignore the traditional ‘notes pyramid’ style, and instead they talk about their combination of notes as a fragrance curve, that lasts longer than linear ones. They also say all that ‘notes’ faff isn’t fun, what’s fun is loving the scent as it smells on you.

Floral Street Neon Rose, €65

ESCENTRIC MOLECULES

Why they’re unique:

• They only use one single ingredient in their Molecules 01 signature scent
• Their fragrances are cyclical in that they seem to vanish and reappear
• Their scents are so simple that they adapt to the wearer, never smelling the same on two different people
• The collection is deliberately very limited
• They’re often described as the ‘anti-fragrance fragrance brand’

Related: What happens at a fragrance consultation?

Geza Schoen, the creator of Escentric Molecules, describes their lab-created hero ingredient, Iso E Super as “less an aroma than an effect which lends an indefinable radiance to the wearer”.

I love their design aesthetic too, with lots of binary-based artwork and simple bottles. I spent a large chunk of my early twenties wearing Molecules 01 and, unusually, could generally smell it on myself at different times through the day, as it was always adapting to my body.

Escentric Molecules Molecule 01, €82