r/Fragrances

Got more decant bottles in so Im opening up my entire collection for decant. 

Very reasonable pricing, just want to get rid of some juice so I dont have too much of my own! Lets be honest I will still end up having more than I finish but I want to get closer to a reasonable amount. A few bottles are available for purchasing as a whole.

Please add $6 to decants or $10 for bottle purchases for shipping.

Dior Ambre Nuit - 25ml - $47 (x3)

Dior Feve Delicieuse -  25ml - $85 (x7)

Dior Vanilla Diorama - 25ml -$60 (x7)

Dior Tobacolor - 25ml - $60 (x5)
 
Dior Bois D'argant - 15ml -  $35 (x1) 

Guerlain Tobacco Honey - 30ml - $90 (x9)

Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille - $90/30ml; $50/15ml (1 of each available)  

PDM Layton & Herod - 30ml -  $55 (x3 ea)

Xerjoff 40 Knotts - 25ml - $55 (x1)

TF Ombre Leather - 25ml - $50 (x3)

Valentino BIR Intense  - 30ml - $40 (x2)

Chanel AH Edition Blanche - 25ml - $40 (x3)

Dior Homme Sport 2021 - 30ml - $27 (x2)

Bottles:

Coral Fantasy - roughly 90ml, no box - $60 

Dior Fahrenheit Le Parfum - 75ml missing test sprays, with box - $100

Please leave a comment before sending a dm.

Pics - https://imgur.com/a/OhHMDhK

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I just started collecting fragrances not that long ago and I see a lot of of these niche fragrances going around. I want to buy one, but they are obviously expensive. What niche fragrance is unique and can complement my collection without overlapping? if I am going to spend that much money I wanted to be worth it.

How is it looking

Orto Parisi Megamare Review

Basic Information

•	House: Orto Parisi Orto Parisi

•	Perfumer: Alessandro Gualtieri

•	Release Year: 2019

•	Concentration: Parfum

•	Genre: Marine Atmospheric / Mineral Fresh

•	Bottle Size Reviewed: 50ml

Official Notes

Top

•	Bergamot

•	Lemon

Heart

•	Seaweed

•	Calone

•	Hedione

Base

•	Ambroxan

•	Cedar

•	Musk

Performance on my skin

•	Extremely strong projection

•	Extremely long lasting

•	Easy to go nose blind to

•	Leaves a huge scent cloud around the wearer

Best Seasons

•	Fall

•	Spring

•	Summer days(not too hot)/nights

Best Settings

•	Outdoors

•	Daytime

•	Nighttime

•	Coastal weather

•	Casual or dressed up

•	Situations where you actually want attention and presence

Gender Lean

•	Masculine leaning unisex

•	Mostly masculine to my nose because there’s almost no sweetness to it

⸻

Megamare was a blind buy for me and honestly I had no clue what to expect. My first reaction was confusion mixed with fascination because it smelled dark blue somehow. Cold. Huge. Strange. But still fresh at the same time. I had never really smelled a fragrance play with that contradiction before.

Most fresh fragrances feel bright, energetic, clean, or uplifting. Megamare feels heavy. Not heavy in a sweet amber or oud way, but heavy like weather and pressure building in the air before a storm near the ocean.

This does not smell like a tropical aquatic, shower gel fragrance, or your typical “blue fragrance.” It smells much more environmental than that. To me, Megamare smells like standing out on a pier during a cold rainy fall day near the shoreline. The tide is starting to go down a little, seaweed is getting exposed in the waves, and everything around you is wet from the rain and ocean air. You have a waxed canvas jacket on over a wool sweater and you can smell the damp wool underneath mixed with cold salt air and wind coming off the water.

There’s also this wet wood smell underneath everything that keeps reminding me of soaked wooden beams on an old pier or boardwalk, which makes perfect sense once you realize there’s cedar in the composition. That cedar note quietly keeps the fragrance grounded and stops it from becoming just salt and ambroxan. It smells like weathered wood absorbing ocean air and rain.

Even visually the fragrance feels cold to me. Dark navy water. Gray skies. Seafoam green. Wet wood. Oxidized metal. It smells exactly like that color palette.

And somehow it smells both natural and synthetic at the same time. There’s no way something projects this hard without heavy synthetic materials involved, but despite that, it still creates really realistic textures in the air. Wet fabric. Salt. Cold wind. Dampness. Minerals.

What surprised me most about Megamare was how much attention it gets. This is probably the strongest fresh fragrance I’ve ever smelled and it absolutely projects like crazy, but what surprised me was how positive the reactions were. I wore it on a Saturday recently and got three compliments in one day from completely different people: a cashier, a friend, and a waitress. The waitress actually came back a few minutes later specifically to tell me I smelled really good. She was young and attractive too, which honestly surprised me considering how unusual this fragrance is.

That made me realize something important about Megamare. People are not reacting to this because it smells traditionally “pleasant.” They react to the aura it creates.

The musk, ambroxan, seaweed, mineral notes, and cedar all combine into something that’s honestly hard to explain. It creates presence more than emotion. Most fragrances are designed to smell good up close. Megamare feels like it was designed to shape the air around you. From farther away it almost smells better than it does directly on skin, which is why I think it works so well socially despite sounding so aggressive on paper.

Structurally, Megamare is more linear than a lot of fragrances in my collection, but not in a bad way. Its identity stays consistent the entire time. It never really transforms into something else. The musk and ambroxan stay present almost all the way through alongside this cold marine mineral feeling that’s hard to fully pin down. What changes more is the texture and atmosphere than the actual scent profile itself.

The fragrance smooths out over time while still remaining incredibly strong. It keeps radiating outward for hours and it’s extremely easy to go nose blind to it. I’ve had situations where I could barely smell it anymore myself while people around me still said it was projecting hard. One time somebody told me it still smelled great while we were sitting together in a car, which honestly says a lot because enclosed spaces are probably where this fragrance becomes the most dangerous.

And that really is the biggest warning I would give people with Megamare: control your sprays. Seriously. In open air this fragrance feels amazing. In tight indoor environments or cars with poor airflow, it can absolutely become overwhelming if you overspray. Younger guys especially are probably going to be tempted to go too heavy because the performance is so addictive.

But when applied properly, this thing is magic.

It can absolutely work during the daytime too, especially outdoors or in cooler weather, because underneath all the darkness there’s still a fresh marine structure holding everything together. It just needs more restraint than most daytime fragrances. It can work casually or dressed up because it doesn’t rely on sweetness, powder, or traditional “formal fragrance” tricks. It just smells cold, mysterious, masculine, and elemental. There’s something about it that makes people curious. It feels emotionally distant while still somehow pulling people in and making them want to know more.

That’s hard to pull off.

Megamare feels less like a fragrance built around emotion and more like one built around presence. It smells elemental. Wind. Salt. Water. Wet wood. Fabric. Minerals. Cold air.

Most fresh fragrances try to smell refreshing.

Megamare tries to smell immense.

And somehow it actually does.

So i want Tom Ford Oud Wood, but i don't want to pay the price of the Tom Ford Oud Wood.

I was wondering what is the best designer alternative, so far i tried the tester of the Versace Pour Homme Oud Noir (i like the Versace Pour Homme Oud Noir, it's amazing), tho stil haven't bought it.

Is there an better alternative designer fragrance than the Versace Pour Homme Oud Noir?

Thanks in advance, still new in the fragrance world.

I only started collecting this year and my first frag was my YSL Y EDP and Replica When The Rain Stops!

New niche fragrance enthusiast here (and yes, I’m a girl 😅). I’ve been lurking through everyone’s incredible collections on here for a while, and honestly I was a little hesitant to post mine since it’s still pretty modest compared to most. But I’m really excited to keep exploring and growing it over time.
I’d love some recommendations from the scent connoisseurs here - based on what I already enjoy, what do you think would fit my collection next?

Current bottles in my possession:

Comme des Garçons — Comme des Garçons 2
Serge Lutens — La Religieuse
Les Liquides Imaginaires — Fortis
Juliette Has A Gun — Not A Perfume
Etat Libre d’Orange — She Was An Anomaly
Escentric Molecules — Escentric 02
Etat Libre d’Orange — The Ghost in the Shell

Decants:
Comme des Garçons — Series 3 Incense: Jaisalmer
Comme des Garçons — Comme des Garçons
Comme des Garçons — Scent Two: Laurel
Ormonde Jayne — Montabaco Intensivo
MiN New York — Hall of Fame
MiN New York — Plush
Etat Libre d’Orange — Nostos
Les Liquides Imaginaires — Sancti
Les Liquides Imaginaires — Buveur de Vent

What do you think? :)

Saw this absolutely massive bottle at the byredo store

picked this up for $75, how’d i do?

Wulong Cha

House: Nishane

Origin: Turkey

Perfumer: Jorge Lee

Release Year: 2015

Concentration: Extrait de Parfum

Genre: Citrus Tea Aromatic

Official Notes:

Top:

Bergamot

Orange

Litsea Cubeba

Mandarin

Heart:

Oolong Tea

Nutmeg

Base:

Musk

Fig

Performance on my skin:

Excellent longevity for this style. Strong projection up top and the citrus/tea combination lasts much longer than I expected.

Best seasons:

Spring / Summer

Best settings:

Office

Daytime

Casual social settings

Gender lean:

Slightly masculine unisex

I finally spent real time with Wulong Cha and now completely understand why people talk about this fragrance the way they do.

My immediate reaction was honestly just “wow.” The brightness and projection caught me off guard immediately. This is not one of those soft citrus tea fragrances that disappears in 45 minutes. It comes out vivid, sparkling, energetic, and extremely natural smelling right away.

The citrus profile is what grabbed me first. It smells different from the usual fresh fragrance DNA. The litsea cubeba gives it this sharp glowing citrus quality that smells almost photorealistic. Not cleaner spray. Not body wash. Actual citrus peel and oils in the air.

Then the tea starts settling in underneath everything and completely changes the experience. This is not a dark smoky tea and it’s not sweet either. It feels calm, grounded, almost meditative. There’s this really interesting contradiction where the fragrance feels peaceful and energizing at the same time.

I wore this to work the other day and kept smelling my wrist all day without even thinking about it. It has that effect.

There’s also a soft green fig nuance in the background early on that gives the fragrance texture without turning fruity or creamy. Everything smells very intentional and separated. Nothing blends into generic “fresh fragrance” territory. You can actually pick apart the citrus, tea, musk, nutmeg, and green facets individually throughout the wear.

The performance honestly surprised me the most. Citrus, tea, and musk fragrances usually smell amazing for a short window and then fade into a vague skin scent. Wulong Cha keeps going. The citrus lasts way longer than it logically should and the tea remains present almost the entire time on my skin.

Structurally it’s interesting because it feels linear and evolving at the same time. The identity never changes. It always smells recognizably like Wulong Cha from beginning to end. But little details keep shifting around underneath the surface. The musk becomes more noticeable later. The nutmeg quietly adds warmth and texture. The fig softens and blends deeper into the composition. So the fragrance stays consistent without ever feeling flat.

To my nose it leans slightly masculine, but only slightly. A woman could absolutely wear this easily. Still, there’s something about the clean musk, tea structure, and restrained sweetness that keeps it from leaning fully feminine.

Emotionally this fragrance is really interesting because it’s transportive in mood rather than place. It doesn’t make me picture a beach or a luxury hotel or some fantasy scenery. It changes your mental atmosphere more than anything else. It feels optimistic, mentally clean, calming, focused. Almost like hitting a reset button.

I also think this may be one of the safest niche fragrances I’ve ever smelled while still feeling genuinely unique. I honestly can’t imagine many people actively disliking this scent.

Wulong Cha feels like proof that a fragrance does not need smoke, oud, heavy sweetness, or massive complexity to feel luxurious and emotionally engaging. It achieves almost everything through clarity, balance, realism, and mood.

Came across this new line at my local Target, decided to give all 3 a test and was happy to see this set at the end of the display. There’s great variety across the 3 with zero overlap, each scent bringing its own profile.

P-01 is a nice blue dna, slightly aquatic but with the masculine leather added. Very unique but very wearable.

P-07 is my partners favorite. Fruity-pineapple up top with a warm amber. Not a loud pineapple, not Aventus dna but subtle. The fragrance itself wears much louder on skin/clothing than on a test strip.

P-21 is my favorite and is the most unisex imo. Slight leather opening that gives way to a warm, creamy, woody vanilla. A super cozy scent, date night vibes.

Left is the thing he ran out of and right is the one I bought. I was hoping to repurchase whatever he ran out of. Can anyone confirm I got the right thing? Or if I’m wrong, identify the empty one?

I’ve been smelling the bottles back and forth trying to compare but I’ve driven myself nose blind and insane lol. I cant find any good info from the batch numbers on the bottom and there’s more tiny writing on the bottom that isn’t giving me any intel as far as I can tell…thank yall

My first fragrance collection 🤍🔥

What do you guys think about my choices so far?

Rate my collection overall and tell me which one you would pick as the best for compliments, projection, and scent quality 👀

You can also suggest what I should add next to my collection, both for summer and winter/cold weather 🌞❄️

My small collection with a tad of niche, I have bond no 9 chez bond on the way but all of these were blind buys. Not a big fan of cedrat Boise it has a very pine/tree like scent, hope I grow to like it.

IF you DONT WANT TO READ THE BELOW: This is the most wearable ultra-niche scent I’ve ever found. Excellent for the winter. Comes beautifully packaged. Unique, sensory, strawberry and pine scent that in my opinion is the best winter niche of all time.

EXTENDED WRITE Up:

-

I’m incredibly lucky to live in Melbourne, Australia because the fragrance scene here is honestly ridiculous.

We have access to some of the best fragrance stores anywhere in the world and there’s very little that feels truly inaccessible. One place I keep going back to is NOAH, which specialises heavily in niche perfumery. I’ll stop in every so often just to smell things and explore because there’s always something strange or beautiful sitting on the shelves.

One fragrance that completely captured me was Imaginary Authors Cape Heartache.

Funny enough, I first heard about it through fragrance YouTube. I actually think fragrance influencers matter more than people want to admit. I remember Evanscents interviewing Redolessence about the best fragrances for each season, and when winter came up, Redolessence mentioned Cape Heartache. That recommendation stayed in my head for months before I finally smelled it in person.

And the second I did, I understood it.

So many brands call themselves “niche” now that the word has almost lost meaning. Sometimes niche just means expensive designer with weird marketing. But Imaginary Authors genuinely feels artistic in concept and execution. Every fragrance is built around a fictional story written by an imaginary author, and somehow it never comes across as pretentious or gimmicky because the fragrances actually smell like ideas and atmospheres rather than just collections of notes.

To me, Imaginary Authors sits somewhere between Zoologist and Etat Libre d’Orange. Zoologist absolutely deserves respect for creativity and quality, but if I’m being honest, a lot of Zoologist fragrances feel more like olfactory art installations than things I genuinely want to wear. They’re impressive, sometimes brilliant, but not always emotionally wearable. Etat Libre d’Orange pushes provocation and personality. Imaginary Authors somehow lands in the middle where the fragrances are conceptual and atmospheric while still being genuinely wearable and comforting.

Cape Heartache is supposedly about heartbreak in the forests of the American Midwest and somehow it absolutely smells like that. The official notes are Douglas fir, pine resin, western hemlock, vanilla leaf, strawberry, old growth, and mountain fog, which sounds completely ridiculous on paper. Strawberry and pine resin should clash horribly. Instead, this fragrance turns them into something weirdly haunting.

The opening is extremely green and resinous. You immediately get this cold pine forest effect that smells photorealistic without turning into cleaning product territory. A lot of “forest” fragrances accidentally smell like air freshener or sauna oil. Cape Heartache doesn’t. The woods smell damp, cold, and expansive. There’s almost a mentholic freshness to the pine and fir without smelling minty.

Then the strawberry appears and not synthetic candy strawberry eithe!!!. It smells muted and melancholic, almost like strawberry jam eaten outdoors in freezing air. The sweetness never dominates the fragrance. Instead it softens the sharpness of the woods and gives the scent this strange emotional warmth underneath all the coldness. That contrast is what makes the fragrance special to me.

Technically, I’d classify it as a woody aromatic with gourmand facets, but it doesn’t fully sit in any category comfortably. It has resinous evergreen materials carrying most of the composition, while the strawberry accord acts almost like an emotional device rather than a traditional fruity note. The vanilla leaf in the base smooths everything out without making it creamy or dessert-like. There’s also this misty mineral quality, probably what they’re interpreting as “mountain fog”, that gives the fragrance air and distance instead of density.

Performance on my skin is actually very solid for something this atmospheric. I get around 7 to 9 hours pretty comfortably, with moderate projection for the first couple of hours before it sits closer to the skin. It’s not a beast mode fragrance and honestly that would ruin the mood anyway. This is the kind of scent people catch in the air briefly and lean in toward rather than something announcing itself across a room. I think this leads to fantastic performance actually because instead of going nose blind in twenty minutes it’s just subtlety there every hour or so wafting gently into me. Divine.

What I really love is that it creates imagery in my head instantly. Most fragrances smell good. Very few create an actual emotional setting. Cape Heartache smells like cold air, loneliness, memory, pine needles soaked from rain, and trying to romanticise your own sadness while standing in the middle of nowhere….i wear it and feel like im sitting under the stars under a tree canopy with a roaring camp fire crying my heart out.

And honestly, that’s what niche fragrance should be doing, telling a story, being unique, and also something interesting to wear

The bottle cap and atomiser aren’t the best but otherwise packaging is 9/10 for creativity

Uniqueness of scent is 10/10. Never smelled anything like it.

Value is 8/10. $200 AUD is expensive for 50ml however this is extremely niche and limited in production, making it a very expensive fragrance to produce. It is also very high quality and doesn’t smell synthetic.

Projection is low. About a foot. But it leaves a small trail and I can smell it for at least 7 hours. 8/10 for performance

Overall I think this is a 9/10. Almost the perfect niche!