YOU DON’T KNOW ALL OF THESE BRANDS, BUT YOU SHOULD – PART II
There are many fragrance brands (any rational would say, too many). Even to those of us that are involved with fragrances on a daily basis, it’s become impossible to keep up. Worst, a lot of the newer brands that take up space and attention don’t bring anything of interest to the table, while brands with something to offer are lost in the crowd.
The title of this series may be a superlative, but I think that even the most hardened fraghead will find something new to discover in each part. In total there will be 5 parts, highlighting 10 brands each and a 6th bonus part. I was fortunate to be introduced to a lot of lesser known brands via PR when I was doing photography work on Instagram, otherwise I may have never encountered them. Some of the other brands on the list, I know less thoroughly, but were for example stand-outs during store visits or events. You can click on the names to see all the fragrances they’ve released.
Happy explorations!
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
ONE DAY
Starting off with, I would argue, currently the best brand on this list . One Day made waves by winning an Art & Olfaction Award for Oolong Tea, and out of all the fragrances that I’ve smelled so far, none have been bad. Jeju will likely be my most worn fragrance in 2025. Unfortunately, distribution is slow to pick up pace, so One Day is hard to acquire in most regions (try Taigrance for Asia & 7Scents for Europe).
BALINT
Balint is an indie brand from Serbia. Admittedly, I’ve only tried a couple of the creations, but those were quite interesting. My favorite so far is Balcafé, which has a rather unique take on coffee, that smells equally like a citrussy lemonade.
Source Adage
One of several brands on these lists that I’ve discovred at a Perfume Week Paris event. Source Adage has a high-quality minimal aesthetic and that also rings true for their fragrances. These are clean, precise, understated, mature, you name it. I couldn’t tell you which is my favorite and I’d have to try them more properly, but this is definitely a quality brand that I hope to see more of in coming years. Source Adage would make a great fit for stores that sell brands like Le Labo & Aesop in my opinion.
LEVENT
Quite the opposite to the cleanliness of Source Adage, is Levent. Levent launched with super expensive oils: with real ouds according to the brand. They were nice, but a hard sell as they came as 60ml pure perfume oils instead of the usual 6-15ml for this format. They released sprayable fragrances (in some of the ugliest bottles I’ve come across), but they were nice especially Queen Of Ottoman. My favorite was the less gaudy-looking La Boheme and Le Nomade is a great leather in that line. Levent at one point seemingly ceased to exist and held massive clearance sales, but came back again shortly after. Some great fragrances, but a less messy roll-out and lower price-points would’ve helped this brand along.
ISABELLE LARIGNON
I was introduced to the brand through Milky Dragon, which was strong like. The other releases are great as well (I still have to try the latest, release Mandi Rhubi on skin, I’m not sure if that one is as much to my taste as the previous three). An indie brand with a lovely perfumer/owner that deserves more recognition.
ROAN
I don’t know much about ROAN, except that the brand launched in 2024 with 3 fragrances that include tea notes. I went into sampling them with relatively low expectations, but ended up really enjoying both Porcelain Pulse & Mountain Memories. A good start for this relatively new brand.
KRIGLER
A higher-end and high-priced brand, that I fell in love with in 2025. Krigler is a true legacy brand, dating back to 1879. Their stores are only located inside hotels, so when they opened in Paris (The Peninsula Hotel), it was a must-vist for me, alongside Henry Jacques & JAR. And while I adored the Henry Jacques experience and some fragrances stood out, I think Krigler had the most accessible and diverse collection. I had several favorites like Manhattan Rose 44 & Established Cognac 66.
In Astra
In Astra launched in 2022. With good perfumers at the helm (Sofia Bardelli did all of their fragrances, until Bertrand Duchaufour made the very unique Vanant). My other favorite is definitely Tistar; the others are less to my taste, but it’s still a quality house that I think has more to offer than a good number of brands that became more popular since 2022.
LA CLOSERIE DES PARFUMS
One of the most slept-on brands in my opinion. I’ve only seen it at Jovoy (and was sad to see that during my last Jovoy visit, the brand wasn’t on display anymore in-store, but maybe that was temporary?) A solid line-up with something for everyone, and several of theirs are reasonably priced as well. Two of my favorites so far would be Rose Petale Cardamome & Rose Bois Muscade.
Aura Of Kazakhstan
A brand that I was introduced to via PR that positively surprised me. The look of this brand (albeit unique), didn’t suit me, but I was drawn to the perfumers (Sarah McCartney, Lucas Sieuzac, Angela Ciampagna). The 2020 line was solid, with Pulse Of Astana as as stand out, but my favorite is definitely the later released 7 As A Constant.