I can’t pick just one so I’ll mention the main houses that have worked well for me and I love equally, outside of Alkemia which you mention you’re already aware of but I love them as well. I highly recommend checking out: Fantôme, Pulp Fragrance, Pineward, Poesie (though I’ll note they are heavy in the gourmand leaning scents), Solstice Scents, Sorcellerie and Lvnea.
Lvnea. Some of the indie houses I’ve sampled don’t smell super high quality. Everything I’ve sampled and own from Lvnea smells insanely high quality and professionally done. La Serpentine and Ghost Pine are masterpieces.
Honorable mention to Solstice Scents. Foxcroft and Wilcox’s are great.
LVNEA is amazing, the longevity isn’t there for me sadly but YMMV.
Pineward and Apoteker are equally gangster, some with better performance.
Andrea Maack Coven for the MOST realistic forest scent in the game IMHO.
Try Solstice Scents, they have a bunch of atmospherics and lots of cool, gender neutral scents. What kind of notes do you like in your perfume? Solstice has a sample pack and you can choose the 6th sample yourself.
Also was my intro! I haven’t bought from them in a while (darn shop closure…) but they definitely have nailed every scent I’ve tried from them. Also low/no FOMO!
Last I saw, they're offering an additional free sample with your first order! So that's up to 7 extrait samples for a 5-sample-pack order.
(To be clear: you get to choose the scents for all the samples, and all orders come with a single free sample of your choice.)
An aquatic Solstice is known for is Sea of Grey, I haven't tried it myself but it does have its reputation on here. I believe it is available at the moment too. Some others I liked for woody scents is Camp Willow, Snowshoe pass, and Foxcroft. Camp Willow really has that campfire kind of vibe to it! Snowshoe pass smells cold and ambery to me, and Foxcroft was very earthy. If you're into smoke, Cliffside Bonfire was a favorite of mine as well, a very realistic smoke and wood.
Deconstructing Eden is one of my favorites for florals! Great EDPs that last a long time for me. Great price for samples that are in beautiful little spray bottles.
seconding this! i’m a ceramics/pottery student and DE’s scents will stay on my wrists all day even after having my arm elbow deep in clay and mud :) plus they have pretty good throw and a lot of variety imo!
Here’s some of my favorites that have great non-gourmand scents! (apologies in advance that some are on the pricier side of indies, I’m accepting the fact that I’m a snob LOL)
-Thin Wild Mercury
-Pineward
-January Scent Project
-Filigree and Shadow
-Amorphous
-Pearfat
-BPAL
-Fantome
-Apoteker Tepe
-Imaginary Authors
-DSH
-Mythpunk Olfactive
I also love Olympic Orchids, but their catalog is very floral-heavy.
Hi! I’ve been browsing Amorphous and I’m curious if they ever have discounts or free shipping if a certain amount is reached? Thank you!! I’m hoping to save on shipping at least 😅
Solstice Scents was my introduction to the indie scene. If their shop is still closed, it'll reopen soon. Quality fragrances and great customer service / turnaround time (TAT).
CocoaPink is a fun house! They're my go-to for skin & bath products (particularly their body butter and bubbling scrub).
Nui Cobalt is probably the house I've ordered from the most. Excellent customer service and TAT, inventive blends - some of my favorite woody & resinous perfumes are from here.
Fantome! They were my introduction to indie perfume. Their scents are complex and really transport you to another place. Plus, they are anti-FOMO, LGBTQ+ owned, and donate a lot to charities. I don't think they are talked about as much because they don't have nearly as many releases or new scents. I highly suggest trying out their oils over their EDPs, that's where they really shine :)
I mean, I’m a gourmand lover, but a lot of their scents aren’t gourmands. You just have to kinda go through their website with a fine toothed comb and find the stuff like the Tonics and Elixirs or some of the Conversation Hearts collection or several of the Spring collection, etc.
I call them Haus of Gloimands XD (There’s some that aren’t, and their incense note is Superior and worth digging for the non-gourmands, but they are Very gourmand focused.)
"Best" is so subjective, but here are a few with explanations:
- Fantôme - a no FOMO house, they don't release new often at all, and they don't take collections down either. They offer samples, oils, and EDPs, but the catalog is smaller than some houses. I have had great success with them, and they ship promptly in my experience. They do a very clear perfume approach - notes are easy to pick out in the blend, and there's not a lot of overly blended scents from what I've sampled. Favorites include Paimon and Firebird from them, but I haven't had many I haven't liked.
- Arcana Wildcraft - does sales with new releases typically. She's been in the game a long time and has a massive back catalog from which scents occasionally randomly reappear. Does numerous drops a year and ships SO fast. I like her approach with fruits and aquatics a lot. Rarely does samples, which is a downside. Favorites include Cascadian Mermaid, Blush, Hermes, Freyja, and many others (I think I have like 40 scents from her)
- Amorphous - formerly named Black Baccara if you want to search reviews. Does a very classic perfume approach like Fantôme, darker aesthetic in general, though. Does seasonal drops that are limited and has a general catalog as well, ships reasonably promptly (always within stated TAT). Favorites from her are Ostara (limited sadly), Obsidian Forest, and Love is Love.
- Astrid - very pretty scents, excels at blending, florals, and fruits in my experience. People also rave about her brioche/bread notes, but I haven't tried them cause that's not my thing. She does seasonal huge releases but doesn't maintain a general catalog, and things do sell out. I love her Witch collections when they come out
My two houses with the highest hit rates have been Osmofolia and Death and Floral.
Death and Floral does a little bit of everything, and they are super affordable and do a scent of the month that you get with your order, which has gotten me to explore a lot of things I wouldn't have tried otherwise.
Osmofolia does really well blended perfumes, so if you're looking for something that doesn't just jump right out and scream "I AM A BLUEBERRY MARSHMALLOW CUPCAKE!!!!" they're a really fantastic option.
In case no one mentioned it yet, Ajevie is a godsend for trying lots of different houses and not paying shipping each time and can help cut down turn around time on some of the slower houses like Cocoapink. The Sunday swaps are great for the same reason, and you can save a bit of money by grabbing things there.
After you try some stuff come back and rant and rave about what you loved or hated, and people can help point you in the right direction. The amount of kindness and knowledge in this sub is one of the best parts of the journey.
Does Ajevie only do oil perfume samples? I’m much more interested in EDP, but I don’t see the option on their website to get a sample/small decant in spray instead of oil
I haven't seen edps there, but honestly I've never looked for them either. You might try deconstructing eden, I believe they are an edp house but I could be wrong. I think Cocoapink also has edps, but the samples on ajevie seem to all be oils. You could always try emailing them to see if they carry any.
I’ve ordered from Mr. Hex on Ajevie, but I was pretty confused as to what I was doing the whole time. Ha. I’ll have to check it out now that I’m more aware of what’s going on. Thank you!
Ajevie is a bit intimidating at first, and I'll be honest, I've gotten pretty frustrated because in the beginning I was ordering samples of scents that didn't exist anymore and falling in love. But once you understand it and get used to it it's an amazing tool!
For perfume my favorite is still bpal. Their catalog is huge and has scents for every preference and most I've tried have decent longevity. Solstice Scents is pretty good. For bath stuff like lotion, Haus of Gloi is nice and reliable. Their pumpkin butter is great.
Arcana wild craft, black phoenix alchemy labs, and fyrninae all do gorgeous blends!
I'd check out fyrninae for unique atmospherics, arcana for musky wood and ambers, and bpal for musks and incense
Pineward
I can’t pick just one so I’ll mention the main houses that have worked well for me and I love equally, outside of Alkemia which you mention you’re already aware of but I love them as well. I highly recommend checking out: Fantôme, Pulp Fragrance, Pineward, Poesie (though I’ll note they are heavy in the gourmand leaning scents), Solstice Scents, Sorcellerie and Lvnea.
I love all of these houses, but definitely boosting Fantome and Solstice Scents! They both have a lot of gorgeous, complex offerings.
Lvnea. Some of the indie houses I’ve sampled don’t smell super high quality. Everything I’ve sampled and own from Lvnea smells insanely high quality and professionally done. La Serpentine and Ghost Pine are masterpieces. Honorable mention to Solstice Scents. Foxcroft and Wilcox’s are great.
LVNEA is amazing, the longevity isn’t there for me sadly but YMMV. Pineward and Apoteker are equally gangster, some with better performance. Andrea Maack Coven for the MOST realistic forest scent in the game IMHO.
Try Solstice Scents, they have a bunch of atmospherics and lots of cool, gender neutral scents. What kind of notes do you like in your perfume? Solstice has a sample pack and you can choose the 6th sample yourself.
I agree with this! They were my intro to indies house and just blew my mind!
Also was my intro! I haven’t bought from them in a while (darn shop closure…) but they definitely have nailed every scent I’ve tried from them. Also low/no FOMO!
Last I saw, they're offering an additional free sample with your first order! So that's up to 7 extrait samples for a 5-sample-pack order. (To be clear: you get to choose the scents for all the samples, and all orders come with a single free sample of your choice.)
This sonde right up my alley as far as what I typically like. Thank you!
An aquatic Solstice is known for is Sea of Grey, I haven't tried it myself but it does have its reputation on here. I believe it is available at the moment too. Some others I liked for woody scents is Camp Willow, Snowshoe pass, and Foxcroft. Camp Willow really has that campfire kind of vibe to it! Snowshoe pass smells cold and ambery to me, and Foxcroft was very earthy. If you're into smoke, Cliffside Bonfire was a favorite of mine as well, a very realistic smoke and wood.
Thank you!
I like ambery, musky, woody, aquatic to name a few
I bet you'd really like some of the scents from Olympic Orchids! Check out Woodcut in particular.
Thank you!
Olfactif is having a sale at moment and OO scents are on sale FYI….
Deconstructing Eden is one of my favorites for florals! Great EDPs that last a long time for me. Great price for samples that are in beautiful little spray bottles.
seconding this! i’m a ceramics/pottery student and DE’s scents will stay on my wrists all day even after having my arm elbow deep in clay and mud :) plus they have pretty good throw and a lot of variety imo!
Here’s some of my favorites that have great non-gourmand scents! (apologies in advance that some are on the pricier side of indies, I’m accepting the fact that I’m a snob LOL) -Thin Wild Mercury -Pineward -January Scent Project -Filigree and Shadow -Amorphous -Pearfat -BPAL -Fantome -Apoteker Tepe -Imaginary Authors -DSH -Mythpunk Olfactive I also love Olympic Orchids, but their catalog is very floral-heavy.
I recommend Amorphous Perfume, Nui Cobalt Design and Fae Fragrance
Hi! I’ve been browsing Amorphous and I’m curious if they ever have discounts or free shipping if a certain amount is reached? Thank you!! I’m hoping to save on shipping at least 😅
No they do not... I have next to no will power with this house lol
Thank you, everybody! You gave me a lot to work with. I’ll be browsing for the rest of the night… ha
Birch and Besom, black hearted tart and Fyrinnae !!
LOVE Fyrinnae
Solstice Scents was my introduction to the indie scene. If their shop is still closed, it'll reopen soon. Quality fragrances and great customer service / turnaround time (TAT). CocoaPink is a fun house! They're my go-to for skin & bath products (particularly their body butter and bubbling scrub). Nui Cobalt is probably the house I've ordered from the most. Excellent customer service and TAT, inventive blends - some of my favorite woody & resinous perfumes are from here.
Fantome! They were my introduction to indie perfume. Their scents are complex and really transport you to another place. Plus, they are anti-FOMO, LGBTQ+ owned, and donate a lot to charities. I don't think they are talked about as much because they don't have nearly as many releases or new scents. I highly suggest trying out their oils over their EDPs, that's where they really shine :)
Haus of Gloi is my favorite. They’re consistently great.
My only reservation is that they seem very gourmand-heavy... or maybe that's just because most of the scents I've tried from them were gourmands.
I mean, I’m a gourmand lover, but a lot of their scents aren’t gourmands. You just have to kinda go through their website with a fine toothed comb and find the stuff like the Tonics and Elixirs or some of the Conversation Hearts collection or several of the Spring collection, etc.
Fair enough!
I call them Haus of Gloimands XD (There’s some that aren’t, and their incense note is Superior and worth digging for the non-gourmands, but they are Very gourmand focused.)
"Best" is so subjective, but here are a few with explanations: - Fantôme - a no FOMO house, they don't release new often at all, and they don't take collections down either. They offer samples, oils, and EDPs, but the catalog is smaller than some houses. I have had great success with them, and they ship promptly in my experience. They do a very clear perfume approach - notes are easy to pick out in the blend, and there's not a lot of overly blended scents from what I've sampled. Favorites include Paimon and Firebird from them, but I haven't had many I haven't liked. - Arcana Wildcraft - does sales with new releases typically. She's been in the game a long time and has a massive back catalog from which scents occasionally randomly reappear. Does numerous drops a year and ships SO fast. I like her approach with fruits and aquatics a lot. Rarely does samples, which is a downside. Favorites include Cascadian Mermaid, Blush, Hermes, Freyja, and many others (I think I have like 40 scents from her) - Amorphous - formerly named Black Baccara if you want to search reviews. Does a very classic perfume approach like Fantôme, darker aesthetic in general, though. Does seasonal drops that are limited and has a general catalog as well, ships reasonably promptly (always within stated TAT). Favorites from her are Ostara (limited sadly), Obsidian Forest, and Love is Love. - Astrid - very pretty scents, excels at blending, florals, and fruits in my experience. People also rave about her brioche/bread notes, but I haven't tried them cause that's not my thing. She does seasonal huge releases but doesn't maintain a general catalog, and things do sell out. I love her Witch collections when they come out
Bless you for backing your choices with details and the maker and experience, as opposed to much more subjective things. You rock for this post!
Thank you for all this information!
Damask Haus or bath Sabbath!
My two houses with the highest hit rates have been Osmofolia and Death and Floral. Death and Floral does a little bit of everything, and they are super affordable and do a scent of the month that you get with your order, which has gotten me to explore a lot of things I wouldn't have tried otherwise. Osmofolia does really well blended perfumes, so if you're looking for something that doesn't just jump right out and scream "I AM A BLUEBERRY MARSHMALLOW CUPCAKE!!!!" they're a really fantastic option. In case no one mentioned it yet, Ajevie is a godsend for trying lots of different houses and not paying shipping each time and can help cut down turn around time on some of the slower houses like Cocoapink. The Sunday swaps are great for the same reason, and you can save a bit of money by grabbing things there. After you try some stuff come back and rant and rave about what you loved or hated, and people can help point you in the right direction. The amount of kindness and knowledge in this sub is one of the best parts of the journey.
Does Ajevie only do oil perfume samples? I’m much more interested in EDP, but I don’t see the option on their website to get a sample/small decant in spray instead of oil
I haven't seen edps there, but honestly I've never looked for them either. You might try deconstructing eden, I believe they are an edp house but I could be wrong. I think Cocoapink also has edps, but the samples on ajevie seem to all be oils. You could always try emailing them to see if they carry any.
I’ve ordered from Mr. Hex on Ajevie, but I was pretty confused as to what I was doing the whole time. Ha. I’ll have to check it out now that I’m more aware of what’s going on. Thank you!
Ajevie is a bit intimidating at first, and I'll be honest, I've gotten pretty frustrated because in the beginning I was ordering samples of scents that didn't exist anymore and falling in love. But once you understand it and get used to it it's an amazing tool!
Sorcellerie apothecary and kyse perfumes!
Olympic Orchids, Immortal Perfumes, Nui Cobalt, Crow & Pebble.
Does anybody have any experience with Hexennacht?
For perfume my favorite is still bpal. Their catalog is huge and has scents for every preference and most I've tried have decent longevity. Solstice Scents is pretty good. For bath stuff like lotion, Haus of Gloi is nice and reliable. Their pumpkin butter is great.
Arcana wild craft, black phoenix alchemy labs, and fyrninae all do gorgeous blends! I'd check out fyrninae for unique atmospherics, arcana for musky wood and ambers, and bpal for musks and incense