A growing list of independent Australian and New Zealand fragrance brands
Photography by @28thdaycreative for @ficifoliafragrances
WORDS BY AMY FOCIC AND FASHION JOURNAL
Your guide to the best local perfumes.
I don’t think I’m alone in feeling smug when someone tells me that I smell good. This smugness is particularly heightened if I’m asked by a stranger what perfume I’m wearing (probably By The Fireplace by Maison Margiela, yes I am a basic bitch).
Always on the hunt for more compliment-inducing fragrances to add to my growing collection, I’ve realised in my searching that Australian and New Zealand brands are often missing from hyped perfume recommendations on the internet, and undeservedly so.
We like nosy people. Don’t be shy, head to our Beauty section for more.
At FJ, we love championing independent, local brands. We aren’t ones to gatekeep, so go ahead and enjoy this growing list of Australian and New Zealand fragrance labels.
Odesse
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Odesse is one of the few fragrance brands to offer solid perfume. Its version is pretty luxurious, plus it’s wax-based, Australian-made and refillable, so you can feel good while smelling great.
Pedrisat
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Relatively new to the world of perfume, Melbourne brand Pedrisat’s focus is on quality rather than quantity, and as such, each perfume is released in a limited run. The first release consisted of only 20 bottles, so keep your eyes peeled for the next exclusive fragrance the brand releases.
Who is Elijah
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Cruelty-free and hand-filled in Sydney, Who is Elijah perfumes are crafted with ethics and sustainability front of mind. The brand’s modern, clean-cut aesthetic shines through in its scents too, making it ideal for any minimalist.
Váhy
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Váhy is a Melbourne-based, natural fragrance house producing genderless perfumes with scents created here in Australia. The brand has a passion for honesty in its products, offering a full list of the ingredients behind each perfume and ensuring all are natural, organic and cruelty-free.
Curionoir
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Curionoir is a Māori owned, luxury fragrance brand based in New Zealand. It values the stories behind each scent, aiming to produce sensory experiences that trigger and create memories using the traditions of past relatives.
Ficifolia
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Melbourne-born brand Ficifolia creates scents inspired by the moments in Australian life. Fragrances like Intermission, Out of Office and Rose Street play on our olfactive senses to transport us back to our favourite places, people, memories and traditions.
Circe
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Inspired by the scents of its place of origin, New Zealand brand Circe creates 100 per cent natural perfumes that evoke the essence of New Zealand landscapes. Each scent is designed, made and bottled in Aotearoa using small-batch production.
Roemy
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With a focus on building a sustainable and inclusive fragrance label, Roemy makes perfume you can feel good about. Its scents have names like Halcyon and Solstice, and they capture different memories – a fresh morning dip in a lake, an autumn sunset.
Aerway
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Harnessing the power of neuroscience, Aerway is an innovative scent company making functional fragrances. Each scent is made using specific combinations of aromatic compounds, identified to activate neural pathways associated with desired cognitive and emotional states. Aerway offers fragrances designed to enhance specific parts of the brain – like a scent for productivity, relaxation or happiness.
Ssaint
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Gender-neutral and cruelty-free, SSaint perfumes are consciously made, inspired by landscapes across the world and olfactory memories. Cosmic Bang – with notes of tobacco, cedar and bergamot – sounds intoxicating.
Orb Oils
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Orb Oils makes genderless, oil-based fragrances that are designed to be multipurpose. Not only can your Orb Oil perfume be dabbed onto pulse points, but it can be used in your oil diffuser or added to your bath.
Goldfield and Banks
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Using Australian native botanicals and inspired by Australia’s landscape, Goldfield and Banks perfumes are a delight for the senses. Its perfume concentrates are housed in eye-catching bottles with names like Southern Bloom and Velvet Splendour.
Loess
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Sydney-based brand Loess is passionate about creating ethical and sustainable fragrances. Its vegan-friendly, cruelty-free perfumes are made from high-quality natural ingredients, and its bespoke bottles are recyclable.
Gracious Minds
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Gracious Minds is all about rituals when it comes to taking care of ourselves, and what better way to do that than through a signature scent? Alongside its skincare offering, the brand makes a plant-based perfume oil with jasmine and sandalwood.
Aesop
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Iconic Australian label Aesop is known and loved for the dreamy smell of its skincare products, so is it surprising the brand has a fragrance line? In keeping with its signature refined aesthetic, Aesop’s perfumes are spritzed from classic amber bottles.
Vanessa Megan
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Vanessa Megan’s natural fragrances are created with a mood-bost in mind – how could you not be delighted by notes of vanilla bean, sweet orange and lavender, to name a few? The brand’s opulent bottles are sure to uplift your mood too.
Mihan Aromatics
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We all love the way the earth smells after it rains, right? In a stroke of genius, Mihan Aromatics has bottled this intoxicating scent for you to spritz to your heart’s content, rain or shine. Don’t look past the brand’s Guilty Story perfume either, a sweet yet woody concoction.
Grandiflora
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Grandiflora may have started as a florist, but it’s this background that inspired the brand’s foray into personal fragrance. Think the essence of flowers distilled into perfumes, that are anything but simple. Plus, they don’t look bad on your bedside table either.
Recreation
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Based in Bondi Beach, Recreation’s scents are made in Australia and champion natural ingredients. Its evocatively-named perfumes – like At Night We Dance – are sure to make for the perfect signature scent.
Glasshouse
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Good news for fans of Glasshouse candles: a selection of the brand’s beloved candles are available in perfume form. Wear iconic scents like A Tahaa Affair and Midnight in Milan, all spritzed from minimalist bottles.
The Raconteur
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I’d hazard a guess that those who have experienced an Australian summer share a nostalgia for this season, and the good folks at The Raconteur have transformed this nostalgia into a perfume. The Raconteur makes candles and reed diffusers too, in case you need some more intoxicating fragrance in your life.
Ayu
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Ayu is an Australian-based brand crafting artisan scent blends like Black Musk, Sage and Smoking Rose. Each perfume is made to evoke a certain kind of energy – calm, invigorated, sensual or uplifting. Ayu provides ethically-sourced, rich scents for those seeking to shroud themselves in the warmth and spice.
Cygnet Perfumery
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With a focus on the harmony between nature and body, Cygnet Perfumery is the Australian brand taking ‘plant-based’ to a whole other level. Our fine fragrances are handcrafted from the highest quality natural ingredients. The brand’s perfume base of Spiritus Vini, a natural grape alcohol, is distilled in the Barossa Valley from 100 per cent Australian grapes and wine residuals.
Rasasara Skinfood
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Rasasara Skinfood perfume oils are is 100 per cent natural, organic, nontoxic, cruelty-free, vegan, sulphate and paraben-free. Taking inspiration from the traditional Hindu practice of Ayurveda, Rasasara perfumes are made from organic oils sourced from Kerala, India. Browse the blends of scents like rose, patchouli, vetiver and frankincense.
One Seed
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When perusing One Seed’s collection of perfumes, you’re able to filter its scents by mood – do you want to feel grounded, energised or comforted? The brand’s scents are ideal for those of us who like to change our fragrance depending on how we currently feel.
Map of the Heart
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Contained in bottles shaped like an anatomical heart, Map of the Heart perfumes are truly an ode to this wondrous organ. Unsure which one to choose? The brand offers a discovery set so you can get a taste of what scents you love.
For advice on finding your signature scent, try this.
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