Scented Niche, a perfume boutique tucked into the corner of Central’s Gough Street, has made waves amongst the city’s elite perfume aficionados by continually introducing an array of unique and exclusive scents to tantalise their senses with. Now, the popular store has launched a pop-up location on the second floor of K11 Musea.
Standing in sharp contrast to the mass-produced products currently available on the market, Scented Niche places the spotlight firmly on independent perfumeries, doing away with the formulaic creation of scents and focusing solely on innovative creations from international boutiques.
For Patrick Hui, the mastermind behind the shop’s success, there were myriad reasons to launch Scented Niche. “For customers passionate about fragrances, there weren’t many choices for niche perfumes in Hong Kong except for those owned by big groups. What is available also tends to be overly packaged and marketed, rather than allowing the scents to speak for themselves.”
“Our passionate staffs are trained to ask questions, help customers narrow down options and find just the right scent that they’re looking for, based on their olfactory memory of scents, previous fragrances they’ve bought and so forth.”
To help our customers on choosing scents, Scented Niche carries limited brands in store and offers the most artisanal perfumes that are available in the market. As Patrick believes in quality over quantity, we don’t need more choices but better options when it comes to choosing perfumes.
“We work directly with perfume houses and then we have them send the samples here. So we test their scents but we also evaluate how their development strategy is over the next year. We just want to make sure they are not too mass-market. We will also evaluate the sellers’ online sales channels to ensure all their retailers are following the brand’s pricing strategy. In both instances, wide distribution can confuse consumers and cause deregulated prices for goods, which we try to avoid. Ultimately, we believe Scented Niche’s motto of bringing quality artisanal perfumes to the city’s scent lovers would definitely be embraced by customers who are passionate about fragrances.”
But it’s not just perfumes that line the shop’s shelves though – scented candles and home fragrances are also available. Among the latest products to be unveiled is the new Les Albâtres (The Alabasters) collection from the oldest candle maker in the world, Cire Trudon, which was the official supplier of the court of Louis XIV, as well as the greatest cathedrals and churches across France. Inspired by alabaster, a material utilised by Ancient Egyptians and Romans for its creamy, glowing texture, that self-same characteristic can be found in the candles within this collection.
Worthy of special mention is Héméra, which takes its name after the eponymous Greek goddess of the daytime. Built on a base of amber, patchouli and sandalwood with dashes of cedarwood, iris and nutmeg at its heart, the woody, ambery scent is topped with hints of incense and rose. Priced at HK$1,780, this enticing candle will be available at Scented Niche from 1st December.
INFO: Scented Niche