smell ya later

5 Houston boutiques for sourcing niche perfumes for scent lovers

From rare finds to centuries-old perfume houses, Houston’s niche fragrance shops offer scents as distinctive as the people who wear them.

Courtesy of Baroque & Bloom

Like a signature style or favorite piece of jewelry, a distinctive perfume can be instantly recognizable and linked to the person wearing it. For those who don't want to smell like the same designer fragrances found in malls across the country, Houston offers several options for something more personal and unexpected.

These boutiques aren't places to grab a bottle and go. They turn fragrance shopping into an entire experience. From trying perfumes that can't be found anywhere else in the city to wearing a scent from centuries-old perfume houses or creating a one-of-a-kind blend, here are the best places to find niche perfumes in Houston.

Baroque & Bloom
With over 1,500 niche fragrances in its Post Oak boutique, Baroque & Bloom by Scent Split offers one of the country's largest specialty fragrance retail collections in a physical store. Shoppers can expect to find exclusive and rare fragrances available only in Houston because of the boutique's relationships with perfume houses worldwide. Ahead of holiday shopping, look for the latest drops from brands including Sikelia and Sasva, both U.S. exclusives at Baroque & Bloom.

House of Creed
This European perfume house has been making fragrances and serving royalty since the 1700s. It is one of the few places in Houston where perfumistas can find all-natural scents made with iris, one of the world's most expensive ingredients. To extract the most refined scent from the plant, Creed ages the iris roots, which it sources from Tuscany and France, for up to eight years. Across its lineup of exclusive fragrances, which each take months to produce, six contain iris, including Millésime Impérial, Queen of Silk, Green Irish Tweed, Fleurissimo, and Iris Debonair, the brand’s latest release.

Krigler
This century-old perfume house began with a scent created for Albert Krigler's soon-to-be bride as an engagement gift in the 1800s and has since turned into a coveted brand with only 15 boutiques worldwide. Its fragrances have been worn by everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio and Jacqueline Onassis to Ernest Hemingway. Houstonians can find the cozy Krigler boutique inside the Four Seasons Hotel, where if an off-the-shelf bottle won't do, a custom scent can be created for a starting price of $50,000.

Kuhl Linscomb
Housed within one of its five interconnected bungalows in Upper Kirby, Kuhl Linscomb offers a variety of hard-to-find fragrances. Customers can shop for brands including Lubin, one of the oldest French perfume houses dating back to 1798; Fiele, a small botanical-focused fragrance house; and Fischerund, so obscure that finding a bottle in the wild is the ultimate discovery.

Le Labo
Santal 33 may have put Le Labo on the mainstream map, but the "slow perfumery" that focuses on small-batch fragrances and minimalism has plenty of scents that deserve a cult following of their own. The Le Labo Montrose boutique is the place to try out Another 13, The Matcha 26, and The Noir 29. Every year, the brand also releases a new addition to its City Exclusives collection, available in the city that inspired it, which creates a frenzy among fragrance devotees. For those willing to cash in their airline miles, the latest drop is Shiu 25, available only in Beijing.

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FALL FÊTE

Texas luxury boutique collabs with Houston designer for new fashion brand

Photo courtesy of Saint Bernard

Saint Bernard teams up with Houston designer Lyndsey Zorich for Love Note.

River Oaks District boutique Saint Bernard is getting ready for fall with a new collection created with Houston style veteran Lyndsey Zorich. The fashion-forward retailer and the founder and designer of Mason's Daughter teamed up to launch Love Note by Lyndsey Zorich, a new Saint Bernard-owned brand.

Saint Bernard doesn't usually collaborate with local designers on its own brands, making this partnership with Zorich special. She was involved in everything from creative direction and textile development to fabrication and production. Shoppers can expect a feminine collection with a playful take on everyday dressing for women who want to look put together, but not too serious.

Love Note officially launches on Thursday, September 10 at Saint Bernard stores in Houston, Dallas, Southlake, San Antonio, and Austin, as well as online. Customers will have to be patient, because another unique aspect of this collaboration is that the entire collection won’t debut at once. Instead, the brand will roll out in a series of monthly drops, each having its own seasonal point of view.

Saint Bernard x Lyndsey Zorich Love Note by Lyndsey Zorich is available at Saint Bernard stores in Houston, Dallas, Southlake, San Antonio, and Austin, plus online.Photo courtesy of Saint Bernard

The Kick Off is the first drop in September. It is a game day-inspired collection with pieces designed for fall sports and weekend road trips. In October, The Lean In will debut with more feminine silhouettes, followed by Getting Comfortable, which focuses on the perfect layering pieces for Texas’s warm fall weather.

A longtime Saint Bernard shopper herself, Zorich's unique style and Texas perspective gave her a greater understanding of what Texas customers want.

“Getting dressed has always been one of my favorite forms of self-expression, and Love Note allowed me to take that idea from concept all the way through the finished product,” said Zorich. "Saint Bernard felt like the right partner, because I genuinely understand and love their customers. Love Note is meant to bring a little more playfulness to getting dressed, pieces that feel personal, special, and bring joy to everyday life.”

That individual connection is what Saint Bernard wanted in this project. According to Ashleigh Goyer, director of owned brands for Saint Bernard, the store wanted a new way for Saint Bernard to give customers something both recognizable and unexpected.

"She shares her perspective, her lifestyle, and her love of fashion, and she has an incredible ability to make getting dressed feel effortless and personal," said Goyer.

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