Here is a collection of the most common questions we get asked. Fragrances are very important to people and marketing messages can be confusing. Hopefully this blog post will help to demystify a few things.
1) What is niche perfume?
Niche perfumes look at the world of scent differently. It is more than about just smelling good. The fragrance you choose is an extension of you. The sense of scent is so often underestimated in its power to transport you back to a moment in time or as a way of creating new memories. Imagine taking a trip to a city you fall in love with and bringing back a fragrance to remind you of the trip. Imagine being able to bring yourself a feeling of serenity because your fragrance transports you to a time or place of comfort. Rook sees scent as art in a bottle. And as with all art you might connect with it or you might not, that is what makes it niche. Perfume just got personal.
2) Do your fragrances contain more essential oils or synthetics?
A balance! Essential oil are more limited than synthetic ingredients as they have a higher risk of causing allergic reactions. Essential oils contain hundreds of chemicals and we are only interested in the chemicals that produce their amazing scents. There is a popular trend for "clean beauty" products which are based on natural ingredients. Remember when synthetic materials are created they are designed to cause as few allergic reactions as possible!
3) Fragrances often give me headaches. Will yours?
This is difficult to answer as everyone reacts differently. Often headaches are induced by aldehydes which are synthetic components that we use very rarely. Why not try our Discovery Set and see how you get on?
4) How much oil do your scents contain?
You will find oil content published on some of our product pages. The reality is that with modern ingredients, a tiny amount of one ingredient could be more potent than a huge amount of another! Oil content does not guarantee longevity or projection.
5) How long do your fragrances last?
The holy grail of perfumery! Perfume longevity is impacted by so many things. Scents won't last as long in warm weather. Scents with more top notes will project more but for a shorter period of time. Dry skin will sap oil and can dramatically reduce longevity (tip: try a little vaseline as a base to apply your scent to). As above, try our Discovery Set and see if you are happy with their longevity. We personally don't think there is anything wrong with respraying a scent you love.
6) Do your perfumes blend with or act as pheromones?
The pheromone effect of fragrance was made famous by the brand Escentric Molecules. Their first scent Molecule 01 used one ingredient only: ISO E Super. The marketing message was that the customer could not smell it on themselves but others would notice it. There was also some mystic message that Molecule 01 had a pheromone type impact. The reality is ISO E Super smell like... ISO E Super. It is used in many modern perfumes (including ours) as it acts as a clean canvas and enhancer for other notes in the blend. We all have a natural skin scent and it is perfectly possible ISO E Super enhances that too. In terms of not being able to smell your own perfume - that is called olfactory desensitization. After we have been exposed to the same scent over several hours - our brain stops perceiving it as a "new signal" and we therefore find it more difficult to smell it.
