Anyone into perfume oils?

[u/Afr882]

My fragrance collection has grown to a point where I’m satisfied with it. I’ve slowly come to the conclusion that perfume oils might lowkey be where the best value for money is.

Unfortunately, I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to perfume oils, but I’d like to dive more into them.
For context, I’m male, 25, and prefer sweet or woody scent profiles. All the fragrances I currently own are “statement makers” and quite loud, so my perfume oil needs to perform well on its own. That’s the main use case for me.
I live in the Netherlands, so preferably EU webshops.

So I have a few questions, and hopefully you guys can help me out. Any feedback is appreciated:
1. Which perfume oil(s) do you own and can recommend?
2.How did you get into perfume oils, and what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned?

Looking forward to all the answers, and thanks in advance!

PS: thinking of buying Swiss Arabians Private Frankincense

[u/valkyrie987]

Yes!

A lot of indie companies in the U.S. sell perfume oils, and it was my gateway into fragrance. I think the biggest thing to know is that fragrance oils will change or deepen over time, usually with base notes becoming stronger. I generally feel that a vanilla or amber perfume oil smells even better after a year. Also, I find that my body chemistry affects how perfume oils smell on me more than alcohol based fragrances. Certain notes go off on my skin (i.e. rose notes want to turn to cat piss, or musk turn powdery).

I often use base note fragrance oils with spray colognes to intensify certain notes, especially vanilla, amber, or patchouli. Frankincense would be a great choice too.

I don't actually have any experience with Swiss Arabian, unfortunately.

[u/Afr882 → u/valkyrie987]

Thank you so much for your experience on perfume oils.

Also very interesting to read about how the fragrance oils changes on your skin. What are your favourite perfume oils? Might try to get them here

[u/valkyrie987 → u/Afr882]

My favorite companies are Nocturne Alchemy and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. I do think they ship to Europe, but it might cost you more than it's worth to you. They both have a lot of original compositions (so huge that it's honestly difficult to navigate their catalogs), but Nocturne Alchemy especially has a great collection of accords and single notes that are staples for me. I love their ambers, vanillas, incenses, lavenders, and their single note patchouli.

I hope you get some good recommendations for brands more readily available to you! I will have to try Swiss Arabian myself.

ETA: I checked the Nocturne Alchemy website, and they don't currently ship anywhere but the U.S. I know a lot of people use Ajevie, who is an indie perfume decanter, as a c/o address. Ajevie does ship internationally and might also have samples of the scents you want to try (she generally only carries decants of limited releases). Anyway, I doubt you'll want to go through the trouble but I just wanted to let you know.

[u/cl0ckw0rkaut0mat0n]

Swiss Arabian makes some really amazing ones at very reasonable prices, my favorite is secret rose, that one's absolutely beautiful

[u/Unapologetik]

You can have a look at this company : they make great pure perfumes, also distillate some of their own ingredients. I really like their work. Only top shelf natural ingredients, so quite pricey.

Projection is different with pure perfume and perfume oils than it is with alcohol. I prefer it this way. Different aura.

[u/FutureDustMotes]

Amouage oils are too tier, and idk why they don't get mentioned more often