Brands that you just don't get

I'm curious to know if anyone has certain brands/houses that they generally avoid.

Personally, Le Labo and Byredo feel like a case of the Emperor's New Clothes to me, especially for the price. I have tested a wide range of fragrances from Heretic and Lush and they all smelled awful to me. 

Any brand that uses AI art will always turn me of too (including Dua Brand and Pictura Fragrans).

For me it's most niche brands. I just don't get the prices. Most niche fragrances are nothing special nor unique but cost a fortune. Emperor's new clothes indeed! Snobby people claim that their 500 euros bottle is something special but in about 80 % of cases it's actually not, you could have got something more interesting for paying so much less, and I have been thinking it's not about the actual smells, it's all about having something expensive as a status symbol. No thank you. I absolutely hate it when many niche fragrances have these amazing sounding rare notes in the pyramid but when you actually sample the fragrance, it almost always just turns out to be this standard smoky wood note that overpowers everything else. Most people probably think that smoky wood smells expensive, however to me it's just boring, unwearable and unpleasant. Someone said that indie is the new niche and couldn't agree more. Most indies are reasonably priced and very unique, they have heart and soul and buying them also supports someone's small business instead of trying to exploit customers making as much profit as possible.

Also, I just don't get brands like Chanel or Narciso Rodriguez that have this "general house DNA" in all of their fragrances no matter which line or which gender they are marketed - the top notes might smell a bit different but then the drydown in all of them is just the same. Feels so boring to me, and again can't understand the prices they are asking.

The only discovery set I’ve truly struggled with was from Dedcool. I found most of the scents to be a simple screech of unpleasantness, and I’m known to love unconventional fragrances, so I was surprised that they all just smelled “bad” to me. They also left an oily residue on my skin, and the scent dissipated quickly. I’ve heard people say it lasts longer on clothes, but frankly, I wouldn’t want them to last any longer.

@Lempi what is indie? Examples?

@muzik My current top 3 favourite indie houses are Parfums Max Joacim, Middleshade Perfumes and Haus of Gloi. Small independent companies with unique handmade fragrances that actually have a soul, and amazing quality for very reasonable price.

For me, Juliette has a Gun and Hermetica have been so weird and unpleasant. I can't imagine a fragrance lover who's tried a lot of different perfumes ever recommending any of these. Also, Veronique Gabai seems like a super expensive version of JHAG, and I really think it's nothing more than just marketing and pretty bottles, because what I've sampled inside leaves a lot to be desired, in my humble opinion.

Escentric Molecules, especially Molecule 01. Literally anyone can just get ISO-E Super and perfumer's alcohol and create it yourself for like 1/10 the cost.

Totally agree with you about Le Labo. Super overrated brand. Byredo has a couple of good ones like Bal d'Afrique Absolu de Parfum and De Los Santos but also probably overhyped and overpriced.

Lots of brands I just don't get the hype for and none of their offerings have ever done anything for me including:
Boadicea the Victorious
Narcotica
Dusita
Spirit of Dubai
Fueguia 1833
Bond No. 9
Fragrance du Bois

To a lesser extent (they have one or two good ones but I still don't agree with the way the brand is hyped in general):
Creed
Louis Vuitton
Le Labo
Serge Lutens
Chanel
Guerlain

I realize the historical significance of the last two, but I really just can't get into them.

I might be a little off-topic, but I'll write anyway. I often feel uncomfortable when foreign brands sell perfumes in Japanese or with a Japanese theme, so I avoid them... They tend to be weirdly nationalistic, or they market things we don't love as "Japanese." Also, sometimes the name is Japanese, but the contents are completely unrelated... It's hard to say exactly which brand it is, but these brands are unreliable. And many of them aren't even released in Japan...

By the way,If I could name specific brands, it would be Chanel and Dior. I can't help but get a headache from the smell of those department store perfume counters. I often find designer brands to have a strong synthetic musk.

You're right and you should say it. It's weird to see non-Japanese brands with non-Japanese founders try to use Japanese culture to market their products and make money. I'm sure Edward Said would have had a lot to say about it!

Yeah...I don't mean to criticize people who enjoy the perfume.
But I might have a negative opinion of the brand that made it.
Yakuza, for example, are cool characters in fiction, but in reality they're an anti-social organization that's still going strong and has many victims, from children to women. As a Japanese person, I have no desire to wear a fragrance with that theme.
When people say this is "Japanese culture," I want to say that it's disconnected from reality.
Movies are fiction, after all...the same goes for "Mafia."
Of course, perfume is art and there is freedom of expression.
I'd never heard of Edward Said, so I'll look into it! Thank you!

I stay away from those who use natural musk in their formulas.
Also, brands which sell you the exclusivity instead of a scentual artistic piece and weaponize FOMO! 🙄
Brands with terrible customer service which assume all their customers are liars also get on my blacklist.

Jean Paul Gaultier

Paco Rabanne

Byredo

Amouage

Bond No.9

Fragrance du Bois

Parfums de Marly

Initio

When it comes to expensive designer to niche price points, it's not only the scent but the vibe that has to be appealing to me. Chanel, Dior and Amouage feel similarly uninteresting to me in that way. Armani, Gucci and Hugo Boss all have a similar sporty flashiness that isn't very 'me'. 

I have smelled a lot from all these houses, as I used to work a perfume counter's closing shift during the pandemic and had long hours to myself with just the testers and a notebook for company. Nothing from these houses knocked my socks off. For designers that I'm more drawn to, think YSL.

I tend to avoid : 

Initio 

Alexandre J ( the worst on my list)

Matière Première

Xerjoff

Paco Rabanne

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Stephane Humbert Lucas

Killian

I want to preface this by saying I'm not resolute and maybe even naively open/hopeful that my mind can be changed someday. I've had other brands that I tend to be unimpressed by, except for one or two releases that stand out. 

Nest, more than anything else, drive me nuts. I LOVE floral designs against black, and have some painted Russian plates with that type of vibe. The Nest bottles are gorgeous, and I want so badly to love at least one of the fragrances, but I find them all so mediocre. 

Philosophy tend to create very soft, one-dimensional body spray-esque type scents. I love their body washes, but as fragrances the vast majority tend to be quite boring to me. I'd rather just purchase B&BW or other cheapies.

Estée Lauder...I haven't tried anything from that's grabbed my attention. I've not even come close to exhausting possibilities though, so this could change. But as of now, I've found everything to be quite makeup counter, inoffensive, and a boring sort of pretty.

Despite sampling a lot of Byredo, I never found one I liked enough to buy 5ml of. De Los Santos was the nicest, but weirdly sweet for me.

I spend time at several Fragonard stores and wanted to love something because it was so affordable. I bought 3 perfumes, sampled many and realised they all have a powdery note I dislike.

Le Labo actually has scents I like, but the performance doesn't justify the price for me and I don't see myself buying any.

I use to not get Amouage at all, I hated everything I tried there. Then something changed in my nose, and a few years later it’s probably my favorite house.

For me, it’s hard to definitively say, this house is a no for me because of my Amouage experience. Like, literally, I was baffled that anyone would wear their stuff at one point.

But, to be fair to the OP I will give a shot at the answer…

Memo Paris (although Cappadocia is okay).

Louis Vuitton. All of there stuff just seems unfinished to me, and one sided.

Roja Parfums. Elysium pour Homme Eau de Parfum is certainly okay but others (like Diaghilev Parfum ) I don’t get. However this may just be a profile preference.

Nicolai Perfumer. I think "New York Intense | Nicolaï / Parfums de Nicolaï" is just too stuffy. It, and Itruk and Diaghilev Parfum all have a stuffiness that I can’t get past.

DS & Durga. 

Burning Barbershop is one of the worst fragrances I have ever tried and I haven’t found anything else in their lineup that really spoke to me. They aren’t all bad by any stretch, but nothing jumped out as something I had to buy.

Maison Crivelli...Ofcourse I haven't tried all of their perfumes, so maybe I'm missing out on something, but I didn't like any of the 5 scents from a discovery-set I had. Too bold and obvious imo.

Diptyque: I own two and appreciate them objectively, but it's a bit like playing russian roulette to spray them because they perform so differently on my skin, each time I wear them. Very strange ( and unfortunate ).

Bond No. 9 

I don’t vibe with the following brands:

- Le Labo

- Parfum de Marly

- Initio

- Kayali

- Xerjoff

- Louis Vuitton

- Maison Crivelli (too loud and screechy)

- Mémo Paris

- Kilian

- Matière Première

- Fragrance Du Bois 

- Creed

- Ex Nihilo

- Dusita ( they always have that musky synthetic base)

- all the Middle Eastern houses (too heavy for me)

- all the brands that focus mostly on the bottle design but with meh scents 

Designer is hard for me. It just feels like they're all trying to be too many things at once (with notable exceptions).
I also don't see the appeal of the Glossier, Juliette Has A Gun, or Dedcool scents. When there's a brand DNA that infects EVERY fragrance it just seems cookie cutter and uninspired to me. I also don't understand the insane price points of houses like LV or PDM even if I enjoy some of their line very much. 

While I used to buy expensive designer brands my new self imposed maximum is $100 for 100ml bottle but the last six fragrances I've bought have been in the $20-$40 range.  Other than that I would consider most anything in my price range.