...Hm, yet another attempt to abuse a term in order to determine quality - although we pretty much all agree that both niche and designer have released good and bad scents. As Coutureguru already wrote: after all it boils down to ones personal taste or personal point of view, and I do not think it is very useful to use terms such as 'niche' and 'designer' in order to find some kind of formula that explains (and justifies) our exceptional taste.I am more of a newbie in this game, and naturally I started my collection with designers. I have been buying niche now for months exclusively, and honestly: I don't feel there are many designer scents left for me to explore, but then again - I could not live without the designers that I already own, definitely not.For now I am much more interested in niche brands, but when you explore a scent, it should not matter whether it's niche or designer, should it?

..."Monocle Scent One: Hinoki" by Comme des Garçons.

...I really love the look of the "pebble-flacons" by Comme des Garçons, but they are extremely slippery. I dropped my "Comme des Garçons 2" on the bathroom floor twice already and boy, that gave me quite a load of adrenaline, even though it only scratched the flacon.There's a reason why you can find instructions on YouTube on how to fix the rubber editions by Thierry Mugler to make them spray properly. In case you don't hit the sprayer absolutely perfect, the perfume will leave the flacon without any radius, sometimes it will even just dribble; scents like A*Men behave pretty nasty when being "hotspotted" too much.

..."Infusion de Vetiver" by Prada. Performed surprisingly well considering the cold, autumnesque weather today.

...Today I bought a coffret-set by Hermès with a friend, it contains Vetiver Tonka, Ambre Narguilé and Poivre Samarcande. And then I stumbled over "Black Afgano", the last bottle available in the store. Yessss...

...My favourite EdC by far is "Series 4 Cologne: Vettiveru" by Comme des Garçons. It's not a very typical cologne since it has no citric / fresh opening and it lasts quite well, but the Vetiver in this scent is pretty amazing. I am also amazed by its price tag; I got the 125ml for about 40€, the 500ml is offered for less than 100€. Considering the quality of this scent this is damn cheap.

..."Hermèssence Vétiver Tonka" by Hermès.

..."Black Afgano" by Nasomatto.

...+1 for "Nuit Étoilée" by Annick Goutal. Marvelous scent that perfectly captures the vibe of a frosty night.

...Love:- Insence- Wood, especially cypress- Neroli- Citrusses if not too synthetic- Roasted coffeebeans- Resins in general- Roasted cocoabeansNot my thing:- Aquatics- Fruits except for citrusses- Floral fruity / fruity floral- Overdosed and synthetic vanilla- Pretty much any perfume for men that was released before 2000

..."Tuscan Leather" by Tom Ford. Only to be used by confident women (and men).

..."Tuscan Leather" by Tom Ford. Only to be used by confident women (and men).

...First perfume that comes to my mind: "Series 3 Incense: Kyoto" by Comme des Garçons. Balanced, pure, clean, pretty linear and totally different from indian or european incense.