As a beauty editor, my desk is a revolving door for new beauty products. Chances are, most products that have launched in the past year have either made their way into my hands or into my inbox. Needless to say, it takes a lot for a product to impress me—if I try a product that I don’t like, I’ll almost immediately donate it or give it to a friend.
There are very few products I would actually use to the last drop, but this year, I had a few favorites. Keep reading for some of the products that got me through the past year—they’re all well worth the money.
If you’ve been following Who What Wear Beauty for a while now, you already know we lean a tad fiendish when it comes to scent and the art of smelling good. Unfortunately for us and our wallets, however, the majority of our all-time favorite perfumes cost a pretty penny—sometimes upward of $200 and $300. Even though I don’t necessarily mind investing in high-quality scents that I love, affordable price points shouldn’t be reserved for the cheap fares that we spritzed over our layered polos and tanks circa middle school.
That’s exactly where Dossier comes in. It’s an affordable, alternative fragrance line that you might already be familiar with (thanks, TikTok) but prides itself on providing fragrance lovers with “premium-quality, ethical, affordable perfume for all.” And really, the brand is low-key serving us the best of all worlds when it comes to fragrance: transparency, craftsmanship (with every bottle, you’re receiving the highest-quality perfume sourced from Grasse, France), clean formulas (fragrances are vegan, eco-friendly, and cruelty-free), sustainable and green (Dossier even gives returned bottles to charity), and anti-snob access that allows the masses to enjoy more affordable iterations of some of the most loved scents in the business. Brilliant, right?
Finding a fragrance that suits you can be a daunting task, especially if you’re looking for something unique. With so many big-name brands and recognizable scents out there, where do you go to find something original and outstanding? My suggestion is to turn to the world of niche fragrances.
In the world of perfumery, these lesser-known fragrances stand out among mass-market scents with distinctive compositions, artistry, and creativity. Some use rare flowers and accords, while others combine familiar notes in unfamiliar ways. Trust me, they’re intoxicating, complex, and alluring.
As a super fan of niche fragrances, I’m well-versed in the best brands and scents to try, and I’ve added many of them to my eccentric repertoire. I thought I’d share my favorites with you. From super-woody fragrances to light and flowery scents, here are 20 niche brands you need to have on your radar in 2024.
Let’s get one thing clear: I love my 99-cent lipsticks just as much as my $90 ones. However, there are certain products on the pricey side that I consider to be the best. As a beauty editor, I recognize the privilege I have to be able to test high-end makeup and skincare for a living. And I’m here to argue that some of it is worth splurging on.
I won’t say that all luxury beauty products are necessarily better than mid-priced or drugstore products. Though, I think it’s on a case-by-case or product-by-product basis. After all, beauty is personal and subjective. Also, some high-end beauty products are priced that way for a reason. For example, they may contain premium ingredients sourced from some mountaintop in a corner of the world the average person would never be able to visit or are processed using proprietary technological methods.
There’s also the longevity factor. Luxury may come with a hefty price tag, but sometimes, the efficiency of the product is well worth it. Or if it’s something that will last you a while, the investment makes more sense over time. On the other hand, there’s plain ol‘ preference. Maybe a $50 eyeliner works better on your lids than a $5 one.
Ahead, find 15 of my favorite luxury beauty brands and products worth spending a little more on, from Chanel lipsticks to fancy scalp scrub. Consider adding these to your cart if you’ve been curious about high-end beauty. You deserve it.
I’ll admit it—shopping online for beauty products can be somewhat of a daunting task. Finding all of your favorite items in one place is one thing. Ensuring that they get delivered on time to replenish your routine is another. Few retailers can check both boxes and boast a well-curated selection of high-low products.
In my humble opinion, Nordstrom is one of the best. With a massive spectrum of beauty products to choose from, there’s something for every budget, preference, and concern—whether you’re looking for a designer foundation, an intoxicating perfume, or a moisturizing hair mask.
This is why I’ve gone ahead and put together a list of the 16 best beauty products I’ve found at Nordstrom, ranging from an ultra-luxurious woody fragrance to an incredible exfoliating face mask (that just so happens to be under $50). Keep reading to see and shop them all.
My love language has always been gift giving, so as you can imagine, I take the holiday season seriously. It’s like my own personal Olympics. And while many of my friends and family members start brainstorming gifts just a few weeks before winter break, I start brainstorming in July. That’s not an exaggeration. Each year, during the height of summer, I open a note on my phone and start adding ideas to it. By the time winter rolls around, I have my gifts bought, assembled, and wrapped. And I’m waiting impatiently to give them all out.
Because of my fascination with gift giving, I rarely allocate any of my budget to myself. If I do, that means a product is really special. That’s the case with a few Nordstrom beauty products I came across during my gift-giving research—well, 12 to be exact. They were all so promising that I couldn’t help but keep them for myself. Keep scrolling to see all 12!
My name is Kaitlyn McLintock, and sometimes, I’m influenced by celebrities to buy things. There, I said it. As a beauty editor, it’s easy to blame it on my job and call it “research” or “due diligence.” After all, I can’t crown a certain product as the best without comparing it to all of the others on the market, right? That’s true, but if I’m being honest, it’s more than that. It’s also about the fact that I want to have the best beauty products at my disposal. If a celebrity, who has access to basically anything they want, uses or recommends something, I want it.
Let me be clear. I’m not necessarily looking for celebrity endorsements. I’m interested in the products they use without being compensated for using them or, at the very least, products they’ve created themselves. Say what you will about celebrity beauty brands, but if they’re slapping their name on something, they have to believe in it at least a little bit.
This year, I bought and tested a lot of celeb beauty products. I, however, only felt a few were worth the money, and I figured I’d share them with you. Ahead, see all the celeb-favorite beauty products I used this year, ranked from most to least favorite.
It isn’t just me who notices a spike in green tea beauty products every time we kick off the New Year, right? The more I’ve thought about the anomaly, the more I’ve been able to draw connections between the powdered green tea leaves and the high-reaching goals so many of us set for ourselves the second the clock strikes 12 and the Times Square Ball drops. Here’s what I’m thinking—the appearance of matcha in those “new year, new me” social media posts you scroll across for weeks into the New Year is no coincidence.
Matcha and other kinds of green tea provide antioxidants and nutrients to keep you going through your day. Studies show a variety of benefits, including protection of the liver, promotion of heart health, and boosted brain function when consumed thanks to a high level of antioxidants. However, when it’s worn as a fragrance, green tea can help promote calmness and serenity. I’ve scoured the farthest corners of the internet and my fragrance collection to ID the 16 best matcha and green tea scents you should be using well into the New Year.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, StyleCaster may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
I’ve always wanted to be that cool girl who wears men’s cologne instead of its floral “women’s” counterpart. But so many scents were just too heavy for me, too smoky and woody. Gucci’s new Guilty Elixir de Parfum Pour Homme changed all that. The Italian luxury house recently rolled out two new fragrances — or elixirs — made “Pour Homme” and “Pour Femme” but I can easily see any gender wearing both. That idea of “fragrance for all” will continue into 2024.
But first, let’s go back to the Y2K era. The original Gucci Guilty came out in 2010 and quickly became a cult classic. Women loved theirs (even Lindsey Lohan expressed her love at the time) but the men’s fragrance was especially ground-breaking because it had florals — something generally only reserved for typically feminine scents. “The original was very innovative because I wanted to create a floral for men,” senior perfumer Jacques Huclier told StyleCaster. “So I work from orange flower, orange blossom…I work with beautiful Italian lemon with pink pepper with beautiful lavender from France and very vibrant wood as a patchouli. Patchouli for me it’s like a heart beating. It gives a lot of vibration, life, to the fragrance.”
The new “elixirs” are more intense, bolder, and more concentrated. But they still have a nod to the cult scents of the 2010s. “The idea was to keep the core DNA of Gucci Guilty, but reinterpret the same idea in another direction,” said renowned perfumer Quentin Bisch. “And so orange flower was key, actually as well. I kept these elements and I complemented with leathery facets and the idea was to become an elixir so to become even bolder, more intense, and playing on higher concentration.”
Image: Gucci.
I’m not an expert when it comes to fragrance. That’s why I was stoked to speak to the best of the best perfumers. I understand now why I’m so drawn to Gucci’s Guilty Elixir de Parfum Pour Homme. It’s that floral scent that isn’t too overwhelming (with patchouli for sex appeal) and feels naturally unisex without trying so hard. In fact, the brand isn’t pushing the scents as unisex — there is a For Her and For Him — but even the ad campaign starring Elliot Page, A$AP Rocky, and Julia Garner, is all about not submitting to gender rules. It’s the future of fragrance.
But that doesn’t mean Gucci Gulity Elixir de Parfum Pour Femme is overly feminine. It has a more feminine feel, for sure, but still within that same space where truly anyone could wear it. “The line is all about flower and sensuality,” said Natalie Gracia-Cetto, the French perfumer who developed the new Pour Femme. “In the beginning it was more lilac flower with musky notes…now with the elixir it’s more Wisteria combined with vanilla absolute and tonka bean.” Gracia-Cetto calls the new scent “mysterious and spicy,” and “an evolution towards intensity.”
“We all have a masculine part and a feminine part. And then when you accept that, then you’re open to a new spirit,” she adds.
Image: Gucci.
That’s why all folks of all genders are choosing what fragrance speaks to them, regardless of what the packaging says. In Europe, the perfumers see other fragrance trends blooming, sure to make their way to the U.S. Gracia-Cetto notes a shift from the overly sweet gourmand scents. “When you combine gourmand notes with woods then you can have very new experiences,” she said of the new iterations.
“A new trend is probably to have some fragrances genderless,” Huclier added. “A man can wear a women’s fragrance and women can wear men’s fragrance. It’s less separated than before. Before, the global woman’s fragrances were very floral.” He cited the new Gucci Guilty scents as an example. They’re different enough (which is why there are two) without being the overly feminine or masculine fragrances our parents wore.
Before becoming a beauty editor, my background was in English literature (more specifically, novels and essays produced by women through the 19th and 20th centuries). Spending so much time in the company of books provided endless inspiration and intrigue in my daily life, transporting me to places and introducing me to people I never knew I needed before cracking open a cover. Between essays, presentations, and tests, I spent every possible moment in college reading to my heart’s delight. Trust me—I have the horrible eyesight of a classic bibliophile to prove it.
Whenever I get the opportunity, I love drawing connections between some of my favorite literary works and the scents I wear on rotation. Keep reading for a look into my world with eight gorgeous scents to spark your imagination and five must-have home fragrances to help set the ambience before you dive into those pages.
I can’t say exactly when it happened, but I have officially become a fragrance girlie. That said, because I spend most of my days working from home, I only sometimes use the favorites in my growing perfume wardrobe. However, the fragrance assortment I am constantly refilling is my candle collection. My morning ritual includes brewing a homemade Americano in my Nespresso machine, lighting a candle, turning on a Spotify playlist, and sitting at my computer to take on the day.
As I got the idea to light more than one candle at a time, I thought to myself, “Am I doing this right?” What I’ve realized as I’ve tested candle scents in my day-to-day life—and for this story—is that, unlike layering the wrong perfume on the skin, candle scents are much more forgiving, and it can be really fun to play alchemist by mixing, matching, and layering my favorite wicks for a unique and signature home scent.
Even as someone who owns tons of beauty products (hundreds?! thousands?!) I still buy certain necessities on a weekly or monthly basis. Especially, if I’m traveling or visiting my family back home in Minnesota. Ulta is usually my destination of choice because A) it has more selection than drugstores (and I like that it carries prestige lines, as well), and B) it’s typically easier to find an Ulta than it is a Sephora or Nordstrom. (Not to mention, I don’t love having to go into a mall, and usually, I don’t have to if I’m going to an Ulta.)
I’m going to let you in on a little-known perfume secret: When a floral perfume smells particularly delectable, it’s likely due to the addition of one note. That note is orange blossom, and when it’s added to fragrances, they morph into something truly delectable.
Orange blossoms are gorgeous white flowers that bloom on orange trees. They’ve been blended into perfumes for centuries and have even been touted as an aphrodisiac. Orange blossoms work so well in perfumes because their scent is so complex—they don’t just smell floral, but they also have notes of citrus, honey, and even greenery. Orange blossom oil (also known as neroli oil) is really potent and a little goes a long way, so perfumers consider it a specialty oil.
You’ll likely find whiffs of orange blossoms in a lot of your favorite perfumes, as they add a certain je ne sais quoi to just about everything they touch. I’ve rounded up my eight recommendations if you’re on the market for an orange-blossom-centric scent—so get ready for the endless compliments to roll in.
I have a bit of a picky nose when it comes to fragrances. In my early days as a beauty editor, I spent a lot of time sampling every perfume I could get my hands on to figure out my fragrance MO. The conclusion I came to was, yes, I’m very selective. While some designer scents were nice and I wouldn’t mind catching a whiff of them while out, I often found that I wouldn’t actually wear a lot of them myself. That all changed once I caught a sniff of a few key Tory Burch perfumes.
I was first drawn in by the scents Cosmic Wood and Divine Moon, two perfumes that are part of Burch’s Essence of Dreams collection. If you weren’t already convinced by the name of the collection, yes, they are actually so dreamy. I definitely didn’t expect to love every single scent from the collection since I am a bit picky about what I wear, but here we are! If you’re looking to add a Tory Burch fragrances or two to your collection, read on and find the one that suits you. As a bonus, they also happen to be on sale at Nordstrom ATM!
Wintry fragrances always run the risk of being a bit too holiday heavy. Too many notes like cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla can make you smell like a cookie exchange rather than a serious person. There’s one note, in particular, that can make you smell like the inside of a snow globe if it’s done wrong: pine.
Pine scents can get a bad rep for being too holiday-centric. It makes sense. When we think of pine trees, we often think of everything they’re associated with. That means Christmas trees, ski lodges, and cloying candles. If pine is done right, however, it can transform a scent into something woodsy, mysterious, and unique.
Below, find the absolute best pine-scented fragrances on the market. Don’t worry—you won’t smell like Buddy the Elf threw up on you. These scents are all refined and subtle and can even be worn outside of the colder months.
Fragrance notes: Black cherry, red peppercorn, rose, midnight violet, and tobacco leaves.
This one was inspired by another trip the Beckhams took. This time, it was in 2004. David Beckham surprised Victoria with a vow renewal and a second honeymoon in Paris. They stayed in Suite 302 at a “storied hotel.” As such, it’s reminiscent of glamour and luxury, taking inspiration from fine wine, cosmetics, leather goods, and expensive cologne.
To me, this smells like a classic, designer fragrance—albeit a fruit-forward one thanks to the top note of black cherry. The following rose and violet notes add a touch of sweet florals, and the tobacco leaves add a subtle smokey quality. It’s a rich and strong scent, and while I like it, I think I’d be hard-pressed to find an event to wear it to, as I tend to choose warmer, subtler scents instead.
Is it normal to remember how good a stranger’s car smelled nearly a year after taking an Uber ride in New York City? Until I had the experience myself, I would have argued that it was somewhat abnormal and that the thought wouldn’t cross the mind of anyone without “beauty editor” in their job title. I, however, am a beauty editor who spends countless hours in the company of fragrances in all forms, from reed diffusers to soy wax candles. Car fragrances set themselves apart from others, as they provide an olfactory experience wherever you and your vehicle go.
To help you find the best car fragrance for your preferences, I’ve rounded up 10 car fragrances from six popular beauty brands, including Diptyque and Glasshouse Fragrances, based on endless five-star reviews from the customers and my go-tos. Be forewarned—once you slip one of these around the rearview mirror or into the vent, there’s a good chance you’ll refuse to settle for less. I’m still 100% thinking about my Uber driver’s Jo Malone Peony & Blush car fragrance.
WASHINGTON, November 29, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) promoted Dr. Namandjé Bumpus, Ph.D., to Principal Deputy Commissioner. Farah K. Ahmed, President and CEO of Fragrance Creators Association (Fragrance Creators), shared the following: “On behalf of Fragrance Creators’ staff and member companies, I want to extend my warmest congratulations to Dr. Bumpus for this well-deserved promotion. As the FDA noted in its announcement, Dr. Bumpus is a champion of science, an advocate for public health, and an impressive scientist; we wholeheartedly agree.”
The announcement came as the FDA works to develop, advance, and implement key public health initiatives, including the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA). “Fragrance Creators values collaborating with Dr. Bumpus as we continue to serve as a resource to the Agency. She has been a thoughtful leader and a scientist of the highest caliber,” said Ahmed. “Personally, as a former FDA employee, I am delighted to see the agency also prioritize diversity — an inspiration for all women, especially women of color — in this role.”
Fragrance plays an important role in home care, cosmetics, and personal care products, products that impact everyday life, nurture skin health and hygiene, empower self-expression and confidence, and deliver generational delight to billions of people every day. Fragrance Creators recognizes the FDA’s and Dr. Bumpus’ commitment to advancing public health predicated on best-in-class science, as our members remain dedicated to ensuring we continue to support the agency — for people, perfume, and the planet.
Fragrance Creators looks forward to continuing our engagement with Dr. Bumpus as she transitions from Chief Scientist into her new role as Principal Deputy Commissioner, succeeding Dr. Janet Woodcock, M.D., when Dr. Woodcock retires early next year. “We also want to thank Dr. Woodcock for the tremendous advancements she has made for public health, science, and women in science,” said Ahmed. “We wish her well in this next chapter.”
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Fragrance Creators Association is the trade association representing the majority of fragrance manufacturing in North America. We also represent fragrance-related interests along the value chain. Fragrance Creators’ member companies are diverse, including large, medium, and small-sized companies that create, manufacture, and use fragrances and scents for home care, personal care, home design, fine fragrance, and industrial and institutional products, as well as those that supply fragrance ingredients, including natural extracts and other raw materials that are used in perfumery and fragrance mixtures. Fragrance Creators established and administers the Congressional Fragrance Caucus, ensuring ongoing dialogue with members of Congress and staff. Fragrance Creators also produces The Fragrance Conservatory, the comprehensive digital resource for high-quality information about fragrance — www.fragranceconservatory.com. Learn more about Fragrance Creators at fragrancecreators.org — for people, perfume, and the planet.
Minutes into a recent meeting at Régime des Fleurs’ sunlit office in lower Manhattan, founder Alia Raza holds out a white paper blotter to smell. This particular fragrance isn’t hers—an unusual opening gesture during a studio visit—but Raza, who made art films before delving into scent, is setting the scene. “This is a really popular tuberose out right now,” she says, referring to the opulent flower at its heart. We both take a whiff. “To me, that smells like a marshmallow, frosting, cotton candy perfume, with some white floral notes,” she observes, with the dispassionate tone of a field anthropologist. I liken it to a fluffy bra—the kind of marabou-tufted accent that belongs in a boudoir. “All made of feathers,” she nods. What piques Raza’s interest is the yawning gap between confections like this and the natural world. A clutch of fresh tuberose occupies a vase on a nearby desk. “If you go back and you actually smell the flower,” she says, introducing the day’s second olfactory sample, “it has this beautiful, penetrating, medicinal, cool quality.” Akin to green rubber, she ventures, or skin ointment.
It’s an intriguing preamble to Tóor-Tóor, Régime des Fleurs’ unconventional ode to tuberose, created in collaboration with master perfumer Dominique Ropion. “Like me, Alia is a perfectionist, and because she was a filmmaker, her brand is very visual,” Ropion explains via email, highlighting the founder’s multisensory approach. Plus, he adds, “Alia has always had a keenness for tuberose fragrances.” In fact, Raza arrived to their appointment in Paris wearing Carnal Flower, Ropion’s celebrated 2005 fragrance for Frédéric Malle, which centers tuberous and musk. It was a discreet hat tip to the perfumer’s formidable body of work.
Perfumer Dominique Ropion and Régime des Fleurs founder Alia Raza.
By Pauline Caronton.
Raza, seated at one end of a wraparound work table along the office windows, is modeling the brand’s serene classicism in an ivory knit dress. She traces this obsession with white florals to her childhood in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants. “Probably the first time I smelled a tuberose perfume was on my mom’s vanity or dresser or whatever you call it,” she says. It was Guerlain’s Jardins de Bagatelle, a heady aldehydic scent from 1983. (“Eau de sensation, eau de séduction,” cooed the original French advertisement.) The word tuberose had yet to enter the then 10-year-old’s consciousness, but kindred flowers in the family greenhouse, including jasmine and stephanotis vine, stoked a budding curiosity. At 16, a visit to a Manhattan perfume boutique finally put a name to her infatuation. “I was smelling all these different things,” Raza recalls, “and the owner of the shop told me, ‘Everything that you like is tuberose.’” Robert Piguet relaunched Fracas a few years later—the stuff of fashion-magazine lore and nightclub sillages—beguiling Raza enough to become her signature scent. Carnal Flower took its place in her 20s.
“I definitely had an affinity for his work, without knowing who he was,” Raza says of Ropion, which makes this collaboration feel like kismet. The Paris-based stylist and editor Christopher Niquet also helped shape the creative concept, sharing photographs of Senegalese architecture taken by Romain Laprade. (The series appears in Volume 3 of Niquet’s magazine, Study.) The house of Leopold Sedar Senghor, a poet who served as the country’s first president, was a particular inspiration—its hulking rust-colored facade giving way to quiet interior rooms. “We were like, ‘Well, this is sort of our Brutalist Senegalese home tour,’” says Raza, summing up the evocative backstory for Tóor-Tóor. The name continues the geographic homage, borrowing the Wolof word for flower.
Régime des Fleurs
Tóor-Tóor Eau de Parfum
Still, the most intriguing element of this perfume is just how against type it is. Raza might have spent her early years chasing down the greatest hits of tuberose fragrances, but this iteration elides the flower’s reputation as the “symbol of voluptuousness” (as Mandy Aftel notes in her encyclopedic new book, The Museum of Scent, though her aromatic description—“earthy wild mushrooms balanced with creamy lactones”—sounds about right). Even someone who ordinarily avoids white florals is liable to lean in. Such is the case with me: I toted the bottle along to Paris and Palm Springs this fall, discovering how well it melded with urbane opera houses and sunbaked deserts. Ropion’s centerpiece is an Indian tuberose, sourced from the Laboratoire of Monique Remy (“the jeweler of naturals,” he says) and grown in accordance with sustainable practices. “To twist this usually ultra-feminine ingredient, I transposed it next to an explosive and highly masculine trilogy of vetiver extracts,” the perfumer explains. The result is “this mysterious and distorted tuberose.”
In my largely Gen Z friend group, I’ve settled comfortably into the role of the “soft girl,” which makes sense as I like to describe myself as a Charlotte York sun, Toni Childs moon, and Blair Waldorf rising. If you, like me, have landed yourself on the side of TikTok that’s full of skincare cabinets featuring aesthetically pleasing brands, the Dyson Air Wrap positioned precariously on marble countertops, and half-empty designer perfume bottles, then there’s a good chance the #SoftLife hashtag may have claimed a permanent spot on your For You page.
At its essence, #SoftLife is all about finding simple and practical ways to align yourself with a fuss-free life of leisure and luxury. With the holiday season right around the corner, I’ve scanned the farthest corners of the hashtag on TikTok to piece together an edit of the best Gen Z–approved little luxuries. You’ll find 20+ beauty products by world-renowned brands to gift the soft-life lover in your life.
Below is Who What Wear’s official Gen Z beauty guide featuring everything from elegant hair styling tools to fan-favorite fragrances. Heading into the holidays with a tight budget? No worries—I’ve ID’d products across a variety of price ranges so you can still end up with the best.
Keep scrolling to take a look at the products I’ve added to my soft life shopping list as a member of the digital generation. With all the amazing Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals coming up, you’ll want to snag these before they fly off the shelves and into the gift boxes of others before you can get your hands on them.
