Niche Perfume Houses Outside Europe: USA to Australia

Six of the houses we carry are recorded outside Europe and the Gulf: three in the United States and one each in Australia, Canada and South Korea. The sections below are ordered by country, alphabetically, and do not rank the houses. Each names one perfume, the one with the most reviews or ratings in our research for that house. The full map is in niche perfume houses by country.

What origin tells you, and what it does not

A house, in the sense of our perfume glossary, is the company behind a perfume line, and where that company sits is rarely the whole story. Argos is run from Dallas but says it blends and macerates in a laboratory of its own in France. Goldfield & Banks builds on Australian botanicals and bottles them in French glass. BORNTOSTANDOUT is manufactured in Korea and composed by perfumers from the big fragrance houses, and Mind Games works with the perfumers of Symrise. Where a house does put its home into a perfume, it says so: Australian coastal moss, Korean white porcelain, the plains of the American West.

The six houses

Goldfield & Banks (Australia)

Dimitri Weber built the house around rare native Australian botanicals; its founder page speaks of pure Australian essences that were previously unexplored in modern perfumery. The name joins the Gold Rush with the botanist Joseph Banks and his first voyage to Australia. Each perfume names its own perfumer and a concentration between 20% and 26%. Pacific Rock Moss was the first formulation the house ever made. The brand lists its materials flat, with their origin: Australian coastal moss, lemon from Italy, sage from France, geranium from Egypt, cedarwood from Virginia and white musk. It sits with our aquatic perfumes; the Goldfield & Banks guide has all eight.

Zoologist (Canada)

A Canadian company based in Toronto, founded by Victor Wong in 2013. Every perfume is named after an animal and made with a different perfumer, whose name is printed on the product page and on the box. The 60 ml bottles are labelled Extrait de Parfum, at 18 to 25 percent according to the product pages. Bee, made with Cristiano Canali, pictures the hive in full spring bloom; the brand sums it up as a waxy floral honey. Orange, ginger syrup and a royal jelly accord are on top, broom, heliotrope, mimosa and orange flower in the heart, and benzoin, labdanum, musks, sandalwood, tonka and vanilla in the base. The Zoologist guide covers the house, and Zoologist by animal sorts the ten perfumes by creature.

BORNTOSTANDOUT (South Korea)

A Seoul house launched in April 2022, with deliberately provocative names and the motto We rebel against the standards. The white bottles with red lettering reinterpret Joseon-era white porcelain: white for Korean tradition, red for rebellion. The Eau de Parfum line is stated at 30 to 40% concentration, and every perfume credits an outside perfumer. Dirty Rice, composed by Olivier Cresp, is about closeness: bergamot and almond on top, basmati rice, peony and milk in the heart, and sandalwood, vetiver, cedarwood, musk and Cetalox in a base that is meant to feel like skin. We file it under musky perfumes, and the BORNTOSTANDOUT guide has the rest.

Argos (United States)

Founded in 2014 by Christian Petrovich, whom the brand describes as a self-trained perfumer and places in Dallas, Texas. Every Argos fragrance is built on a Greek or Roman myth. The name comes from the all-seeing giant Argus Panoptes and from Argos, the dog of Odysseus who recognised his master by scent. Triumph of Bacchus, created in 2019, takes the Roman god of wine and revelry: saffron, rum, white peach and green apple on top, patchouli, jasmine, tonka bean and vetiver in the heart, and tobacco, amber, Mysore sandalwood, musk and vanilla in the base. It is among our rum perfumes; the myths are in the Argos guide.

Le Labo (United States)

Founded in New York City in 2006 by two friends, Fabrice Penot and Eddie Roschi, with a first lab on Elizabeth Street in Nolita. The manifesto puts craftsmanship and hand work first, and every bottle carries a label with a place, a date of preparation and a name. Santal 33 is told as a night alone on the wide plains of the American West, by an open fire. The brand gives five notes without a pyramid: cardamom, iris, violet, Australian sandalwood and cedarwood. You will find it with our sandalwood perfumes and in the Le Labo guide.

Mind Games (United States)

A house built on chess: each perfume is called an aromatic movement that mirrors a move or an idea from the game. The brand's About page names Alex and Mariana Shalbaf as The Creators; Parfumo places the founding in New York in 2022. The compositions are made with the master perfumers of Symrise, and every full-size perfume we list is an Extrait de Parfum in 100 ml. French Defense, by Christelle Laprade, is presented as a self-assured black-cherry perfume: cherry, violet leaves and chamomile on top, geranium Madagascar, rose absolute and mimosa in the heart, and amber, cedarwood and blonde wood in the base. See our cherry perfumes and the Mind Games guide.

Choosing between them

• A theme you can follow from bottle to bottle: animals at Zoologist, myths at Argos, chess at Mind Games.
• Materials with a place name: Goldfield & Banks and Le Labo both say where theirs come from.
• Stated strength: Zoologist, Goldfield & Banks and BORNTOSTANDOUT print a percentage.

To start from a season, an occasion or a scent family instead of a country, use Find your scent and its five short questions.

Frequently asked questions

Which American niche perfume houses does NicheGems carry?

Three are recorded in the United States: Argos in Dallas, Texas, and Le Labo and Mind Games in New York. Le Labo was founded there in 2006 and Argos in 2014; for Mind Games, Parfumo gives New York and 2022.

Is BORNTOSTANDOUT a Korean brand?

Yes. It is a Seoul house, launched in April 2022 and manufactured in Korea. Its white bottles with red lettering reinterpret Joseon-era white porcelain, and its Extrait Extrême line is aged in Onggi, traditional Korean pottery.

Are Zoologist perfumes Extrait de Parfum?

The 60 ml bottles are labelled Extrait de Parfum, and the product pages give concentrations of 18 to 25 percent. The brand's FAQ says it corrected older Eau de Parfum labels to Extrait de Parfum in mid-2017.