Pernoire

Pernoire is available in the United States at Redolia Perfumery, which stocks all 13 extraits de parfum from the Swiss house — $240 to $290 for 50 ml — and ships to every US state and territory from its boutique at 92 West Main Street, Somerville, New Jersey. Pernoire was founded in Basel in 2020 and works only in extrait concentration, composed by perfumer Andreas Wilhelm.

Pernoire's idea is that a perfume should express a personality rather than simply smell pleasant. Each fragrance starts from a feeling, a story or a character, and its name is often a compressed clue to the main notes. Anelo stands for pineapple and pomelo, Poka for popcorn and caramel, Yuma for yuzu and mint, and Oudian for oud and durian. Every bottle carries a line-drawn symbol, from Masar's dragonfly to Kama's bow and arrow.

All Pernoire fragrances are extraits de parfum sold in 50 ml flacons. The house has two lines. The black-bottled Anima collection is made at 25% concentration and includes the award-recognised Mansa, a finalist at the Art and Olfaction Awards 2023. The white-bottled Odus collection is made at 30% concentration and includes newer releases such as Anelo, Poka, Oudian, Yuma and Luvani. Styles range from fresh citrus-aquatics to gourmands, leathers and dark oud compositions, and every scent is unisex.

Pernoire sits at the upper-middle end of niche pricing, with performance built around its high perfume-oil concentrations.

What to try: start with Anelo for a bright fruity chypre, Poka for a caramel-popcorn gourmand, Amoral for smoky spice and oud, Mansa for a rose-oud floral, or Vitias for a fresh aquatic.