(Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times)
Eau L.A. L.A.! 11 fragrant spots for Angelenos to find — or create — the perfect scent
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The perfume capital of the world might still be Grasse, a small town on the French Riviera that has shaped the fragrance industry since the late 18th century. But in the United States, a renaissance of perfumery is happening right here in Los Angeles.
In the 1980s, L.A. was the birthplace of bold, opulent fragrances, from Giorgio Beverly Hills to Bijan by Bijan, the olfactory equivalent of a power suit. But in the past two decades, the city’s fragrance scene has blossomed even further, thanks to a wave of independent makers, schools that teach the art of scent and niche perfume boutiques (“niche perfume” simply means it’s not made by a designer brand like Gucci or Yves Saint Laurent).
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In the 1990s, perfumer Sarah Horowitz-Thran, one of the pioneers of independent American perfumery, moved to the city and subsequently began teaching perfume classes at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. Then in 2012 the perfume education nonprofit Institute for Art and Olfaction opened its doors and the city’s fragrance scene blossomed. (Full disclosure, I serve as a volunteer member of the IAO board of directors.) The niche perfume market made over $2 billion in sales in 2023 and is expected to quadruple that by 2032.
Now in L.A., there’s a biennial celebration called Scent Week, organized by the IAO, which happens this year from May 24 through June 1. It will feature perfume and smell-related activations all over the city.
For me, scent is more than a fascination — it’s a part of my life. In addition to being a journalist, I’m a perfumer and olfactory artist.
For Scent Week or any time of year, here’s a guide to help you smell your way through experimental perfume studios, luxury scent retailers, candle ateliers and even an incense shop where you can take a hands-on workshop. Maybe you’ll find the scent you’ve been dreaming of — or create it yourself.
Showing Places
(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
Scent Bar DTLA
Downtown L.A. Perfume Shop
There’s a real argument to be made that Luckyscent is the reason why niche perfume is so popular in America. Founded by Franco Wright and Adam Eastwood in 2002, the e-commerce site has thousands of perfumes to choose from, often perfumes with vivid descriptions like, “This is the scent of an incandescent lightbulb — the yellow glow of the hot bulb, a layer of dust gently baking on its surface, illuminating the dry, cracked pages of a well-loved paperback book in a suburban rec room where the curtains still carry the faint trace of indoor smoking, while a soft vanilla wafts in from the kitchen.” (Clue’s “Warm Bulb,” if you’re so inclined.)
Scent Bar is Luckyscent come to life. With L.A. locations in Hollywood and at the Row in downtown, Scent Bar is a destination for niche perfume lovers.
When you walk in, you’re greeted by walls and walls of various types of perfume, as well as a friendly, knowledgeable staff. The shelves are categorized by type — one has a sign that says “Cult Feminine,” while another reads “Creamy/Powdery.” Perfumers range from the small-batch Slumberhouse to bigger companies like D.S. & Durga, purchased by a venture capital firm last year.
One afternoon, several shoppers park at the main counter, while Steve Gontarski, Scent Bar’s manager, pulls down bottles for them to smell.
“Scent Bar is a place where people can spend a lot of time with a 45-minute consultation,” says Gontarski, “but we actually prefer it when the discovery is self-guided.”
When you‘re done, you can even take a small sample bottle with you — no purchase required — because perfumes can take some repeated wearings before you’re ready to buy a whole bottle, which usually runs between $150 and $300 (and sometimes higher).
Scent Bar is Luckyscent come to life. With L.A. locations in Hollywood and at the Row in downtown, Scent Bar is a destination for niche perfume lovers.
When you walk in, you’re greeted by walls and walls of various types of perfume, as well as a friendly, knowledgeable staff. The shelves are categorized by type — one has a sign that says “Cult Feminine,” while another reads “Creamy/Powdery.” Perfumers range from the small-batch Slumberhouse to bigger companies like D.S. & Durga, purchased by a venture capital firm last year.
One afternoon, several shoppers park at the main counter, while Steve Gontarski, Scent Bar’s manager, pulls down bottles for them to smell.
“Scent Bar is a place where people can spend a lot of time with a 45-minute consultation,” says Gontarski, “but we actually prefer it when the discovery is self-guided.”
When you‘re done, you can even take a small sample bottle with you — no purchase required — because perfumes can take some repeated wearings before you’re ready to buy a whole bottle, which usually runs between $150 and $300 (and sometimes higher).
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
Goyo
Tujunga Craft Studio
If incense is on your mind, Hyungi Park’s Goyo is a hub where scent and craftsmanship meet. This small Tujunga shop, open only on Sundays (1 to 5 p.m.), offers unique incense burners, bookbinding tools and Park’s extraordinary incense — some made with sustainably foraged materials.
Education is central to Goyo. Around a wooden table seating six or seven, Park teaches students how to make forms of incense such as cones, incense paper (paper dipped in a scented concoction that contains saltpeter in order to slow the burning process) or incense pellets that are warmed rather than burned. You select what you want your incense to smell like and then Park takes you through a step-by-step process. Your final product may not come out as beautifully crafted as hers — like with every skill, making incense takes a lot of practice.
Park, who also runs a specialty tattoo operation out of the studio, takes a good deal of inspiration in the relationship between incense and ritual. “Incense was a precursor to perfume,” says Park, who recently opened a second Goyo location in Brooklyn. “Often it had more of a functional aspect, whether it was rubbing it on as perfume to mask bad smells or to measure time like a clock. It’s important to teach the different aspects.”
The classes are a communal, joyful experience, and in the end, you go home with incense you made with your own hands. Whenever it fills up your home with the warm toasty scent, you’ll feel an extra sense of accomplishment.
Education is central to Goyo. Around a wooden table seating six or seven, Park teaches students how to make forms of incense such as cones, incense paper (paper dipped in a scented concoction that contains saltpeter in order to slow the burning process) or incense pellets that are warmed rather than burned. You select what you want your incense to smell like and then Park takes you through a step-by-step process. Your final product may not come out as beautifully crafted as hers — like with every skill, making incense takes a lot of practice.
Park, who also runs a specialty tattoo operation out of the studio, takes a good deal of inspiration in the relationship between incense and ritual. “Incense was a precursor to perfume,” says Park, who recently opened a second Goyo location in Brooklyn. “Often it had more of a functional aspect, whether it was rubbing it on as perfume to mask bad smells or to measure time like a clock. It’s important to teach the different aspects.”
The classes are a communal, joyful experience, and in the end, you go home with incense you made with your own hands. Whenever it fills up your home with the warm toasty scent, you’ll feel an extra sense of accomplishment.
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
Capsule Parfumerie
Fairfax Perfume Shop
“Functional fragrance” refers to perfumes with benefits beyond scent — for example, using essential oils like lavender for mood enhancement. Capsule Parfumerie’s co-owner Linda Sivrican has been making functional fragrances since the brand’s inception, which is before the term even existed.
“That is a buzzword, but it’s been that way for us since day one,” Sivrican says.
Sivrican and her husband, Mike Sivrican, turned to healing scents after their 3-year-old son suffered damage to his brain in a near-drowning accident. “I was doing some research and found that certain essential oils help with the brain and memory, like frankincense,” she says. “That’s when something clicked for me.”
Originally designers, the couple launched Fiele Fragrances and later developed seven micro-brands under Capsule, each with a unique story. Parallax Olfactory’s Nimbus, described as “blue iris, vibrating violin strings, violet ozone rays and paste,” won an Art and Olfaction Award in 2020.
Between Capsule’s boutique and studio is a room filled with perfume materials, where Sivrican teaches “Scent Assembly” workshops ($195 per person for a two-hour session).
“When I teach workshops here, people always ask, ‘Oh, do you have to be a nose?’ and I say, ‘No, it’s a muscle. You can train it, just like you can train your voice and your ear,’” she says. “It’s just practice and passion.”
FYI: Linda Sivrican also offers “Tailor-Made” scent alteration sessions where she’ll take a perfume that doesn’t quite fit you and adds materials to revitalize it to your liking.
“That is a buzzword, but it’s been that way for us since day one,” Sivrican says.
Sivrican and her husband, Mike Sivrican, turned to healing scents after their 3-year-old son suffered damage to his brain in a near-drowning accident. “I was doing some research and found that certain essential oils help with the brain and memory, like frankincense,” she says. “That’s when something clicked for me.”
Originally designers, the couple launched Fiele Fragrances and later developed seven micro-brands under Capsule, each with a unique story. Parallax Olfactory’s Nimbus, described as “blue iris, vibrating violin strings, violet ozone rays and paste,” won an Art and Olfaction Award in 2020.
Between Capsule’s boutique and studio is a room filled with perfume materials, where Sivrican teaches “Scent Assembly” workshops ($195 per person for a two-hour session).
“When I teach workshops here, people always ask, ‘Oh, do you have to be a nose?’ and I say, ‘No, it’s a muscle. You can train it, just like you can train your voice and your ear,’” she says. “It’s just practice and passion.”
FYI: Linda Sivrican also offers “Tailor-Made” scent alteration sessions where she’ll take a perfume that doesn’t quite fit you and adds materials to revitalize it to your liking.
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
P.F. Candle Co.
Echo Park Candle store
P.F. Candle Co.’s L.A. flagship isn’t just a shop — it’s a place to vibe. With a couch and a TV playing a candle-production video, the shop is set up like a living room. It’s a perfect distillation of the brand, nodding to its minimalist, earthy paper labels that themselves evoke a deeply 1970s Californian feel.
Founded in 2008 by Kristen Pumphrey in Austin, Texas, the company has grown from a small-scale craft fair operation to a beloved brand embedded in the fabric of Los Angeles. Alongside her husband, Thomas Neuberger, Pumphrey relocated first to Long Beach and then to L.A., where the business found its footing.
California has become P.F. Candle Co.’s inspiration: There’s an Ojai Lavender candle and a Los Angeles candle that Pumphrey describes as “saltwater jasmine.” The brand has collaborated with legendary SoCal skateboarder Ed Templeton’s Toy Machine, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and L.A. Times Plants (launching three candles inspired by California native plants). A partnership with Peanuts is inspired by camping. “Our happy space is creating nature-inspired scents,” says Pumphrey.
The boutique has several of these limited-edition collaborations (snap up a Peanuts “Marshmallow Roast” candle while you can). It’s also the only place where customers can explore the entire P.F. Candle Co. line — the Classic, Alchemy and Hi-Fi collections — as well as the Secret Stash project, small-batch candles housed in reused glass jars. While the company is known for its candles, it also offers reed diffusers, room sprays, incense and car air fresheners in most scents.
Founded in 2008 by Kristen Pumphrey in Austin, Texas, the company has grown from a small-scale craft fair operation to a beloved brand embedded in the fabric of Los Angeles. Alongside her husband, Thomas Neuberger, Pumphrey relocated first to Long Beach and then to L.A., where the business found its footing.
California has become P.F. Candle Co.’s inspiration: There’s an Ojai Lavender candle and a Los Angeles candle that Pumphrey describes as “saltwater jasmine.” The brand has collaborated with legendary SoCal skateboarder Ed Templeton’s Toy Machine, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and L.A. Times Plants (launching three candles inspired by California native plants). A partnership with Peanuts is inspired by camping. “Our happy space is creating nature-inspired scents,” says Pumphrey.
The boutique has several of these limited-edition collaborations (snap up a Peanuts “Marshmallow Roast” candle while you can). It’s also the only place where customers can explore the entire P.F. Candle Co. line — the Classic, Alchemy and Hi-Fi collections — as well as the Secret Stash project, small-batch candles housed in reused glass jars. While the company is known for its candles, it also offers reed diffusers, room sprays, incense and car air fresheners in most scents.
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
Beverly Hills Perfumery
Beverly Hills Perfume Shop
Alan Berdjis grew up in Beverly Hills Perfumery — literally. In the ‘80s, his parents, John and Jila Berdjis, ran two separate perfume boutiques before he took over and consolidated the family business a block from Rodeo Drive in the mid-2000s. “Almost 40 years in the neighborhood now,” Berdjis says, surveying the long, narrow 2,500-square-foot space packed floor-to-ceiling with perfumes, complete with library-style ladders to reach the top shelves.
The perfume scene has changed. Designer fragrances have long attracted the Birkin-carrying clientele, but while Berdjis still stocks legacy French brands like Houbigant and Annick Goutal, he’s expanded into luxury niche lines such as Xerjoff, Roja Dove and Amouage.
Some things remain: Beverly Hills Perfumery still caters to wealthy visitors from nearby five-star hotels. Another vestige: At the back of the store, a table filled with designer fragrances — some discontinued, like Ralph Lauren’s Safari — are arranged by decade, all available to sniff. “I call it the ‘perfume timeline,’” says Berdjis, who has been called a vintage perfume expert by perfume blog Ça Fleur Bon.
But there are shifts. Berdjis estimates that 20% of his clientele is now younger men.
“They don’t want Jordans anymore; they want a niche fragrance that’s $300 for their birthday or graduation,” he says. “Their parents come in and they’re shocked — they don’t even understand how their kid knows about this stuff.”
The perfume scene has changed. Designer fragrances have long attracted the Birkin-carrying clientele, but while Berdjis still stocks legacy French brands like Houbigant and Annick Goutal, he’s expanded into luxury niche lines such as Xerjoff, Roja Dove and Amouage.
Some things remain: Beverly Hills Perfumery still caters to wealthy visitors from nearby five-star hotels. Another vestige: At the back of the store, a table filled with designer fragrances — some discontinued, like Ralph Lauren’s Safari — are arranged by decade, all available to sniff. “I call it the ‘perfume timeline,’” says Berdjis, who has been called a vintage perfume expert by perfume blog Ça Fleur Bon.
But there are shifts. Berdjis estimates that 20% of his clientele is now younger men.
“They don’t want Jordans anymore; they want a niche fragrance that’s $300 for their birthday or graduation,” he says. “Their parents come in and they’re shocked — they don’t even understand how their kid knows about this stuff.”
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
The Perfumer's Studio
Hollywood Perfume School
The Perfumer’s Studio, housed in a converted Hollywood home, is a hub for independent perfumers, offering hands-on training, fragrance development and raw materials. Founded by Chris Gordon and Alex Moskin in affiliation with Perfumer’s World, it has become central to L.A.’s fragrance scene.
In 2021, former student Tianna Blue Mockett took over, now teaching courses like Perfume 101, where students create their own fragrance. She also leads a natural-perfume-making class — her specialty — and teaches formulation techniques.
Gordon, now on the East Coast, still returns to teach. Beyond training, the studio fosters connections. Mockett often sees students exchange information and continue a relationship. “Those relationships are invaluable; students find peers and inspiration in each other,” she says.
The studio is an important resource, and one of the reasons why L.A. has so many upstart perfumers. “There’s more access to information in Los Angeles surrounding perfumery, and with that is the growing community,” Mockett says.
Still, many beginners underestimate the complexity of perfume creation. Students quickly learn that perfumery is an intricate balance of art and science — and that it’s not so easy. “Sometimes with the 101 courses, people come in thinking they’ll re-create a fragrance they love or develop the next bestseller on their first try,” Mockett says. “They think it’s just a matter of following a recipe, or that it’s less involved than it is.”
In 2021, former student Tianna Blue Mockett took over, now teaching courses like Perfume 101, where students create their own fragrance. She also leads a natural-perfume-making class — her specialty — and teaches formulation techniques.
Gordon, now on the East Coast, still returns to teach. Beyond training, the studio fosters connections. Mockett often sees students exchange information and continue a relationship. “Those relationships are invaluable; students find peers and inspiration in each other,” she says.
The studio is an important resource, and one of the reasons why L.A. has so many upstart perfumers. “There’s more access to information in Los Angeles surrounding perfumery, and with that is the growing community,” Mockett says.
Still, many beginners underestimate the complexity of perfume creation. Students quickly learn that perfumery is an intricate balance of art and science — and that it’s not so easy. “Sometimes with the 101 courses, people come in thinking they’ll re-create a fragrance they love or develop the next bestseller on their first try,” Mockett says. “They think it’s just a matter of following a recipe, or that it’s less involved than it is.”
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
Dover Street Market Los Angeles
Downtown L.A. Clothing Store
Dover Street Market might be L.A.’s chicest store, home to inventive, trend-defying fashion. Naturally, its perfume selection is just as cutting-edge.
Founded by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and company president Adrian Joffe, the store features many of Comme’s own radical fragrances. A new book, “Comme des Garçons Parfums 1994-2025,” details the brand’s experimental scents, from the Olfactory Library’s Tar, Garage and Soda to abstract yet wearable creations like Odeur 53 and Wonderoud.
Comme des Garçons constantly pushes fragrance boundaries, says James Gilchrist, vice president of CDG and Dover Street Market Americas. “The result is an incredibly diverse group of fragrances — some described as anti-fragrances — that are all unique and challenging,” he says. “People tend to have a strong reaction; they love a specific one or two and wear them religiously, or they can’t stand others. For us, that is a very good thing.”
Elsewhere, the store showcases perfumes from punky fashion brand Chopova Lowena, L.A. streetwear label Brain Dead and luxury cosmetic house Edward Bess in gallery-like displays.
“I find so many people in Los Angeles are drawn to the rare or niche rather than the known or usual,” says Gilchrist. “Our clients approach scent as a collection rather than a signature, always looking to add something special to their rotation.”
Founded by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and company president Adrian Joffe, the store features many of Comme’s own radical fragrances. A new book, “Comme des Garçons Parfums 1994-2025,” details the brand’s experimental scents, from the Olfactory Library’s Tar, Garage and Soda to abstract yet wearable creations like Odeur 53 and Wonderoud.
Comme des Garçons constantly pushes fragrance boundaries, says James Gilchrist, vice president of CDG and Dover Street Market Americas. “The result is an incredibly diverse group of fragrances — some described as anti-fragrances — that are all unique and challenging,” he says. “People tend to have a strong reaction; they love a specific one or two and wear them religiously, or they can’t stand others. For us, that is a very good thing.”
Elsewhere, the store showcases perfumes from punky fashion brand Chopova Lowena, L.A. streetwear label Brain Dead and luxury cosmetic house Edward Bess in gallery-like displays.
“I find so many people in Los Angeles are drawn to the rare or niche rather than the known or usual,” says Gilchrist. “Our clients approach scent as a collection rather than a signature, always looking to add something special to their rotation.”
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(Solomon O. Smith / For The Times)
The Institute for Art and Olfaction
Chinatown Perfume non-profit
It’s hard to quantify the impact the Institute for Art and Olfaction has had on perfume in Los Angeles since opening in 2012. I began my own journey into the world of scent at the IAO and serve as a volunteer member of the board of directors.
Running out of a small space in Chinatown, the IAO has an outsized place in the world of perfume in general. The organization’s Art and Olfaction Awards, held every year since 2013, might be akin to the Golden Globes of global perfume. (The Fragrance Foundation’s FiFis, held in New York, are the Oscars).
The nonprofit has an art gallery and a library with over 1,300 perfumes and nearly 600 books, as well as other scent-related ephemera. But the real mission of the IAO is education. Founder Saskia Wilson-Brown created the institute after struggling to access materials for her own scent-based art. Today it offers a wide range of classes, from history and culture to hands-on blending taught by experts like Grasse Institute of Perfumery alumni Ashley Eden Kessler and Julianne Lee.
Among the most popular offerings is the two-hour “Open Session,” a $60 beginner-friendly workshop where participants explore raw materials. When I sit in on a class, instructor Minetta Rogers hands out scent strips dipped in synthetic ambergris (real ambergris, formed in the digestive system of sperm whales, is a prized perfume ingredient that’s exceedingly rare and illegal to purchase or own in the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act of 1973).
Wilson-Brown says these types of classes are fun because you can connect with people in a unique way — through the senses.
“It’s very much about getting people excited about smelling and learning how to smell and learning the language of smell and opening up that rabbit hole,” she says.
Running out of a small space in Chinatown, the IAO has an outsized place in the world of perfume in general. The organization’s Art and Olfaction Awards, held every year since 2013, might be akin to the Golden Globes of global perfume. (The Fragrance Foundation’s FiFis, held in New York, are the Oscars).
The nonprofit has an art gallery and a library with over 1,300 perfumes and nearly 600 books, as well as other scent-related ephemera. But the real mission of the IAO is education. Founder Saskia Wilson-Brown created the institute after struggling to access materials for her own scent-based art. Today it offers a wide range of classes, from history and culture to hands-on blending taught by experts like Grasse Institute of Perfumery alumni Ashley Eden Kessler and Julianne Lee.
Among the most popular offerings is the two-hour “Open Session,” a $60 beginner-friendly workshop where participants explore raw materials. When I sit in on a class, instructor Minetta Rogers hands out scent strips dipped in synthetic ambergris (real ambergris, formed in the digestive system of sperm whales, is a prized perfume ingredient that’s exceedingly rare and illegal to purchase or own in the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act of 1973).
Wilson-Brown says these types of classes are fun because you can connect with people in a unique way — through the senses.
“It’s very much about getting people excited about smelling and learning how to smell and learning the language of smell and opening up that rabbit hole,” she says.
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
The Scent Room
East Hollywood Perfume Shop
Walking into the Scent Room in Larchmont’s main shopping district, you’ll be greeted warmly by staff eager to guide you through over 500 perfumes from 50-plus niche and independent brands. Among the shelves, placards invite you to “Please smell the art.”
Co-founder Sam Clark opened the Scent Room in Dallas in 2019 to fill a gap in the market for curated, hard-to-find fragrances. In 2023, he expanded to Los Angeles, calling it “the last puzzle piece” for creative people who already have great wardrobes, cool hair and body art. “Now they’re discovering they can smell like concrete after rain, pure syrupy honey or a salty rose,” he says.
Clark encourages customers to explore perfume their way — whether with expert guidance or on a solo “play and spray” journey. “The feedback we get is that it’s like a playground, a library, a classroom, a museum,” he says. “People can learn about perfume without pressure or feeling followed around.”
Part of that discovery is breaking free from gendered fragrance norms.
“Every day, people ask, ‘Where’s the men’s stuff?’” Clark says, pausing the interview to warmly send off a departing customer. “In Dallas, women buy more ouds. Right now, men buy more roses. Dismantling those boxes has been exciting. Now it’s OK to see a 6-foot, super-ripped man want to smell like candy.”
Co-founder Sam Clark opened the Scent Room in Dallas in 2019 to fill a gap in the market for curated, hard-to-find fragrances. In 2023, he expanded to Los Angeles, calling it “the last puzzle piece” for creative people who already have great wardrobes, cool hair and body art. “Now they’re discovering they can smell like concrete after rain, pure syrupy honey or a salty rose,” he says.
Clark encourages customers to explore perfume their way — whether with expert guidance or on a solo “play and spray” journey. “The feedback we get is that it’s like a playground, a library, a classroom, a museum,” he says. “People can learn about perfume without pressure or feeling followed around.”
Part of that discovery is breaking free from gendered fragrance norms.
“Every day, people ask, ‘Where’s the men’s stuff?’” Clark says, pausing the interview to warmly send off a departing customer. “In Dallas, women buy more ouds. Right now, men buy more roses. Dismantling those boxes has been exciting. Now it’s OK to see a 6-foot, super-ripped man want to smell like candy.”
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(Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times)
Perfumes Los Angeles
Downtown L.A. Perfume Shop
Santee Alley and the Toy District downtown are mostly known for their wholesale fashion and toys, respectively. But there are many, many perfume shops as well — when I walked up Los Angeles Street, Santee Alley and Maple Avenue, I counted nearly 20. Most offer designer scents at prices better than department stores.
Perfumes Los Angeles stands out. Owned by KB Roowala, it’s split into wholesale and retail sections, with staff in different-colored shirts depending on their role. The narrow space is packed floor to ceiling with gift sets and over 4,000 bottles, from designer staples to niche brands like Bond No. 9, Kilian Paris and Francis Kurkdjian’s cult-favorite Baccarat Rouge 540. It also carries several lines of Arabic perfumes, which are popular due to their quality and lower prices.
Annie Ouzonian, chief data and technology officer at Perfumes Los Angeles, says most customers come for a deal, but many are “side hustlers” reselling perfumes to their networks or on TikTok Live. “We had nurses and fast food workers asking if they could sell,” she says. “Now some have quit their jobs to do this full-time.” But if you want to start hustling, there’s a buy-in: resellers must make a $500 purchase to get the wholesale pricing and other perks of the membership.
For those not about to become perfume slingers or even buy a whole bottle of perfume, Perfumes Los Angeles has a program where they’ll make small trial sizes for $10 to $20, depending on the cost of the full bottle. But if you do pull the trigger on a bottle or two, you’ll depart with a gift bag.
Perfumes Los Angeles stands out. Owned by KB Roowala, it’s split into wholesale and retail sections, with staff in different-colored shirts depending on their role. The narrow space is packed floor to ceiling with gift sets and over 4,000 bottles, from designer staples to niche brands like Bond No. 9, Kilian Paris and Francis Kurkdjian’s cult-favorite Baccarat Rouge 540. It also carries several lines of Arabic perfumes, which are popular due to their quality and lower prices.
Annie Ouzonian, chief data and technology officer at Perfumes Los Angeles, says most customers come for a deal, but many are “side hustlers” reselling perfumes to their networks or on TikTok Live. “We had nurses and fast food workers asking if they could sell,” she says. “Now some have quit their jobs to do this full-time.” But if you want to start hustling, there’s a buy-in: resellers must make a $500 purchase to get the wholesale pricing and other perks of the membership.
For those not about to become perfume slingers or even buy a whole bottle of perfume, Perfumes Los Angeles has a program where they’ll make small trial sizes for $10 to $20, depending on the cost of the full bottle. But if you do pull the trigger on a bottle or two, you’ll depart with a gift bag.
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An attendee smells perfume sprayed into a ceramic cup at Scent Fair 2023, held at Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles.
(Saskia Wilson-Brown / The Institute for Art and Olfaction)
Scent Fair 2025 at Craft Contemporary
Mid-Wilshire Perfume Fair
Part of Scent Week, the fourth edition of Scent Fair L.A. will be one of the easiest events for the public to come and check out a bunch of perfumes. Held on May 30 through June 1 in the outdoor courtyard at the Craft Contemporary in Miracle Mile, Scent Fair is wall-to-wall booths and tables filled with the offerings of small, cutting-edge perfume makers.
The fair is a sensory-rich affair where attendees can explore unique, hard-to-find fragrances while enjoying a drink or two. Curated by Darin Klein, Saskia Wilson-Brown and Andres Payan Estrada, the fair also features hands-on workshops, a keynote talk and an opening-night party with guest DJs.
“We want to create something that is not just a fair,” says Payan Estrada, the creative director and curator at Craft Contemporary.
And during this year’s fair, says Payan Estrada, the museum will preview an exhibition of “olfactory art” — a term for art that centers scent — curated by Wilson-Brown, the founder of the Institute for Art and Olfaction. The show will feature art objects that deal with the “materiality of scent, as well as storytelling and narratives around identity politics — these are broad ideas about what scent can be,” says Payan Estrada.
The 2023 edition featured SoCal-based brands like Jazmin Saraï and Travertine Spa Collection alongside international favorites like Tanaïs and Perfume.Sucks. Many of the brands are only carried in a few small boutiques and online, so this is a rare opportunity to smell their perfumes before purchasing them. Attendees can meet perfumers, sample their work and gain insight into the artistry behind each bottle.
FYI: The opening-night party on Friday is $30 to attend, while Saturday is regular museum admission ($9 for adults, $7 for adults 65+ and students) and Sunday is “pay what you wish.”
Full disclosure: The author serves as a volunteer member on the board of the Institute for Art and Olfaction.
The fair is a sensory-rich affair where attendees can explore unique, hard-to-find fragrances while enjoying a drink or two. Curated by Darin Klein, Saskia Wilson-Brown and Andres Payan Estrada, the fair also features hands-on workshops, a keynote talk and an opening-night party with guest DJs.
“We want to create something that is not just a fair,” says Payan Estrada, the creative director and curator at Craft Contemporary.
And during this year’s fair, says Payan Estrada, the museum will preview an exhibition of “olfactory art” — a term for art that centers scent — curated by Wilson-Brown, the founder of the Institute for Art and Olfaction. The show will feature art objects that deal with the “materiality of scent, as well as storytelling and narratives around identity politics — these are broad ideas about what scent can be,” says Payan Estrada.
The 2023 edition featured SoCal-based brands like Jazmin Saraï and Travertine Spa Collection alongside international favorites like Tanaïs and Perfume.Sucks. Many of the brands are only carried in a few small boutiques and online, so this is a rare opportunity to smell their perfumes before purchasing them. Attendees can meet perfumers, sample their work and gain insight into the artistry behind each bottle.
FYI: The opening-night party on Friday is $30 to attend, while Saturday is regular museum admission ($9 for adults, $7 for adults 65+ and students) and Sunday is “pay what you wish.”
Full disclosure: The author serves as a volunteer member on the board of the Institute for Art and Olfaction.
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