The Perfume Stylist

The Perfume Stylist is one person: Isabelle Langlois, French-born, based in London, curating independent houses from the UK, US and France - Imaginary Authors, Gallivant, Maya Njie, Olfactive O, The Fairest, A.N Other. It is online-only. There is no shop to visit, and no limited company behind it either; the terms are written in the first person and no company number is published, which is consistent with a sole trader and is perfectly ordinary for a business this size.

The format is what makes it interesting. The core product is a refillable 8ml spray rather than a full bottle, sitting alongside 2ml samples and 50ml bottles, with prices running from about £6 to £95. There are curated discovery boxes and a build-your-own option. That puts it closer to a discovery service than a shop - the proposition is a considered short list from someone with a point of view, not a search box over a warehouse.

For indie houses this matters more than it would for designer. A Maya Njie or a Gallivant is exactly the kind of thing nobody blind-buys at full price and nobody can smell on a high street, so an 8ml refillable at single-figure-to-low-tens pricing is the format that actually gets these houses tried.