{"id":2058841,"date":"2026-07-23T13:31:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2058841"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T10:31:46","slug":"thank-this-south-korean-perfumer-for-making-the-lower-east-side-smell-nice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2058841","title":{"rendered":"Thank This South Korean Perfumer for Making the Lower East Side Smell Nice"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.highsnobiety.com\/static-assets\/dato\/1784728685-nonfiction-nyc-exterior2.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Thank This South Korean Perfumer for Making the Lower East Side Smell Nice<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In Beauty Freak, a column for <\/em>Highsnobiety, Sable Yong<\/em> explores how the culture of beauty impacts our lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou smell so cozy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou smell like fresh hotel bedsheets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you wearing perfume? You smell so good!\u201d<\/p>\n

These are just a few comments I\u2019ve received after hugging friends while rotating through my small collection of NONFICTION fragrances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This spring, the Korean fragrance brand opened its first U.S. boutique on the corner of Orchard and Hester Street. The store is, coincidentally, right below \u201cperfume alley,\u201d that five-block radius where there\u2019s seemingly a perfume store between every matcha cafe, elevated pasta joint, and queued-up streetwear clothing shop. But judging by everything I\u2019ve seen (and sniffed) so far, NONFICTION may have what it takes to stick around the neighborhood for a while \u2014 and maybe change the way downtown New York smells.<\/p>\n

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Sean Davidson<\/div>\n

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As someone who wants to know what it means to smell cool around the globe, I\u2019d been curious about NONFICTION since their founding in 2019. My experience with fragrances created for or in Asian markets is that they tend to skew toward fresh, sheer, innocuously pleasant, wholly inoffensive profiles \u2014\u00a0nothing heavy or overly sweet. But that trend is becoming less of a norm, especially now that fragrance as a category has become a global fixation. While I\u2019ve often seen brands borrowing Eastern influences as trends allow (as evidenced by the matcha-, ube-, and boba-themed beauty launches I see all the time on TikTok), I was also curious to see this dynamic flipped: how would a Korean brand create Korean fragrances using a traditional French perfumery palette?<\/p>\n

I kept hearing NONFICTION name-dropped as the Korean Le Labo or Diptyque, and while I generally don\u2019t love<\/em> referring to a brand\/person\/idea as it compares to its mainstream counterpart, the description did pique my curiosity. Ahead of the official opening, I visited the store to investigate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Sean Davidson, Sean Davidson<\/div>\n

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In true LES fashion, the space is minimal and modern. But certain design details hint at historical whimsy: glossy oxblood floors, Queen Anne-style mahogany tables, custom-painted black rose wall tiles in a corner near a handwash station. NONFICTION\u2019s founder, Haeyoung Cha, told me she had the Lower East Side in mind early for the brand\u2019s first U.S. store because the neighborhood mirrors her first shop in Seoul\u2019s Hannam-Dong neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a way, the store is reflective of the fragrances, which are deceptively simple and generally unfussy, with great attention paid to textural details and the journey of the wear. (They\u2019re not the kinds of fragrances that require much explanation beyond the name.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Sean Davidson<\/div>\n

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The collection is a tight edit of minimal scent profiles \u2014 dewy florals, soft woods, and misty citruses \u2014 executed by renowned perfumers such as Dominique Ropion and Maurice Roucel. (Credits include Frederic Malle Portrait Of A Lady, Carnal Flower, Mugler Alien, and Musc Ravageur, Nautica Blue, and DKNY Be Delicious, respectively.) I found that I agreed with the comparison of NONFICTION to Le Labo or other more familiar downtown perfumers. But only in that we\u2019re talking about niche labels with cohesive aesthetics \u2014 not because they\u2019re olfactorially similar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The simple white labels with black, serifed text look right at home in a shelfie. And the scent names are both ingredient-focused (ie. The Rose) and mood-focused (ie. Gentle Night). The two most recent launches, Dew & Light and Tears In Rain, are a duo of chypres, a modern take on classic French perfumery. (If you\u2019re not a fragrance nerd, a chypre contrasts bright citrusy notes with earthy, woody ones.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Sean Davidson, Sean Davidson<\/div>\n

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One unexpected effect of the perfume cultural revolution we\u2019ve been experiencing since mid-pandemic is that there is so<\/em> much newness in fragrance now, with each hypey brand asserting its own elaborate olfactive expression. Shopping feels much more overwhelming than when the industry relied on a few celebrity-faced campaigns for yet another fashion house\u2019s flanker.<\/p>\n

NONFICTION feels refreshingly straightforward in both its branding and scent portfolio. Some people might feel understimulated by its offering, but in my experience, these are the kinds of brands that quietly amass loyal fans \u2014 which, as we\u2019ve seen with a certain minimalist lab-inspired perfume brand, works<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re sick of overthinking aesthetics and perhaps a bit bored of the same Byredo, Le Labo, or Diptyque scents that have reached critical mass (and critical inflation), and if you prefer your personal scent at a pleasantly detectable but nonintrusive volume, I think you\u2019ll have a great time with NONFICTION. If you just want to Smell Nice, they\u2019ve got 17 fine fragrances, a bath and body line, and candles and home fragrance options for you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of NONFICTION, Courtesy of NONFICTION<\/div>\n

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Here are some of my favorites:<\/p>\n

Bois d\u2019Ylang<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been drawn to ylang ylang, but I\u2019ve found that its hint of nectary sweetness can be cloying (having experienced a lot of ylang ylang essential oils that eventually go sour). Tuberose and monoi lend a solar, lactonic creaminess to this scent, and sandalwood and musk balance out the petal-y floral with a sheer, suede-like base. It does smell a wee bit laundry-clean, if you were doing your laundry in Tahiti.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Beige<\/p>\n

This scent reminds me of something I loved when I was a teenager in the early aughts: a perfume for a sophisticated woman of the world (or my idea of who that was at the time). To me, it\u2019s one of the more traditional French perfumery scents of the collection. Jasmine, orris, tonka bean, musk, and patchouli create the kind of scent that smells like floral body powder on warm skin. It\u2019s familiar the way an heirloom is but modern in the balanced composition that reads more skin scent than opulent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Iris Concrete<\/p>\n

I am a sucker for anything with iris notes. (Iris is also one of the most expensive raw ingredients, but that\u2019s neither here nor there.) It\u2019s the smell of vintage lipstick or powder, of fresh pencil shavings, and of velvety suede \u2014\u00a0all depending on its composition. Iris Concrete keeps it simple and fairly linear. Ambrette seed, galbanum resinoid, and cedarwood round out the fragrance to bring out iris\u2019s buttery, almost leathery facets. Wearing this feels like wearing that one vintage jacket you\u2019ve had for ages that\u2019s perfectly molded to your body.<\/p>\n

Santal Cream Body Wash<\/p>\n

Santal may have become the official smell of hotel amenities (and lobbies), which I only take issue with in that it\u2019s a scent that\u2019s come to represent something it probably never intended to. NONFICTION\u2019s take is thankfully one that indulges rather than blands \u2014 heavy emphasis on the \u201ccream\u201d in the name. This is such a sunny, lush expression of sandalwood thanks to the cardamom that adds a hint of spice, milky fig, and grassy vetiver. It just feels like a full-fat sandalwood, you know? I hope to see it in hotel bathrooms everywhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Peace Talk Scented Candle<\/p>\n

This candle is exactly what you\u2019d want your home to smell like if you were hosting an intimate dinner party at a winter cabin. It\u2019s woody, spicy, and warmly enveloping the way a really lush cashmere sweater is after it\u2019s been sitting in the sun. It gives me the feel of having a fireplace without having to worry about floating embers causing a hazard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Nonfiction<\/span>PEACE TALK Scented Candle<\/span><\/div>\n
$80<\/span><\/div>\n
Nonfiction<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Nonfiction<\/span>IRIS CONCRETE Eau de Parfum<\/span><\/div>\n
$145<\/span><\/div>\n
Nonfiction<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Nonfiction<\/span>THE BEIGE Eau de Parfum<\/span><\/div>\n
$145<\/span><\/div>\n
Nonfiction<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Nonfiction<\/span>BOIS d’YLANG Eau de Parfum<\/span><\/div>\n
$145<\/span><\/div>\n
Nonfiction<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Nonfiction<\/span>SANTAL CREAM Body Wash<\/span><\/div>\n
$40<\/span><\/div>\n
Nonfiction<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Nonfiction<\/span>PEACE TALK Scented Candle<\/span><\/div>\n
$80<\/span><\/div>\n
Nonfiction<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit our SHOPPER<\/em> page<\/em> and subscribe to the<\/em> newsletter<\/em> for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n