Perfume business is a weird business. It seems so simple: obviously, people would just buy perfumes that smell the best to them, right? In reality, the whole thing is so heavily influenced by hard-core marketing, prestige, status, group-think and aesthetic considerations that the actual ‘juice’ often gets entirely overlooked. Add to this the fact that most people lack even the basic vocabulary to think and talk about perfumes and beliefs like ‘everyone should have a signature scent’ and it’s a mess.

In this landscape dominated by big mainstream brands who throw millions at their marketing campaigns and, on a different level, by insanely expensive and ‘exclusive’ niche brands, modesty and quiet excellence are not rewarded. I don’t think I would ever have discovered Parfums de Nicolaï, if I had not been an avid reader of perfume blogs.

It is a a small French brand run by Patricia de Nicolaï and known for its rather classic, high-quality perfumes and reasonable prices. Nicolaï is a member of the Guerlain family and was rumoured to become the brand’s in-house perfumer and later rumoured not to have got the position because she’s a woman. Perfumery is not known for being a trailblazing sector when it comes to gender equality.

PdN is not for you if you like your perfumes trendy and zeitgeisty (nothing wrong with that). However, if you love the tradition of French perfumery and especially if you think the big brands have lost their way recently, Nicolaï is the thing to try. In my years of following the developments in the perfume workd, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone to say anything bad about the brand. It is universally respected and accepted as technically masterful, even by those who don’t necessarily love the scents. You would be hard pressed to find people who don’t consider Odalisque or Sacrebleu to be extraordinary.

I have owned a couple of Nicolaï perfumes over the years (most notably, the sadly discontinued Le Temps d’une Fête, a wonderful spring floral) and have just bought their eau fraiches trio that includes three of my favourites. These are Nicolaï’s version of colognes with an added twist – a bit like Chanel’s Les Eaux – and all three are wonderful.

To my nose, Eau Mixte is the most classically colone-y of the three, although it’s more complex than almost any citrus fragrance out there. It also believe it to be entirely unisex and if I was forced to chose, this would be my first pick from the set. It took me a while to understand – after several pointers from reviews – that what I enjoy so much in this in addition to the juicy citrus and fresh herbs is the smell of blackcurrant leaves. There is also vetiver in the base, never a bad thing in my book.

If Eau Mixte would be difficult to classify as feminine or masculine, Eau d’Ete leans more feminine. As you surely know by now, this doesn’t mean I think men cannot wear it, I’m just using it as a short-hand to describe the vibe of the scent. This one is basically citrus plus jasmine, a gorgeous combination. It is also the most old school of the bunch, so keep that in mind, if this could be a turn-off for you.

For balance, Eau Chic smells slightly more masculine to me. It’s because it adds aromatics and some woods to the citrus and this tends to make me think of traditional men’s fragrances. The geranium is very prominent and while it’s a floral, I never feel it smells particularly floral and it is often used in masculine scents. Eau Chic is of course miles away from what you’d find on a random shelf in a supermarket, but I feel there is enough of familiarity for this to be a nice introduction into more complex fragrances for a curious gentleman.

If I have one issue with PdN, it’s the packaging. Overall, I of course approve that money is spent on the content rather than appearances and I don’t mind a simple bottle. But I do feel that the stick-on labels look unnecessarily cheap. However, the eau fraiche trio packaging is simple in the right way and the new colognes have very nice bottles as well.

If you are someone who prefers quality over flashiness or you are simply eager to learn more about perfumes, a visit to Nicolaï’s boutique in Paris is very much warranted. Some samples are also available from the web site.