Fragrance has become personal: there is a scent for daytime, another for evening, and for many people a signature that defines them. Mainstream brands dominate the shelves, but the fragrance that stops people in their tracks is often the one you have never seen advertised: quiet, niche and luxurious, sometimes without the price tag.

Liz Astor , formally Lady Astor of Hever, has strong views on how to wear one. She is an author, philanthropist, autism advocate and entrepreneur. Her acclaimed memoir, Loving Olivia: Bringing Up My Autistic Daughter , tells the story of raising her autistic daughter, and she has raised more than half a million pounds for autism charities through fundraising expeditions, marathons and public campaigns. At 76, she has launched her namesake fragrance line. “It was the right moment to launch a brand because my children were settled and having kids. I have worn fragrances since I was 15 and my love for gardening, coupled with my travels and childhood, really inspired me to tell my stories through a bottle,” she shares over a video call.

Why Niche Fragrance Is Having A Moment

Perfume has changed enormously, from how it is made to how people wear it. Astor’s goal was always to create a niche fragrance, and the market is moving her way. A study from Pitti Immagine , the organizer of the Fragranze fair in Florence, expects the niche sector to grow about 5% in 2026, more than double the roughly 2% estimated for fragrance overall.

Astor has her own explanation. “In the last few years, I have noticed an interest in niche and literary fragrances because we are moving beyond a throwaway society,” she shares. In her view, consumers have matured. They no longer want to buy clothing, accessories or fragrance in an overconsumption cycle and using an item once or twice and discarding it. “Consumers are looking for something personal and meaningful to them and that authenticity becomes apparent in how people are buying.” She sees the shift everywhere, and points to recent conversations with couples who want a fragrance for their wedding that they can always connect back to their special day. This shift in consumerism is more of a reason why she has felt propelled to launch her own collection.

Why Layering Fragrance, According to Astor, Is A Fleeting Trend

The best part of a minimalist fragrance is that you don’t need to follow trends like layering. Astor is candid about it. “People like to layer fragrance, but I think that’s like taking the finest Wagyu beef and putting a sherry trifle on top with broccoli and meringue.”

Her inclination against layering is about the integrity of the composition. In her view, layering takes away from the essence of a brand. She believes fragrance is the meeting of minds between science and magic, and while layering can be fun, it doesn’t always work.

She is not alone. Many Western perfumers and purists have long opposed the practice, in part because a single composition can take a year or two to perfect, and no perfumer wants to see that work mixed with someone else’s. Astor’s own collection takes a different approach. Rather than offering a vast range to mix and match, she chose three fragrances, each tested and each built to stand alone. Every note was chosen to tell one story, whether that is a Riviera garden or a desert evening in Oman. Stack another scent on top, and that story is lost.

Even fans of layering tend to agree it is easy to get wrong if the dimensions, notes, and aromas of fragrances aren’t fully understood. To create a new, or signature scent, Their own guidance is to avoid combining two heavy, complex scents, because the result becomes overwhelming. That is a fair argument for wearing one well-made fragrance and letting it develop on your skin.

Liz Astor Uses Travel Inspiration For Her Fragrances

Created with acclaimed perfumer Hélène Prévot in Grasse, the historic heart of French perfumery, the inaugural collection has three deeply personal fragrances that capture defining moments in Astor’s life. Grasse’s perfume expertise, from growing the flowers to processing natural raw materials to composing the scent, was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in 2018. Each of Astor’s fragrances is made with exceptional natural ingredients and traditional French perfumery expertise, and each tells a story of place, memory and transformation.

Her brand is rooted in British heritage, but it differs from Italian and French houses in the size of its range. Those houses often have huge collections, while Astor prefers the tested value of three choices, which span the Riviera to Indonesia and are loved equally by men and women.

Her selection is also personal. Astor first became aware of scent as a three-year-old, watching her grandmother cut flowers in the family’s Georgian house. She loved how the floral scents shifted with the seasons and wanted to recreate that feeling for others. From the English countryside of her childhood to adventures across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, her life has been shaped by discovery, resilience and imagination.

That spirit comes through most clearly in NADIRA 9. The name means unique and special in Arabic, and the number 9 is sacred. “I spent a lot of time in the desert in Oman and Ethiopia and loved the feeling of a hot evening cooling down after the sun goes down. It’s a very seductive feeling when the air and vegetation is cooling down. That crossover is what I wanted for winter fragrances.” She chose tones that evoke deserts, ancient spice routes and nights beneath vast skies, for a profound sense of wonder and contemplation. Even in her mid-70s, Astor is not slowing down and continues to grow her work through her travels. “Travel is a vehicle for creating new fragrances. I was just in Poland and Cairo and Pompeii earlier this year which inspired notes of my next two male-focused fragrances that I will launch in the next six months.”

Astor’s View On Giving Back From Her Fragrance Profits

Currently, the Liz Astor collection retails from £185 ($246) for the Eau de Parfum 75 ml to £320 ($426) for the Parfum 75 ml. For someone ready to invest in a signature scent, Astor says, “The perfumes are made with the finest ingredients, care, and sustainable, recycling package. It’s something they should buy and treasure.” She also sees them as a gift for anyone, since many women wear their partner’s fragrance and vice versa, and scent is always evolving.

For Astor, though, the brand is only part of the story. As the mother of an autistic daughter, she has been a Vice President of the National Autistic Society for more than thirty years, and she continues to support other autism and learning disability charities. Giving back is the reason her fragrance line arrived when it did. “I spent my 50s fundraising to bring awareness about autism and learning disabilities. That’s probably why I wasn’t free until now to create my fragrance brand but I want to give back and support autistic people and their families.”