Parfums de Marly Althaïr, brown perfume bottle with silver cap, lying on bed of spices with two vanilla beans and a vanilla orchid flower.Parfums de Marly Althaïr, brown perfume bottle with silver cap, lying on bed of spices with two vanilla beans and a vanilla orchid flower.
Parfums de Marly

Althaïr

All for vanilla, vanilla for fall.
Explore
Liis Ethereal Wave rectangular clear glass bottle with round, soft grey cap. Under wavy clear water.Liis Ethereal Wave rectangular clear glass bottle with round, soft grey cap. Under wavy clear water.
New from Liis

Ethereal Wave

An otherworldly tea scent by Jérôme Epinette.
Learn More
3 Zernell Gillie perfume bottles: Disco, Techno and Hip-Hop.Hip Hop by Zernell Gillie | Hip Hop Parfum Extrait in a 30ml glass bottle with an atomizer spray top
Zernell Gillie

Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop has joined the line-up.
Try a Sample
Close-up of DS & Durga Deep Dark Vanilla perfume bottle on its side on an ombre brown background.Close-up of DS & Durga Deep Dark Vanilla perfume bottle on an ombre brown background.
New From DS & Durga

Deep Dark Vanilla

Vanilla absolute takes center stage.
Learn More
Six Les Bains Guerbois ridged clear glass perfume bottles with black caps on a pale grey surface and background.Les Bains Guerbois ridged clear glass perfume bottle with black cap on a wet stone surface at the edge of a pool.
Direct from Paris

Les Bains Guerbois

Celebrating the wild history of a storied place.
Get Sample Set

FEATURED COLLECTIONS

Photo of Disco perfume bottle by Zernell Gillie, on a glass cylinder pedestal in front of disco mirror balls.
New & Noteworthy
Best Selling Fragrances
Best Sellers
DS & Durga Sweet Do Nothing 50ml perfume bottle in front of cactus and flowers and blue sky.
Summer Scents
ALL BRANDS

Saturday 9/30 @ 973 Valencia, SF

BTSO Fragrance launch

Be among the first fragrance lovers in the US to meet visionary founder and creative director Jun Lim of the globally buzzed-about niche brand BORNTOSTANDOUT® and try his 3 enticing new fragrances — Dirty Heaven, Sin & Pleasure and Sugar Addict. Direct from Seoul, Korea. Free and open to the public, festive refreshments will be served. Not to be missed.

RSVP Now

NEW & NOTEWORTHY

View all
Tea & Rock'n Roll by Voyages Imaginaires | Tea & Rock'n Roll 75ml Eau de Parfum in a rectangular clear glass bottle. Voyages Imaginaires Tea & Rock'n Roll is printed on white label in black, uppercase, serif type below oversized Voyages Imaginaires logo
Tea & Rock'n Roll by Voyages Imaginaires | Detail of abstract image of swirling gold and grey resembling the eye of a peacock feather that is silkscreened inside bottle
Tea & Rock'n Roll
Citrusy bergamot tea with smoky maté and tonka
Samples out of stock.
Voyages Imaginaires
$ 5.00 - $ 195.00
1992 Purple Night by Les Bains Guerbois | 1992 Purple Night 100ml Eau de Parfum in a clear, cylindrical band-cut glass bottle with a gold neck and a black cap. Les Bains Guerbois 1992 Purple Night is embossed on glass in a recessed channel wrapping around width of bottle. 1992 Purple Night is printed on bottle cap.
1992 Purple Night by Les Bains Guerbois | 1992 Purple Night 100ml Eau de Parfum in a clear, cylindrical band-cut glass bottle with a gold neck and a black cap. Les Bains Guerbois 1992 Purple Night is embossed on glass in a recessed channel wrapping around width of bottle. 1992 Purple Night is printed on bottle cap. Shown next to signature deluxe box. 1992 Purple Night
1992 Purple Night
Creamy white flowers with mandarin and leather
Samples out of stock.
Les Bains Guerbois
$ 5.00 - $ 225.00
Hip Hop by Zernell Gillie | Hip Hop Parfum Extrait in a 30ml glass bottle with an atomizer spray top
Hip Hop by Zernell Gillie | Hip Hop Parfum Extrait in a 30ml glass bottle with an atomizer spray top. Shown with a coiled gold link chain.
Hip-Hop
Sweet & boozy with spice, fruits and chocolate
Zernell Gillie
$ 5.00 - $ 110.00
Five Squared by Fzotic | Fzotic Five Squared 30ml Eau de Parfum
Five Squared by Fzotic | Fzotic Five Squared 30ml Eau de Parfum shown with packaging detail of colorful quilt pattern graphic on box interior. Same pattern is silkscreend on bottle in black and white.
Five Squared
Neroli elevates a classic citrus-wood-herbs blend
Fzotic
$ 5.00 - $ 145.00
View all
109 products

get it on skin

Our perfume sample program

We're on a mission to bring independent fragrances into your wardrobe — the wild, weird and wonderful. The best way to learn what you love is to try scents on skin. Here's how:

1. Order $5 samples from our site (shipping is just $5).

2. Redeem the price of samples & shipping when you purchase full bottles of the scents you tried.

3. Wear your new fragrances with abandon.

Shop all brands

Summer Scents

View all
803: Sea Spray, Ginger & Patchouli
Icy winter stroll by the sea
Samples out of stock.
Bon Parfumeur
$ 5.00 - $ 107.00
Image of 7.5ml Travel Spray
Sydney Rock Pool
Warm skin in the salty ocean air
Arquiste Parfumeur
$ 5.00 - $ 205.00
Image of 50ml Eau de Parfum
Image of 10ml EdP Travel Spray
Flower Child
West Third Brand
$ 5.00 - $ 125.00
Image of 50ml Eau de Parfum
Image of 11ml Pure Oil
SHP Evolution - The Now
Sarah Horowitz Parfums
$ 5.00 - $ 140.00
View all
48 products

brand spotlight

Les Bains Guerbois

Is it an historic spa where Proust and Renoir roamed the grounds? Or a storied nightclub where David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Grace Jones partied and years later Prince held surprise shows? Or could it be a striking contemporary fragrance brand working with some of the world's most notable Noses? The answer to all three is YES. Les Bains Guerbois arrived at the shop with fanfare and is already a staff and customer favorite — sample nine of the most stunning scents from the collection to find out why. $60

Discovery Set

Perfume Sample Sets

View all
Essential Parfums Discovery Set: 8 x 2ml perfume sample spray vials of Essential Parfums fragrances: Bois Impériale, Divine Vanille, Fig Infusion, Mon Vetiver, The Musc, Nice Bergamote, Orange X Santal and Rose Magnetic. Box is an elegant envelope style, and is creamy white with black text.
Essential Parfums Discovery Set: 22ml perfume vials of eight Essential Parfums fragrances: Bois Impériale, Divine Vanille, Fig Infusion, Mon Vetiver, The Musc, Nice Bergamote, Orange X Santal and Rose Magnetic. Box front has illustration style portraits of the eight perfumers for the eight fragrances.
Essential Parfums Discovery Set
Luxe affordable haute parfumerie from Paris
Essential Parfums
$ 24.00
Les Bains Guerbois Perfumes Discovery Kit by Les Bains Guerbois | Deluxe white paper box with bronze details and black text in signature serif type. Discovery Set contains 9 x 1.5ml perfumes samples of 1885 Bains Sulfureux 1900 L’Heure de Proust 1978 Les Bains Douches 1979 New Wave 1986 Eclectique 1992 Purple Night 2013 Résidence d’Artistes 2015 Le Phénix 2018 Roxo Tonic
Les Bains Guerbois Perfumes Discovery Kit by Les Bains Guerbois | Deluxe white paper box with bronze details and black text in signature serif type. Discovery Set contains 9 x 1.5ml perfumes samples of 1885 Bains Sulfureux 1900 L’Heure de Proust 1978 Les Bains Douches 1979 New Wave 1986 Eclectique 1992 Purple Night 2013 Résidence d’Artistes 2015 Le Phénix 2018 Roxo Tonic
Les Bains Guerbois Discovery Set
Try nine stunning scents from Les Bains Guerbois
Les Bains Guerbois
$ 60.00
Image of DS & Durga's Big City Jams discovery set with six 1.5ml spray samples in a flip-top black box with bold white typography
Image of the six 1.5ml spray samples in DS & Durga's Big City Jams Discovery Set with clear glass vials, black spray pumps and white labels with bold black typography. The six fragrances pictured from top to bottom are Coriander, Burning Barbershop, Bistro Waters, Grapefruit Generation, Notorious Oud and Italian Citrus.
DS & Durga Big City Jams Discovery Set Vol. 3
DS & Durga scents set in urban scapes
DS & Durga
$ 60.00
Les Eaux Primordiales Discovery Set by Les Eaux Primordiales | Deluxe white paper box with gold details and black text in signature sans-serif type. Discovery Set contains 9 x 2.5ml perfumes samples of Couleur Primaire, Mécanique Intuitive, SUPERCRITIQUE Rose, Magnolia & Mimosa, and SUPERFLUIDE Oud, Ambre, Saffron & Santal
Les Eaux Primordiales Discovery Set by Les Eaux Primordiales | Box Detail Closed
Les Eaux Primordiales Discovery Set
Visionary & refined "primordial waters"
Les Eaux Primordiales
$ 55.00
View all
71 products
Photo depicting a range of materials: citrus, flowers, leaves, herbs, woods, cupcakes and spices
BROWSE BY STYLE OR BRAND
FIND YOUR FAVORITES
Florals, spicy, woods and more — so many scent styles to explore.
STYLES BRANDS

PERFUMER & FOUNDER INTERVIEWS

View all
Kerosene perfumer John Pegg talks Blackmail, Summer of 84 and Winter of 99.
Kerosene perfumer John Pegg talks Blackmail, Summer of 84 and Winter of 99.
Jun Lim of BORNTOSTANDOUT®
Jun Lim brings us BORNTOSTANDOUT®, direct from Seoul, South Korea.
Douglas Little of Heretic Parfum
Douglas Little of Heretic Parfum on his latest fragrance, Dirty Patchouli.

VISIT OUR STORE

973 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

(between 20th & 21st Streets)

Mon: 11 am – 7 pm 
Tue:   11 am - 7 pm
Wed: 11 am – 7 pm
Thu:   11 am – 7 pm
Fri:     11 am – 7 pm
Sat:    11 am – 8 pm 
Sun:   11 am – 7 pm

info@ministryofscent.com

415.896.4665

Get directions

Hear from our vibrant community

★★★★★

The online store and service is superb... Shipping was amazingly fast and the perfumes came nicely protected, but also beautifully presented.... I'm incredibly satisfied with my experience, I'll be doing my perfume shopping here.

Michael B.
★★★★★

Ministry of Scent has so many great fragrances, including ones that can be hard to find in the US. Their staff is also really thoughtful and helpful! I definitely recommend checking them out (whether at the store or on the website).

Wes W.
Google Review
★★★★★

I can think of no better place to purchase and try niche perfumes in all of San Francisco. Make that anywhere for that matter... Exemplary in all areas. From keen pricing, extensive catalog and above all excellent customer service and attentiveness...

Jerry K.
★★★★★

The best. Knowledgeable, friendly staff. Authentic... Best fragrance shopping experience of my life. Will definitely keep returning. Opposite of everything fake, pretentious, snooty, and off-putting about department store fragrance departments, while maintaining elite products and database of knowledge and suggestions and wise network of sellers.

Julie A.
★★★★★

Indulgent enclave, encompassing a unique cornucopia of personally selected fragrances, captivatingly helpful staff and a wonderful community spirit. Always worth a drop by.

Jenny C.
★★★★★

They have an array of diverse niche perfumes you won’t be able to find anywhere else. This place was great, because you can sample some niche fragrances you won’t be able to find anywhere else. 10/10 recommend.

Jordan M.
★★★★★

If you are into niche fragrances and perfumes, this store is a must when visiting San Francisco. Their product line is from all over the world and you’ll find brands not available anywhere else. I highly recommend this store. This store is very unisex as well so go as a couple or go alone. I promise you will purchase multiple bottles, you won’t be able to decide which is your favorite.

Ron Foxworthy
Google Review
★★★★★

Ministry of Scent is truly fantastic, and a wonderful introduction into the world of independent, niche perfumes.... I personally am not a niche/indie fragrance neophyte (though by no means an expert), and I observed the same amount of care, attention, and interest in working with me as I did with other customers who were just starting their "fragrance journeys".  I highly, highly recommend stopping by and investing some actual time into learning about what's out there, and what works for you.

Samantha W.
Yelp Review
★★★★★

My friends and I stumbled upon this gem... We came in with nothing in mind, and had minimal knowledge about scents and what we enjoyed. We all purchased samples of scents that we truly enjoyed and will be testing them out. We'll definitely be back to purchase a full sized perfume soon! Great service all around and we truly enjoyed this experience.

Chloe C.
Yelp Review