You might not normally think of going to a neighborhood hair salon to shop for fragrance, but Williamsburg, Brooklyn is not a typical neighborhood, and Woodley & Bunny is not a typical haircut joint. This trend-focused "Salon & Apothecary," which opened in 2005, specializes not only in edgy hairstyles but also in cult-favorite beauty products of all kinds, including a selection of non-mainstream fragrances.

Woodley & Bunny is located three blocks from the subway (the Bedford Avenue stop of the L train) and just a few steps down from street level. Its retail area is located immediately inside the entrance of the salon. This space seems to be undergoing perpetual renovations, but it's still easily browsable. In its fragrance offerings, there's an emphasis on independent perfumers, including several New York-based lines and hard-to-find imports. (Woodley & Bunny is the only New York venue that carries Tauer Parfums, for example.) The various perfume lines are displayed on tables and open shelving...

Niche perfume store Madison, open in Bucharest since 2007 (they now have 2 locations there), has opened a new boutique in Budapest at Andrassy Ut. 26. Brands include By Kilian, Clive Christian, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Bond no. 9, Byredo, Nasomatto, Six Scents, Blood Concept, Santa Maria Novella and more...

Seattle-based indie line Sweet Anthem has opened their flagship boutique in Seattle. The store will carry the entire Sweet Anthem fragrance line plus other indie brands, including Slumberhouse and L’Aromatica, selected by owner Meredith Smith...

Christopher Brosius, the "CB" behind CB I Hate Perfume, calls his perfumery's headquarters and storefront a "gallery." Located a few blocks away from the busy main shopping strips of Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, the store does feel as much like a gallery, a studio, or a workshop as a retail venue. It's a former industrial space that now looks half-loft, half-garage, decorated in a minimal, monochromatic scheme with little visual detail to distract you from experiencing CB I Hate Perfume's fragrances.

And there are many, many fragrances indeed, with testers arranged by category in white box-like shelving units. In the "Perfume" category, you'll find six series of fragrances with abstract designations such as "Archetype" and "Metamorphosis." Some of them are inspired by Brosius's childhood memories and his favorite works of literature and film, and others are his reworkings of classic concepts in perfumery (musk, rose, etc.). The Perfumes are available as perfume absolutes and cologne-like "water perfumes." The next category includes fourteen series of Accords, from "fruit" and "flower" to "smoke" and "skin." These oils, individually bottled and packaged at the time of purchase, are meant to be enjoyed singly or layered in your own combinations...

Krigler's history spans five generations and reaches from St. Petersburg to Berlin and Paris, from the French Riviera to New York. The company's only current United States location is an intimate glass box nestled into a corner of the landmark Plaza Hotel; and, in a bit of local déjà-vu, this shop marks Krigler's second residency at the Plaza. The Krigler family first operated a small retail venue within the Plaza from 1931 through the 1970s, catering to the hotel's glamorous guests and other members of Fifth Avenue's elite. After a period of dormancy, the company reopened in 2000 and returned to the Plaza in 2008, when the hotel had just completed its own extensive renovations.

The new-millennium image for Krigler seems to have been composed in the Penhaligon's/Creed mold: there's much emphasis on legacy, archival fragrance recipes and famous clientele. Krigler's packaging has an old-world European flair, and the well-stocked shelves of the Plaza boutique are decorated with framed black-and-white photos of classic Hollywood stars who wore its fragrances. Krigler's present-day shoppers include curious midtown browsers and hotel guests, visitors who remember Krigler affectionately from its earlier years at the Plaza, and world travelers familiar with the company from its boutique in Monte Carlo's Fairmont Hotel...

Despite the name, you might walk past Cologne & Cotton without suspecting that it sells perfume. From the window display, you’d probably assume it specialized in upmarket nursery linen and silk nighties.

In fact, inside the shop you’ll find towels, bedding, cushions, china, ladies’ nightwear, children’s clothes and toys, home fragrance, bath and body products…and a surprising range of niche perfumes.

The shop’s ethos seems to be about supplying fine things to the mature (and financially secure) Yummy Mummy, for her boudoir and her baby. It’s full of objects of desire, and a good place to buy small but exquisite gifts that won’t add too much to the weight of your luggage. (The Claus Porto soaps alone make me melt with desire.)

At the back of the shop, a large counter is covered with bottles of scent...

Getting hold of skincare and scents by Fresh is pretty hard in the UK. The line used to be carried by some John Lewis stores, but even that channel dried up a couple of years ago. At present, anyone in the UK eager to sniff a perfumer’s take on cannabis will have to visit the Fresh store in Marylebone High Street.

The store is in a good location — this is an expensive area, but tending towards boho-chic rather than, say, Royal Family. It’s also the nearest shopping and dining possibility for those visiting Harley Street clinics, and sadly but inevitably, a fair proportion of shoppers consists of people passing time between appointments. With this in mind, the Fresh concept — white decor, slightly clinical, herbal undertones — is probably more than usually attractive.

The shop offers skincare, bath and body products, scents, and a small cosmetics line.

The most striking sight, for perfume lovers, is a group of glass ‘urns’ where scent is dispensed from taps...

MiN New York looks like a combination of an apothecary, a curiosity shop, and a private club; it's actually a one-stop-shopping destination for men's upscale shaving and grooming products as well as niche perfumes for both men and women. This SoHo boutique's walls of custom-made wood shelving, complete with a rolling library ladder in one alcove, hold the MiN house line of haircare and skincare, male-geared grooming lines (such as Nickel and Proraso), and more unisex products like LaRoche Posay skincare and Marvis toothpaste. Men's traditional shaving accessories, including some very fancy straight razors and an assortment of shave brushes, are neatly arranged in glass-front cases; a few liquor flasks lurk invitingly on a higher shelf. Last but not least, counters and small tables display a well-thought-out assortment of fragrance lines. Despite the store's name, which is a permutation of "New York Minute," there's definitely a European slant to the product offerings. (MiN also acts as the United States distributor for several of these fragrance brands.)

Every corner of MiN is punctuated with antiques...

Ormonde Jayne fans will be pleased to know that there’s a new standalone Ormonde Jayne shop in Chelsea, just off Sloane Square. The new shop is much bigger than the tiny space in the Royal Arcade, which means that more goodies are on display, rather than tucked away in drawers.

The new flagship store, swimming beautifully in smoked mirror glass, offers the chance to sit down and have your Perfume Portrait created for you...

Knows Perfume, in the West Seattle Junction neighborhood, has one of the most eclectic selections of perfumes and home fragrance products in Seattle (and Seattle isn’t a slouch in the perfume department these days). Owner Christen Cottam, perfume lover, raconteuse, former roller derby skater known as “Flirtation Device,” and ex-biotech rep, opened Knows Perfume last summer.

The high-ceilinged store, with dark wood floors, natural (non-aggressive) lighting, and a large comfortable sofa, provides a calm/relaxed atmosphere for sampling fragrances. Cottam would not be unhappy if you decided to stay the afternoon and try every fragrance in the shop; there is no hyper, hard-sell atmosphere at Knows Perfume...