
Scent Items: Libertine Parfumerie
Sydney’s new fragrance shrine is packed with olfactory messages in a bottle.
Anyone on TikTok knows that today’s status-obsessed youth is under the spell of fine fragrance. The more obscure, the better. Junior voluptuaries these days are bewitched by esoteric trails like Xerjoff Erba Pura and Creed Aventus. Not surprisingly, there has been an uptick in the theft of rare and expensive perfumes, with many department stores keeping them locked away.
Libertine, a new temple to haute parfumerie in the stylish heart of Sydney’s Paddington, would benefit from hiring security guards. A boon to local devotees and anyone looking to broaden their scent IQ, the place carries Xerjoff and Creed, and a slew of other cult brands, including Amouage, Roja, Memo, Parfums de Marly and Mizensir. It’s enough to drive a perfume apostle to distraction.

Created by interior designer du jour Tamsin Johnson, the unisex store recalls classical pharmacies down to the bespoke timber cabinetry and brushed metal railings. Stained oak French chiffoniers and marble plinths teem with flowers, candles, room diffusers and, of course, the world’s finest perfumes.
A lush courtyard offers respite from the perfumed splendour, and opens onto a section in the back that serves as an event space and stocks limited-edition fragrances (some selling for up to $3,500) alongside a selection of curios and homewares.

Owner Nick Smart wanted “to create a space that hasn’t been seen in Australian beauty retail”. With his new 200 m² flagship, Smart has exceeded his ambition, creating an unrivalled olfactory adventure that is so dizzying, it occasionally resembles overeating chocolate. Or spending too many hours on TikTok.
Libertine Parfumerie, shop 6/134-140 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW, is open from 10.00 am–5.30 pm, seven days a week.
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Courtesy of Patricks




