Niche is better.
Ok, I’ll write more.
A niche fragrance is generally from a company that specializes in fragrances, while designer fragrances are generally a clothing or fashion companies version of a cologne. Niche tend to be higher quality and use better oils, but also higher in price.
There is a bit of a fuzzy area, specifically with Tom Ford which is a fashion company that has a line of very high quality fragrances that I would consider comparable to a lot of niche lines.
If you’re going to invest in a scent, I think it’s worth it to try to go niche. A high end scent from a designer is going to be around 60-90 dollars, but if you can throw in an extra 40 dollars, you really open up yourself to a lot of options.
Not only are niche fragrances more natural smelling, there are going to be a lot more diversity of types of scents.
That’s not to say that there are no good from designer scents, there are plenty of great ones, but niche really opens up a lot of new options. Generally you can get them from specialty perfume stores, or if you have a large Nordstrom or Lord + Taylor or higher end places, they will offer a large selection of niche perfumes.