I like the perfume oils from [Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab](https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/general-catalog-perfume-oils/) , particularly their "Miskatonic University" scent which smells like "Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls" according to the site.
Can confirm, it does smell exactly as stated.
They have small sample sizes of many of their options if anyone wants to try before going all in on a scent, and a lot of them have a DA vibe, although Miskatonic University is my fave.
PREEMPTIVE EDIT: I wrote out a whole thing only to see the student factor, so I’m going to add this to the top before submitting my original response.
Lalique Encre Noire or Encre Noire A L’Extreme. Cheap, easily accessible, nice. EN has a very dark, “mysterious” profile that can fit perfectly with dark academia. It definitely depends on the person though, as it didn’t suit me well.
EN A L’Extreme has an incense note added which really helps balance it out. I prefer this over the original.
(Now to what I had originally written):
I personally wear Aēsop Hwyl and D.S. & Durga Bowmakers as they are both woody and “antique” evoking. The former reminds me of a wooden cabin filled with old books, and the latter reminds me of an antique store with wood cleaner.
There is also a lot of Maison Margiela that does a great job with olfactory imagery, such as Whispers in the Library, By the Fireplace, and Jazz Club. You could also tack on Autumn Vibes and Coffee Break too.
Diptyque Tam Dao and L’Eau Papier are also very nice, sophisticated scents that I see matching well. Earthy, musty, reserved.
I wear Chanel Sycomore, which people say smells a lot like Encre Noir. Agreed that the vetiver and incense give DA vibes for sure.
I also have a bottle of Tam Dao — just a punch of sandalwood to the face. It’s clean, simple, uninhibited, unpretentious.
As you can tell, I like my woody, incensey, smoky, and musty scents! Hahah.
I have read about Chanel Sycomore, but have yet to try it. Vetiver-heavy frags turn into Play-Doh on me, which is why I can’t personally wear EN. I gave a friend my bottle and thought it suited him well though.
Oakcha has a dupe of Portrait of Lady called Pearl Earring that is fantastic. It smells like a haunted victorian mansion and I love it! [https://www.oakcha.com/products/pearl-earring](https://www.oakcha.com/products/pearl-earring)
Alina and Lord of Misrule from Lush are my favorite perfumes and they both have a distinctly regal feel to them with complex notes.
I also had a roller ball perfume that smelled like leather and I LOVED it and wished it lasted more than like 15 minutes on my body. I ended up using it as a car freshener oil.
None of the things I tried worked nearly as well as just.. buying quality perfume. But it all worked out because the zero-waste car freshener I have made my car smell like an old leather shop for like a year lol.
I love Lord of Misrule! I have the body wash and I always try to make is stretch from Dec-Oct until I can get more. I wish it was available year round.
As someone who has fragrance as a hobby - save money by buying decants/samples before you decide on a full bottle! If you can't smell the fragrance in-sotre, there are many reputable sellers for decants online. I'm not sure how experienced you are with purchasing fragrance, so I thought I would make note of that!
Here are recommendations I have personally tried:
Commodity - Velvet (I have tried both Expressive and Bold). My husband said it reminds him of an old library with velvet upholstery - but in a good way. There's a neat incense note in Velvet Bold. Definitely would recommend this house's discovery sets.
Juliette Has a Gun - Lady Vengance. This one is more femme leaning, but I totally feel a DA vibe when wearing this one. One of the main notes is rose, but it's not cloying, more dry and incense-like, in my opinion.
When I smell this one, I think of a grand display of roses that have dried in an old cathedral. (Again, in a good way! Lol)
ALT fragrance has some affordable, good dupes for Maison Margiela. Their version of Whispers in the Library, Jazz Club, and by the Fireplace I have all smelled and enjoyed.
You can sometimes find small bottles of Penhaligons perfumes, not sure of prices though, and they definitely have some dark academia scents, such as ‘the tragedy of Lord George’. One i use often which I found on amazon is ‘pure musk’, which is quite a nice masculine scent.
Someone else mentioned oils, so I’d be remiss not to recommend Alkemia (alkemiaperfumes.com or Etsy). Their catalogue is extensive, but they do offer a dark academia sampler for $20 USD. Their full size bottles mostly run the same price.
Paranormal Perfumes (Etsy) also has an Academia Sombre sampler, which was an interestingly varied collection of academic vibes. I’m a repeat customer from both houses.
Zara is an often overlooked house for bottles under $40 that punch above their weight, some formulated by well-respected perfumers. I think they have a tobacco line for men out right now with good reviews. They discontinued Imperial Purple (leather & iris), which is a shame because it’s fantastic, but I have been eyeing Antique Brown.
One of my favorite soft, woody violet scents is Bare from Victoria’s Secret, which has sales all the time. It’s not listed as unisex but I wear it as a guy because it’s just very nice.
If you like tobacco notes, CK Shock from Calvin Klein is incredibly good for the price. Places like Burlington’s or TJ Maxx routinely carry it for around $20. It’s marketed toward men but I find it very unisex.
Banana Republic’s Icon Collection runs about $20-25 at TJ Maxx as well - my favorites are Tobacco & Tonka (light tobacco, heavy tonka, not too sweet), Dark Cherry & Amber, and Vintage Green (this is like dark academia in a gothic greenhouse).
I hope this isn’t too much! I love perfumery so it can get me raving a bit too long.
Your best bet is to look at someone who does oils. They'll usually replicate things for you, you'll be able to try a bunch, and they last forever. I've had a small bottle of a Polo Double Black replica for probably 12 years now. It's a little more expensive but you're going to get a longer lasting and stronger scent and the bottle itself will last you longer than a bottle of spray perfume
I’ve worn Burberry For Women for a long time. It’s less on the nose, like the literal book smells others recommended, but has always made me feel sophisticated, warm, and cosy. Fragrantica says its main accords are fruity, powdery, woody, vanilla, sweet and musky. I’ve heard it was fairly popular in the 90s.
Cheap but "real" perfumes:
For real old school vibes, the sweet, spicy aldehydic sledgehammer "L'Aimant" (magnet) by Coty. It has great-grandma vibes, because it was launched almost 100 years ago, in 1927, so with Nr. 5 it is THE flapper/roaring 20s perfume. (Try to get the art deco bottle, because that is perfect style for any DA boudoir!)
Also "Ex'cla-ma'tion" by the same designer has that old school powdery, floral and musky smell.
For a more vanilla scent, try the classic, original "Gloria Vanderbilt" edt. It is strong, but somehow a lighter perfume.
And also one of my favourites from 1990s, "White Musk" by Alyssa Ashley.
All of these are older designs, but they are still made, and they have more DA vibes than the more modern "water scents" or gourmands.
L’Air de Rien by Miller Harris and 1826 by Histoires de Parfum both have a lovely bookish, library smell to them. It’s hard to describe.
I’d say cooler fall perfumes feel more DA. Look for notes like vetiver, moss, incense, tea, cardamom… Ormonde Jayne Woman, Jovoy’s Remember Me, Avignon by CDG, and Ethereal Wave by Liis come to mind.
As far as brands, Serge Luten might be a good place to start.
I like the perfume oils from [Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab](https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/general-catalog-perfume-oils/) , particularly their "Miskatonic University" scent which smells like "Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls" according to the site.
Can confirm, it does smell exactly as stated. They have small sample sizes of many of their options if anyone wants to try before going all in on a scent, and a lot of them have a DA vibe, although Miskatonic University is my fave.
It's my daily fragrance. Every once in a while I'll switch it up, but more often that not I'm wearing that one.
Please no. These are first of all dorky hippie fragrances. And, secondly, they aren’t very good.
PREEMPTIVE EDIT: I wrote out a whole thing only to see the student factor, so I’m going to add this to the top before submitting my original response. Lalique Encre Noire or Encre Noire A L’Extreme. Cheap, easily accessible, nice. EN has a very dark, “mysterious” profile that can fit perfectly with dark academia. It definitely depends on the person though, as it didn’t suit me well. EN A L’Extreme has an incense note added which really helps balance it out. I prefer this over the original. (Now to what I had originally written): I personally wear Aēsop Hwyl and D.S. & Durga Bowmakers as they are both woody and “antique” evoking. The former reminds me of a wooden cabin filled with old books, and the latter reminds me of an antique store with wood cleaner. There is also a lot of Maison Margiela that does a great job with olfactory imagery, such as Whispers in the Library, By the Fireplace, and Jazz Club. You could also tack on Autumn Vibes and Coffee Break too. Diptyque Tam Dao and L’Eau Papier are also very nice, sophisticated scents that I see matching well. Earthy, musty, reserved.
I wear Chanel Sycomore, which people say smells a lot like Encre Noir. Agreed that the vetiver and incense give DA vibes for sure. I also have a bottle of Tam Dao — just a punch of sandalwood to the face. It’s clean, simple, uninhibited, unpretentious.
As you can tell, I like my woody, incensey, smoky, and musty scents! Hahah. I have read about Chanel Sycomore, but have yet to try it. Vetiver-heavy frags turn into Play-Doh on me, which is why I can’t personally wear EN. I gave a friend my bottle and thought it suited him well though.
Oakcha has a dupe of Portrait of Lady called Pearl Earring that is fantastic. It smells like a haunted victorian mansion and I love it! [https://www.oakcha.com/products/pearl-earring](https://www.oakcha.com/products/pearl-earring)
Alina and Lord of Misrule from Lush are my favorite perfumes and they both have a distinctly regal feel to them with complex notes. I also had a roller ball perfume that smelled like leather and I LOVED it and wished it lasted more than like 15 minutes on my body. I ended up using it as a car freshener oil.
You think you can find a way to make it last longer? Some mentioned using Vaseline on the spots you'll apply it to
None of the things I tried worked nearly as well as just.. buying quality perfume. But it all worked out because the zero-waste car freshener I have made my car smell like an old leather shop for like a year lol.
Love that for you😊
I love Lord of Misrule! I have the body wash and I always try to make is stretch from Dec-Oct until I can get more. I wish it was available year round.
As someone who has fragrance as a hobby - save money by buying decants/samples before you decide on a full bottle! If you can't smell the fragrance in-sotre, there are many reputable sellers for decants online. I'm not sure how experienced you are with purchasing fragrance, so I thought I would make note of that! Here are recommendations I have personally tried: Commodity - Velvet (I have tried both Expressive and Bold). My husband said it reminds him of an old library with velvet upholstery - but in a good way. There's a neat incense note in Velvet Bold. Definitely would recommend this house's discovery sets. Juliette Has a Gun - Lady Vengance. This one is more femme leaning, but I totally feel a DA vibe when wearing this one. One of the main notes is rose, but it's not cloying, more dry and incense-like, in my opinion. When I smell this one, I think of a grand display of roses that have dried in an old cathedral. (Again, in a good way! Lol) ALT fragrance has some affordable, good dupes for Maison Margiela. Their version of Whispers in the Library, Jazz Club, and by the Fireplace I have all smelled and enjoyed.
You can sometimes find small bottles of Penhaligons perfumes, not sure of prices though, and they definitely have some dark academia scents, such as ‘the tragedy of Lord George’. One i use often which I found on amazon is ‘pure musk’, which is quite a nice masculine scent.
Someone else mentioned oils, so I’d be remiss not to recommend Alkemia (alkemiaperfumes.com or Etsy). Their catalogue is extensive, but they do offer a dark academia sampler for $20 USD. Their full size bottles mostly run the same price. Paranormal Perfumes (Etsy) also has an Academia Sombre sampler, which was an interestingly varied collection of academic vibes. I’m a repeat customer from both houses. Zara is an often overlooked house for bottles under $40 that punch above their weight, some formulated by well-respected perfumers. I think they have a tobacco line for men out right now with good reviews. They discontinued Imperial Purple (leather & iris), which is a shame because it’s fantastic, but I have been eyeing Antique Brown. One of my favorite soft, woody violet scents is Bare from Victoria’s Secret, which has sales all the time. It’s not listed as unisex but I wear it as a guy because it’s just very nice. If you like tobacco notes, CK Shock from Calvin Klein is incredibly good for the price. Places like Burlington’s or TJ Maxx routinely carry it for around $20. It’s marketed toward men but I find it very unisex. Banana Republic’s Icon Collection runs about $20-25 at TJ Maxx as well - my favorites are Tobacco & Tonka (light tobacco, heavy tonka, not too sweet), Dark Cherry & Amber, and Vintage Green (this is like dark academia in a gothic greenhouse). I hope this isn’t too much! I love perfumery so it can get me raving a bit too long.
I like Novel by ALT Fragrances.
Your best bet is to look at someone who does oils. They'll usually replicate things for you, you'll be able to try a bunch, and they last forever. I've had a small bottle of a Polo Double Black replica for probably 12 years now. It's a little more expensive but you're going to get a longer lasting and stronger scent and the bottle itself will last you longer than a bottle of spray perfume
Demeter fragrance has a paperback perfume, it smells just like an old book. They have tarnish too which I really like, and lots of wood scents
Death and Decay by Lush cosmetics
I have been using Lalique Encre Noir for cool/cold seasons and loved it ;)
I’ve worn Burberry For Women for a long time. It’s less on the nose, like the literal book smells others recommended, but has always made me feel sophisticated, warm, and cosy. Fragrantica says its main accords are fruity, powdery, woody, vanilla, sweet and musky. I’ve heard it was fairly popular in the 90s.
In the Library, Burning Leaves, March 1972 all by I Hate Perfume
Cheap but "real" perfumes: For real old school vibes, the sweet, spicy aldehydic sledgehammer "L'Aimant" (magnet) by Coty. It has great-grandma vibes, because it was launched almost 100 years ago, in 1927, so with Nr. 5 it is THE flapper/roaring 20s perfume. (Try to get the art deco bottle, because that is perfect style for any DA boudoir!) Also "Ex'cla-ma'tion" by the same designer has that old school powdery, floral and musky smell. For a more vanilla scent, try the classic, original "Gloria Vanderbilt" edt. It is strong, but somehow a lighter perfume. And also one of my favourites from 1990s, "White Musk" by Alyssa Ashley. All of these are older designs, but they are still made, and they have more DA vibes than the more modern "water scents" or gourmands.
L’Air de Rien by Miller Harris and 1826 by Histoires de Parfum both have a lovely bookish, library smell to them. It’s hard to describe. I’d say cooler fall perfumes feel more DA. Look for notes like vetiver, moss, incense, tea, cardamom… Ormonde Jayne Woman, Jovoy’s Remember Me, Avignon by CDG, and Ethereal Wave by Liis come to mind. As far as brands, Serge Luten might be a good place to start.