Fragrance has largely moved past "for him" and "for her." Notes like amber, pepper, leather and cedarwood were never gendered to begin with. They just got marketed that way. Peppery Amber is built around that idea: a spicy amber fragrance designed to work for anyone.
What does "unisex perfume" actually mean?
Unisex perfume isn't a scent family, and it isn't a compromise between "his" and "hers" — it's a composition built without gendered marketing shaping the formula in the first place. The notes themselves (amber, pepper, leather, cedarwood, vanilla) were never inherently masculine or feminine; that association came from decades of advertising, not chemistry.
What makes a fragrance genuinely unisex
It's less about a specific note and more about balance. Peppery Amber pairs a fiery pink pepper and clove opening with leather and cedarwood at the heart, then softens into amber and vanilla at the base: spice and warmth in equal measure, rather than leaning hard into either "masculine" wood or "feminine" sweetness.
The notes
- Top: Pink pepper, clove
- Heart: Leather, cedarwood
- Base: Amber, vanilla
Why this approach matters
- Freedom of choice. Wear what you actually like, not what a bottle's marketing tells you to.
- Versatility. A single bottle wears differently from person to person, which is part of the appeal of sharing or gifting it.
- It's where niche perfumery is heading. Unisex composition is less a trend than a return to how notes actually behave on skin, regardless of who's wearing them.
This is also part of what we mean when we talk about being a niche, artisan fragrance house rather than a mainstream one: no test panel telling us a spicy amber has to be pitched at one gender.
FAQ
Is Peppery Amber a men's or women's fragrance?
Neither, by design. It's built to be worn by anyone drawn to a spicy amber-vanilla composition, regardless of how it's traditionally marketed.
What makes a perfume "unisex" rather than just marketed that way?
The formula itself: balancing notes like spice, wood and warmth rather than leaning hard into traditionally "masculine" (woody, sharp) or "feminine" (sweet, floral) territory.
Do unisex perfumes smell different on different people?
Yes, more noticeably than heavily gendered formulas, because there's no dominant note pulling the composition in one direction. Skin chemistry does more of the work.
Peppery Amber is available as a 1.5ml sample for £6, a 10ml bottle for £25, or the full 50ml Eau de Parfum for £70.
Signature Smithen is an independent British fragrance house.
