The real challenge is to 'rediscover' a classic perfume before everyone else. Many were conceived in the first half of last century and became obsolete simply because fashion moved on. But if you haven't got the time or the inclination to visit tiny boutiques in Parisian backstreets - which is where such concoctions tend to be found - upmarket stores worldwide such as Harrods in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York are bringing back old-fashioned favourites, including Fracas by Robert Piguet (devised in 1948) and Habanita by Molinard, which was used to scent cigars in the 1920s before it was turned into a fragrance.

With everyone from movie stars to fashion designers jumping on the olfactory bandwagon, the race is on for companies to give themselves a competitive edge in what is an ever-burgeoning industry. Specially commissioned and numbered perfume bottles have been released sporadically for years, spawning a thriving collector's market - an art-deco bottle containing Gucci 3 fetches about US$350 (HK$2,723) - but it was only relatively recently that the growing demand for something 'new' prompted several houses to bring out limited-edition fragrances too.

'Fragrances take a long time to make,' explains Laeticia Law, sales and marketing manager for Estee Lauder. 'And because every fragrance house has to have a constant market presence, most scents are mainstays. We occasionally launch what we call a 'pulse', or one-off perfume, to give consumers something different. Garden of Pleasure [launched in 1998] and Honeysuckle Splash, released last year, were a huge success here, particularly with fashion-conscious consumers.'

Guerlain's Philtre D'Amour was launched for the new millennium and was only available last year; Ferragamo has unleashed its alcohol-free fragrance, Summer Mist, for two consecutive summers to keep customers happy without the costly investment of issuing a new scent. And Jean Paul Gaultier's limited edition Eau d'Ete Parfumee was on the counters a month ago. 'Once stocks are sold, that's it,' says Leanne Maddox, divisional cosmetics manager at Lane Crawford. 'So although popular here because it's fresh and alcohol-free, Eau d'Ete Parfumee is already walking out of the stores because people know it's not around forever. It's part of the Hong Kong psyche - they don't want to miss out.

'Christian Dior's reinvention of its 1956 classic, Diorissimo, as the younger, limited-edition Lily, did exceptionally well here last year for the same reason.'

Limited editions, however, have their drawbacks if you're a regular consumer rather than a collector. If you get too attached to a fragrance with a short-term shelf life, you'll be stuck when you run out. Which is where niche brands such as Penhaligon's, Parfum de Chantecaille and Editions de Parfums come in. Rather than computer-generate the desired notes (the various components of a scent), many of these fragrance houses use natural ingredients and traditional methods of infusion.

British perfumers Jo Malone and Lyn Harris say they identify with the court perfumers of old, and have achieved almost cult status with their exclusive fragrance blends, while the list of patrons of niche house Creed, which was founded in London in 1760, and moved to Paris at the behest of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, reads like a condensed version of International Who's Who. Grace Kelly and Jackie Onassis shared a passion for Fleurissimo, Julia Roberts likes Spring Flower, while leading men Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood and Richard Gere have all been known to splash on the Green Irish Tweed.

Joyce's perfume shelves, stocked as they are with such notables as the hip Acqua di Parma range, Annick Goutal and seductive scents from the French L'Artisan Parfumeur, are testament that niche fragrance houses are also popular in Hong Kong. 'Our customers are very fashion forward, and always on the look out for something unique to complement their mood and style,' says Julianna Shi, manager of Hong Kong's three Joyce stores. 'They want a different fragrance rather than the latest big-name eau de toilette that everyone will buy. I also think people are attracted to a scent with a story behind it.'

Which might be one reason why the creations of Annick Goutal, queen bee of exclusive fragrances, are so popular with savvy shoppers here and worldwide. After switching careers from classical pianist to model to mother, Goutal enrolled on a perfumery course in Grasse, France, the mecca of any wannabe perfumer worth his or her salt. She then opened a shop with one scent, Folavril, which she blended as a thank-you to her sisters, and went on to create fragrances inspired by people and experiences in her life. Eau de Charlotte, for example, was inspired by Goutal's stepdaughter's love of blackberry jam, and Petite Cherie, created as an 18th birthday present for Goutal's daughter, Camille, is reminiscent of a summer picnic. Goutal died in 1999, but her company was taken over by champagne-maker, Tattinger, with her daughter acting as a consultant, so her fragrance heritage lives on.

If that's not exclusive enough for you, you can commission a custom-blend fragrance. Couture perfumer Sarah Horowitz set up her company Creative Scentual-ization in 1994, making and distributing her own line, Perfect Perfumes, as well as conducting one-to-one blending appointments. 'I perform what I call a Fragrance Journey, a 90-minute session in which I sit with my client in my studio in Malibu or New York,' explains Horowitz. 'We discuss fragrance history and the client's past, and I develop a perfume based on the responses they give me. I work with more than 200 oils and pull down an assortment of notes as they speak. A childhood memory of a lilac tree, for instance, would cause me to select the three lilac oils I work with. One client wanted me to reproduce the smell of the Alaskan Tundra.'

She then asks her subject to close their eyes while she wafts the various smells under their noses. 'I also test the scent on the skin as I'm blending [everyone's skin has a different warmth and acidity that affects perfume, which is why what smells good on one person doesn't necessarily suit another] and I usually end up with anything from five to 20 scents in each blend.'

Whatever is chosen is whistled up into a unique scent (US$125 for 3.55ml of perfume oil), christened by the client. The recipe is then filed away until further supplies are needed. 'A client doesn't leave without loving her perfume,' says Horowitz. And judging by her popularity - Madonna and model Tatjana Patiz are among her more famous devotees - she has had many satisfied customers.

'More people are looking for an individual perfume, because they are unique and want their fragrance to be too,' she continues. 'They don't want to be confused with their mother-in-law. Perfume is a form of expression.'

So now's the time to experiment. With so many different fragrant options out there, you can smell like your grandmother or make the scent of Mong Kok your signature. Just follow your nose.