NONFICTION Fragrance: What I'd Actually Buy

I am a sucker for a brand origin story that starts with doing nothing, and this one does. Cha Haeyoung founded NONFICTION in Korea in 2019 after leading Studio Concrete, an artist collective of photographers, painters and graphic designers. The idea came from a personal pause: a shower gave her a few minutes without work or a phone, and that little ritual grew into a fragrance and body-care label with gentle, gender-neutral scents.

 

Its point of view comes down to three words, ritual, reset, refresh, and I think the concept works best when it stays close to real routines: body wash to start the day, hand cream by the sink, perfume on the way out. In 2024 the brand became the scent partner for the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, working with artist KOO JEONG A and perfumer Dominique Ropion, and its campaign page places scent inside a story of modern Korean history. In my scent daydream, one quiet shower makes the rest of a crowded day feel less hurried.

What I like is how one scent vocabulary travels across body, hand, hair and perfume. The Gentle Night Body Wash and the Santal Cream Body Wash bring two very recognizable scent stories into the shower, one sweet suede and cedarwood, the other vetiver and sandalwood. The Gentle Night Eau De Parfum 100ml can follow the wash, and the Gentle Night Body Lotion adds one more step if you like fragrance layered close to the skin.

 

The Rose Pale Hair Serum Mist takes the line into hair, and the Hand Cream Mini Trio is a friendly way to compare directions. Picture her setting the Discovery Eau De Parfum Set beside the sink and letting each scent earn its place over a few mornings. What I would skip is buying a full-size perfume blind when a smaller set is right there.

What I want from NONFICTION is not a fragrance that announces itself across a room. Its strongest idea is quieter: let scent attach to the private repetitions of a day, the shower, the hand cream after washing up, the final spray before leaving.

 

I would begin with a smaller discovery format, wear one scent for a few ordinary days, and see whether I still want it around. A perfume can be beautiful on a blotter and wrong on your skin. The useful test is the one you live with. Although I admit the body wash is where I would start.