Dare-to-wear perfumes - Halloween 2020 special! theme
You can order all perfumes featured in this theme as a pack of samples.
In this theme
Just in time for Halloween, we have put together a selection of perfumes which are a bit of dare for a lot of noses. These perfumes might be too smoky, too chaotic, too sweet, too vulgar, too weird, and - let’s face it - too animalic (who wants to smell of horses?).
Although the threshold of acceptable or pleasant is subjective, we relied on peoples’ reactions to the perfumes we selected for this edit. When presenting these fragrances in the shop, we continually witness people recoiling, having a very puzzled look, or implying a silent question as to why the perfumer decided to create something so surprising.
However, why not give these formulas exploring the frontiers of possibility a chance in this spooky season?
An ode to salty bodily emissions, this bizarre fragrance is an abyss away from what we expect from a perfume. It’s metallic, suggestive, sharp, indecent and abstract. By now it has become infamous, and is often referenced as one of the most challenging perfumes to try, let alone wear, as your signature scent.
Osang is a heavy and dramatically complex incense that feels claustrophobic. This perfume requires sitting down and experiencing it for quite a while, until the logic of this huge, scented system manifests itself. Ideal for the solemn solitude of an immortal vampire.
The outer limits of unpleasantness, consciously concocted by the perfumer to smell repulsive. There are accords of vomit, animal sweat and a putrid compound that wafts something that used to be protein, but is now sugars and amino acids… i.e. a corpse on its third to fifth day of chemical transformation.
"The lion he has got false teeth, the fire eater is a cheat | The exotic dancer is antique | The high-wire artist smashed his nose, the dancing bears got gangrened toes | And all the artists need new clothes" From The Cheapest Show by The Tiger Lillies. A pungent combination of a strawberry bubblegum accord with the aroma of worn leather stained with animal sweat. A 19th century, Wild West circus: kids crunching at their toffee apples as they watch a dusty clown stick his head into a toothless lion’s mouth.
This could potentially be the most animalic formula out there, with notes of beeswax, civet, costus, goat hair, hyraceum, Laotian oud and myrrh making up most of the formula. Even though costus is a plant, it smells like an unventilated barn on a hot day - with myrrh adding a very corporeal, almost sweaty nuance to the perfumer's experiment.
