The Heirloom Elixir Limited Editions Gift Set contains all 6 editions from this past year (the “Beautiful Toxins” series) in 10 ml (refillable) rollerball bottles.
Cigarette Fétiche {no.22}: There are many beautiful plants that are toxic… yet we humans still love them and often feel great attraction to them, even though we know they are dangerous. We find ourselves wanting to experience altered states; often through the use of substances (like perfume). For the 2022 Heirloom Elixir collection, I’ll be exploring toxins and altered states through scent & pleasure, spiritual practice, self destructive tendencies, and even the ‘magic’ of transmuting toxic substances into beneficial medicines. We start with cigarettes and the sensuality associated with smoking rituals. I found inspiration in looking at elegant cigarette holders, sexy inhalation styles, and the beauty of curling smoke rings (as well as the addictive nature of tobacco). Tobacco fragrances have been popular since smoking became a form of liberation for women in the early 20th Century. Since then, there have been myriad tobacco themed fragrances which speak to the chewy / fruity, vanillic / balsamic, and traditional booze-paired expressions of tobacco. With Cigarette Fétiche I wanted to create an ‘ashy’ take on the tobacco soliflore concept, while still emphasizing the luxe sensuality of the note. Instead of focusing on the sweet nuances alone, I wanted to bring in some references to the scent of Old Books, and a brush with undulating curls of smoke. Whether you’ve ever had a fetish for cigarettes or not, Cigarette Fétiche is a lovely and unusual take on a classic style of perfumery tradition.
The Absinthe Drinkers {no.23}: Switching gears completely, fragrance wise, from Cigarette Fétiche, for the next 2022 Heirloom Elixir release we travel (a bit) back in time and space to Paris of the late 19th Century and it’s fascination with absinthe (especially among the artists, writers, spiritualists, and counter-cultural movers and shakers of the day). For a very long time absinthe was a banned substance, as it was thought to ‘rot the brain’ and poison the imbiber; literally to become possessed by ‘the green fairy’. For the lovers of absinthe, it represented a glorious escape into the realm of the muse; a space of inspiration, beauty, and maybe even higher consciousness. It was elegant, exciting, and rather naughty.Many painters of the period created images of “Absinthe Drinkers” from Manet, to Edvard Munch, to most famously, Edgar Degas. They all appear to be in a dream-like state; some in a sort of of stupor and others rather animated. For my fragrance “The Absinthe Drinkers” I wanted to create an atmosphere: the scent of absinthe (including the slightly creamy texture when water and sugar are added to the liquor), the aromas of popular fragrances of the period (wood violet and heliotrope), as well as aspects of the clothes they wore (a bit of skin and body scent), and the wooden tables found in bars of the time. It’s a complex and beautifully vintage inspired green / sweet / aromatic fragrance with a lovely cozy (sort of fluffy) side as it dries down. Somehow “The Absinthe Drinkers” feels like an eerily perfect concept to explore as we navigate our own need for dreaming and escapism during a multi-year pandemic. I think that most of us can relate to the wish to leave and find a more beautiful space to inhabit while the outer world feels so out of control and scary. Here we find beauty and comfort as we dance with the green fairy and her altering effects.
Oleander {no. 24}: The perfect transitional perfume to take us from the heart of Spring to the blossoming of Summer. Oleander (or Nerium), is a toxic Mediterranean flowering shrub that is widely cultivated around the world for its beauty and gorgeous fragrance. Although the flowers are said to smell of apricots (and apricot is one of the notes found here), I wanted to express the beauty of the entire shrub with green leafy edges, and the warm, sultry feel of the semi-tropical atmosphere that they grow in. The result is a radiant, sunny, and lush floral with leafy green freshness and a soft creamy – woody-vanillic drydown. It’s beautiful on both men and women… an utterly intoxicating (and actually poisonous) flower.
Starry Nightshade :: a Tomato / Potato/ Tobacco perfume {no.25}: In the garden of mysteries in the Pre-Colombian night, scores of stars illuminate the sky while leafy green tendrils of blossoming, fruiting vines embrace the earth below. This is the perfume of long ago in the Americas… and languid Summer nights, by moonlight, in the our own yard gardens: Starry Nightshade. Nightshade plants, which originated in the New World, contain toxins (as befitting this year’s theme), even poisons – as in deadly nightshade; they’ve also been the long time companions of humanity. Whether trough spiritual and ritual use (tobacco), nourishment and sustenance (potato) or expressions of sexuality and lust (tomato), nightshade plants are a part of us.
Of the Vespertine {no.26}: The early Autumn is, for me, the twilight of the year… it is that glorious transition phase that brings us into the deep darkness of winter. Like twilight, there is a subtle beauty present that speaks directly to my soul. In keeping with the inspiration of this year’s Heirloom Elixir series (“Beautiful Intoxicants”), I looked to the *Datura flower and its spiral blossoming that occurs as day transitions to nightfall. Called the Vespertine Flower, Datura not only has a narcotic aroma but can be deadly if imbibed. “Of the Vespertine” therefore dedicates its heart accord to Datura, embraced by atmospheric notes to speak to the opening night sky and the sense of late summer turning to early autumn through a wooded chypre structure in the drydown. It’s warm, sensuous, and downright romantic in the most traditional sense of the word.
Azucar Negro {no.27}: Blackened Sugar laced with Long Island Iced Tea. Polished mahogany sitting rooms… filled with smoke while sipping on Cuba Libre. This is one sexy, intoxicating potion that could only come from below the Tropic of Cancer; in the land of sugar cane. We’re completing our “Beautiful Toxins” series with the most pervasive (and perhaps addictive) of all : Sugar. (You know it’s just downright delicious!).
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