In partnership with Focus Features, Heretic is proud to collaborate on a fragrance inspired by the iconic vampire for Nosferatu, a film from the visionary mind of Robert Eggers. But what does the world of the vampire smell like? As the film’s official perfumer, Heretic X Nosferatu present a scent that is also an apparition: otherworldly, straddling a line between this world and the next.
To capture the olfactory universe of Nosferatu into one glass bottle is no mean feat. We wanted to move beyond tropes like blood, roses, smoke or candle wax and explore a very different idea of this creature of the night. Cold, pale and pellucid, this fragrance evokes the uneasy chill of encountering an apparition. It opens with a clap of thunder and downpour of rain outside Count Orlok’s castle. Strikes of lightning fill the air with petrichor and electricity. The damp earth releases a fresh, clean, but ever so musty scent of plant oils and geosmin released from the Carpathian Mountains.
Tangled in the stones of the dark, wet heart chord you will find lilac in a vivid bouquet of cadaverous hues punctuated by inky violet absolute. We are immediately reminded of Nosferatu’s heroine Ellen Hutter. This floral accord of ether conjures memories of forgotten innocence and love everlasting, but in a flash and to our horror the purple beauty vanishes, only to appear once more as if back from the dead. The ionine, also known as “the disappearing molecule”, from her delicate leaves and stems is elusive and will be revived again and again in fleeting moments. Just then, another complex character drifts onto the scene in the form of vegan ambergris. A paradox to our senses, it reminds us of the salty oceans we long for, where a ship is waiting to take us home. Soft and velvety, the ambergris dances on the skin in a nostalgic waltz that is both delicate and hedonistic.
Making us contemplate the primal instincts that are within us all and the twilight zone between man and beast inhabited by the vampire – It’s a fragrance that will haunt you, but in the best possible way.
Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is only in theaters this Christmas.
NOTES
Top: Lilac, Ambrette
Middle: Petrichor, Violet Absolute, Orris Concrete, Cypriol
Base: Vegan Ambergris, Oud, Labdanum
PERFUMER
Douglas Little
HOW IT WEARS
Nosferatu begins with the crisp, watery petrichor accord and lilac, like cold rain on a manicured castle garden. As it wears, vegetal iris and earthy violets appear, quietly though, contributing just a whisper of floral sweetness to the fragrance, before the oud and cypriol add what could almost be interpreted as a smell of slight decay or mildew – not repulsive but just a little unnerving. The dry down is all about the vegan ambergris or ambroxan which lasts about 6 hours but sits close to the skin.
LORE LOVES
We love that Nosferatu isn’t a totally literal fragrance concept wise – it’s a really creative interpretation of the themes in the film. It feels distinctly cold and damp like a big empty castle, but in a delicate way, it’s not too overt, which makes for a bit of eerie suspense.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Heretic – one who does not conform to the ideals or opinions of the masses; one who follows their own path. Created in 2016 in New York by Douglas Little, Heretic is a natural, artisan, small batch fragrance collection. Based on the mysterious, sensual and feral aspects of nature, Heretic began with a conscious choice to do things a little differently. Provocative, challenging, unapologetic, visionary and beautiful – Douglas Little has created a rare, unusual and comprehensive collection. As Heretic boldly disrupts the status quo of the fragrance industry with their radical transparency, their fragrances delve into the esoteric world and the realms of homeopathy, ayerveda, and herbology. Douglas made the choice to work with entirely natural materials – essential oils, concretes and absolutes (blended in non GMO, organic grape and sugarcane alcohol) using traditional perfumery techniques. Believing that nature gives us sexy and erotic scents, the Heretic perfume collection creates unique depth and complexity. “Natural fragrances are much like wine in that you can detect nuances of the plant, the soil, and its surroundings. They have characters that cannot be achieved with synthetic copies. These fragrances are alive, they create an olfactory fingerprint” Douglas Little.
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