With the most spooktacular season of the year fast upon us, I decided to check in with my favorite mad scientist, Douglas Little—Founder, Perfumer, Creative Director, and Chief Heretic of Heretic Parfum—and see what the Los Angeles-based creator of handcrafted, small-batch, naturally-derived fragrances has in store for all of the little creatures out there (whether they identify as a witch, a vampire, a ghost, a monster, or even a skeleton).  And while Little is “busier than a one-armed paper-hanger,” these days, he was able to give me some scentsational insights.

Let’s start with the witches, shall we?  First off, there’s the Limited-Edition SEASON OF THE WITCH Discovery Set.  Created by Little to allow clients to sample a variety of scents in a convenient 2mL size—perfect for shoving in your pocket when you’re running late to a summoning—this Discovery Set features a half-dozen of Heretic’s most magical scents, including Angel’s Trumpet (green freesia, Tiare flower, violet leaf, jasmine, and vetiver), Coeur Noir (rosewood, labdanum, and Madagascar vanilla), Häxan (osmanthus, Turkish rose, oakmoss, fossilized amber, and supernatural musks), Dragon’s Blood (dragon's blood, oud, cedar, and frankincense), Dirty Rose (rosa damascena, cedar, pink pepper, and vanilla), and my current favorite, Midnight Toker (tobacco, clove smoke, vanilla, birch tar, and labdanum).

Häxan, Heretic’s latest offering, takes its name from the Swedish 1922 fictionalized documentary by Benjamin Christensen about the evolution of witchcraft.  Described by Little (who’s been captivated by the film since seeing it as an impressionable youth) as a “fever dream,” it was banned in many European theaters due to its erotic imagery, which made it a natural jumping-off point for Heretic’s newest fragrance, which celebrates the witch as muse.  “The idea,” explains Little, “is to give someone something beautiful and enchanting and mesmerizing; but beneath that something from which someone can access transformative power.”  It’s equal parts alchemy and magick (and yes, that’s magick with a ‘k’)!

For all the specters, spirits, wraiths, and ghouls in your life, there’s the Limited-Edition GHOSTS Discovery Set.  Earlier this year, the curator of Basel’s Kunstmuseum—having discovered and becoming quite enamored of Heretic’s Poltergeist fragrance on a recent visit to the States—reached out to Douglas about their upcoming exhibit, Ghosts.  And while their epistolary exchange had begun with the intention of carrying Poltergeist in the Kunstmuseum gift shop, after a few exchanges, it was decided that Heretic would create four unique custom fragrances, which (with Poltergeist), paired with the five different rooms of the Ghosts exhibit.  Explains Little, “We developed these four custom fragrances from scratch over a period of about six weeks.  I was very fortunate to have a fragrance intern this summer, Brody Falchek, and without him, I couldn’t have done it.  We were running probably 40 or 50 formulas a day, and we finally developed what we called the Ghost Accord, a series of unique materials that created a very uneasy, chilly atmosphere, which we used as the foundation for the four new fragrances.  Finally, we produced a very elaborate brochure, which was the final piece of this incredible Discovery Set.”  The Limited-Edition Ghosts Discovery Set includes Ektoplasma (strange, phantom and once of the flesh; black water lotus combines with mate absolute, animalic ambergris, and wool grease), The Veil (a vapor-trail of skin and shadow; matsutake mushroom combines with invisible musks that drift like an echo), In Between (the threshold between presence and absence; damp oakmoss, vetiver, frankincense, labdanum, and ambrettolide), Poltergeist (the scent of a chaotic spirit, a sacred disturbance; mysterious wormwood blended with scorched birch tar, verdant galbanum, and fossilized amber), and Fantasmino (a mischievous vapor, both playful and innocent; burnt sugars and smoke woven with violets and electricity).

Calling all vampires!  Last year, in partnership with Focus Features to celebrate the release of the film Nosferatu, Heretic released Nosferatu Eau de Macabre—a delicate yet hedonistically chilling fragrance (think: wilting lilacs, velvety vegan ambergris, and petrichor) inspired by the iconic vampire, and created last year—which quickly became the maison’s most popular fragrance.  This season, Heretic has expanded its Nosferatu offerings with the Nosferatu Body Wash (a luxurious, plant-based, sulfate-free emulsion that gently cleanses while adding moisture to the skin), Nosferatu Body Lotion (a lush moisturizer that hydrates the skin), and the Nosferatu Rollerball (an alcohol-free perfume oil meant to be applied at the pulse points); limited editions, all.

As for those a bit more skeletal, there’s no need to lose your head, because Heretic has just released the Limited-Edition Memento Mori Candle.  Little, who’s been amassing a collection of Memento Mori since his early 20s (shocking, I know), had acquired a piece from Europe that really stoked the embers of his inner heretic: A fist-sized skull carved from a solid piece of walnut in the 1800s that had sat in a French monastery, at the base of a crucifix.  Little was so taken by its remarkable detail that he 3D-scanned it, then produced a mold and cast it in wax.  It turned out so beautifully that he added it to the collection.  Unscented, this candle-cum-objet d’art harkens back to Little’s first company, D.L. & Co.  As Little tells it, “More than a cool object, it’s a slightly grim reminder that you never know what the next day holds; so when you get another day, you should live it to its fullest.”

Finally, whether you pronounce it as Mary Shelly intended or with a Yiddish affect à la Mel Brooks, this is a favorite time of year for all fans of Frankenstein and his monster; making it a particularly auspicious time for Heretic to launch Frankenscent.  You see, due to the sheerness of Heretic’s fragrances, they layer together beautifully.  In fact, many of the times I’ve been minding my own business, only to find a perfect stranger with his or her nose buried in my neck—a not uncommon occurrence since I began exclusively wearing Heretic fragrances in 2021—demanding to know what I’m wearing while ignoring any sense of personal space; invariably, it’s been while I’ve been layering various combinations of these scents.  My favorites: Smudge and Dirty Coconut, Poltergeist and Dirty Violet (a wintertime go-to), Dirty Peach and Dirty Hinoki (or Dirty Grass), and more recently Midnight Toker and Dirty Violet. 

Anyhoo, recognizing this practice as commonplace for Heretic frequent fliers, Little beckons customers to “step into our lab of olfactory imagination and audacious alchemy, and revel in the dark art of fragrance layering,” bringing their own creatures to life, assembled from their favorite perfumes.  Thus, Frankenscent!  It’s pretty simple, really.  Pair any two 15mL fragrances to create your own custom layering duo, and save 20%.  

And that’s how Heretic is celebrating the Season of the Witch, y’all!  Bibbidi-Bobbidi-BOO!

Season of the Witch
Heretic Parfum
Click HERE for info

Get into it!
#HereticParfum