Favorite Gothic Perfume Lines
I love a good scent. I remember my mother’s vanity being covered with the vials and bottles of different colored liquids and just being entranced. I can still smell the J’dore, White Diamonds and Red Door in the air to this day. I’ve been on the search for my own signature scent for a while now, trying to find something that smells like me, evokes a mood, and lingers on everything I wear. I love a dark, woodsy, unisex scent, I’m not really into girly florals even though thats the scent I get the most compliments on. Over the years I’ve followed a group of companies who have consistently put out exciting and delicious new fragrances over the years. As we are now entering shudders holiday shopping season, I thought I would make a list of my favorite gothic perfume lines. Not listed in any particular order.
1. Heretic Perfumes - I’m obsessed, OBSESSED, with every single release that this company makes. They have such sexy and sophisticated products that elicit such a mature and expensive vibe. They have now partnered together with Focus Features for a limited Nosferatu scent and I’m going to lose it if I can get my hands on it. Notes of wilting lilacs, vegan ambergris, and petrichor (the smell that follows rain), they write it smells like “an encounter with an apparition in the cold, damp caves of Count Orlok’s castle”. Sign me up.
2. Lvnea Perfume - Now I’m going to be honest, I have no idea how to pronounce this company. Lav-nea? La-va-nea? I don’t know. All I know is that they have some of the most amazing product photos I’ve ever seen. With perfumes with names like Besom, Devil’s Trumpet, and Ronds de Sorciere, you can guess what kind of scents they are offering. The Besom perfume is described as having the notes of bergamot, scotch broom, hay, clary sage, rosewood, truffle, oakmoss, green heartwood, and oakwood. Which sounds like a dark evening walking through the November woods, leaves underfoot, broom in hand, headed towards a bonfire in the distance.
3. The Parlor Co. - This company has been in my favorites for years. I absolutely adore their products. They have this Victorian apothecary vibe that I absolutely adore. What I also love are the atomizer bottles in those classic bottles with the spray bulb, how can you not feel elegant using one of those. They have just released their holiday collection with the Christmas Spirit perfume, with notes of gingerbread, allspice, brown sugar, tobacco, cinnamon, cedar, candied citrus, and buttercream frosting. This sounds like a warm, spicy scent that feels like lighting the fire and curling up under the covers with a good ghost story.
4. Seance Perfumes - This is another company I’ve been a fan of for years. They have a really incredible brand that also evokes that Victorian vibe. Seance has a incredible holiday collection out now that not only includes scents but also a pin, mug, and tea! The collection features Ancient Ritual, a roller ball with notes of frankincense & myrrh, smoke, Yuletide Spirits, a body and room spray with notes of apples, spices, berries, mulled wine, and fir. Night of the Living Gingerbread, a roller ball with notes of gingerbread cookies, and sugar. spices. Stirring Creatures, a body spray with notes of candied pralines, buttered popcorn, sugar cookies, sugar plums, and Christmas tree. Some of the other items in the collection are the Winter Wonder Brooch, Mortician Assistants Holiday soap, Night of the Living Gingerbread mug, Holiday loose tea, Ancient Ritual incense, Night of the Living Gingerbread tee, and tote. For those of you who need to give that certain someone a gift they will love, Seance offers this collection in one gift set for $220. You’re welcome.
5. Marissa Zappas - Now I’ll be honest, I saw this company and loved the bottles before I even cared about the perfume. I’m a simple woman and I love good packaging. These little bottles look like the perfume I wanted as a little girl, they are giving coquette, and I love looking at them. But with names like Carnival of Souls, Flaming Creature, Petrichor, and Queen Nzinga, not everything is as it seems. The products give a sort of femme fatale vibe, the girl who wears this looks like candy but tastes like poison. I want every bottle.
6. Nose of Gatsby - This brand I discovered right in my neighborhood of Seattle. I saw this selling at a local park and I took a whiff. Seattle has a well-earned reputation for being… smelly. Not the city, no the city smells fine, the people. Seattle is known for a certain unwashed order, au natural pits and unscrubbed legs are the vibe in this city. So it was my great pleasure to run across a Seattle perfumier. The scents are uniquely Seattle, not overly sweet or cloying, they are complex, unisex, and not too heavy. Personally I’m in love with their award winning perfume, Aura and now that they have released body wash, I will be bathing in it.
7. For Strange Women - With a name like that, I knew it was going to be for me. It’s literally for me. Their all female team work to craft scents and smells that feel like they have a sort of magick to them. There is so much power in the working of smells and wearing perfumes, each scent coming together like a spell. They offer not only perfume but candles, lip balms, incense, solid perfume, and botanical essences that can be used in diffusers or to make your own custom scent.
8. Treading Water - I first noticed this company with it’s slick, fetishy, sexy product photos and was sort of obsessed with getting my hands on the scents. I can’t explain but I was so drawn to the company. I received a sample pack of all the products, let me tell you about my favorites in the pack. The Observer with notes of violet, incense, sandalwood, vanilla, and oakmoss. The Rose & The Bush with notes of rose, cetalox, ambrette, stems, patchouli. Morosexual with notes of tobacco, vanilla, patchouli, jasmine, and star anise. Demimonde with notes of blood (synthetic don’t worry), rose, cardamom, leather, and amber. My absolute favorite, Fig Wasp with notes of fig, bergamot, fresh cut grass, guaiacwood, aakmoss. Judith with notes of burnt cotton candy, lily, arabian oud, dry amber, and deer musk. Utopia with clean water, fresh apples, geranium, green plants, and oud. Stel, a very sexy scent I would describe as “Daddy” with notes of motor oil, desert air, metal, frankincense, and oud.
9. Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs - BPAL is the goat, they have been in the game for so long. I remember seeing their ads in goth magazines in the early 2000s and thinking about how cool they were. I am constantly overwhelmed by the offering of products they have, it seems like whatever drive they have to make new scent combinations is insatiable. I have no idea how they do it. Honestly, I wish they made navigating their site and buying new collections easier. There’s a niche market of people on the internet who are such big fans of BPAL that they run forums to give reviews and trade bottles. If you really enjoy collecting perfumes, BPAL is the place to start, they also sell “imps” tiny versions of most of their scents.
10. Huldra Voltaire - This company is new to me and I’ve been really impressed with their products. Spooky Season with notes of autumn leaves, ginger tea, & cozy sweater reminds me of a day in a coffee shop, sitting by the window and letting the world go by. Darling with notes of rose, jasmine, vanilla cake, vanilla ice cream, & leather smoke, sounds like being drawn in by the promise of sweet delights before being wrapped up in a darkness so thick you can’t get out. Nightwalker described as being for femme fatales, has notes of musk, vintage amber, wood, velvet, and singed skin, delicious. I’m very excited for their Southern Gothic collection which should be out in 2025.
