Scent of kaisholmes
Last Updated Feb 1 2026
This is a curated selection of fragrances that I find conceptually interesting. Some I own, some I've smelled, some I've only read about. My preferences lean woody. Imagine these scents as you browse through the website.
Death and Decay by Lush
Description from website: the pure scent of rose oil mingles with over-ripe tones of tonka absolute to give this fragrance a pungent, narcotic headiness. Let it transport you to a serene space where the fullness of beauty and its inevitable decay can be contemplated without fear. The message is one of meditation, acceptance and optimism delivered in the floral bouquet scents of jasmine and ylang ylang.
Notes: ylang ylang, tonka, rose, jasmine.
Perfumer: Simon Constantine, Mark Constantine
What I think: This perfume is inspired by the perfumer Simon and his father Mark going through bereavement. I quite enjoy the uncanny not-quite-floral quality. It smells like going to the graveyard first thing in the morning, dew lingering on greenery, you're holding a bouquet of jasmine and lily, the scent wafts up to your nose. There's a story in itself to the pleasant scent that follows its provocative name, a very nice gothic perfume in my opinion.
November in the Temperate Deciduous Forest by For Strange Women
Description from website: November conjures a cabin in the forest with Lapsang Souchong tea brewing on a wood-burning stove. Fallen leaves nestle into the earth and mushrooms sprout across the damp forest floor. A chord of resins create a sweet aura reminiscent of the air after a cool, rainy morning.
Notes: woods, forest floor, rain, tea, decomposing leaves.
Perfumer: Jill McKeever
What I think: this scent smells almost completely like burnt black tea. The kind that's completely bitter, and has enough caffeine to make your hand tremble. It has almost zero "perfumey" quality to it, being entirely bitter, smokey, wet like petrichor, and dim like shade under forest trees. It reminds me of my trip to the mountains in Dali, Yunnan, China, going tea tasting in an authentic tea house, the bitterness and the aroma lingers on my tongue as I step out into the cool mountain air.
Inexcusable Evil by Toskovat'
Description from website: today I remembered destruction. The pain of life often makes me forget the more disgusting pain of having it taken. Fallen buildings on the news, crying babies, burnt flowers. Memories lost, tears drowned, coffees never shared… At least I have iodine on my wounds and crutches left to use, but what about those that don’t? The next war will decide not what is right, but what is left. Hate all governments & love all people.
Notes: (top) gunpowder, ozone, (middle) blood, bandages, iodine, burning flowers, guaiac wood, copaiba oil, nagarmotha, (base) fallen concrete, rain, incense, sandalwood.
Perfumer: David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi
What I think: I haven't smelled this one so I can't comment on my personal experiences, but people HATE this one. It seems to smell like rotten meat, like chemicals, and other gag-inducing qualities. But there are many who appreciate its off-putting elements, as it paints a picture of a military hospital, created from the empathy and guilt of knowing that there are people less fortunate than you.
L'Eau Papier by Diptyque
Description from website: as ink soaks into a sheet of white paper, shadows emerge. Worlds are invented...An encounter made perfume, plunging us into the heart of musk and its multiple facets. Musk evolves, changes, expresses itself over time and from one skin to another, just as ink saturates paper, assuming its texture to conjure up dreams and images...
Notes: white musks, mimosa, blonde woods accord, rice steam accord.
Perfumer: Fabrice Pellegrin
What I think: I like this a little more every time I wear it, and it feels a little more "gourmand" every time I wear it. The "floral" quality of the mimosa dies down very quickly to a steamy, warm smell of rice. The musky scent can also be interpreted as paper. The blunt, "sanded down" texture creates a homey feeling, like coming home knowing that there's always warm rice in the cooker waiting for you.
L'Orpheline by Serge Lutens
Description from Fragrantica: (exerpt) how did you recover the road to perfume in this labyrinth? It is the memory, forgiveness and like this, what we have today, it was able to survive: From the dust. It is not only in the feminine but it also has no plural. It is the wake of my life, that which remains when all has disappeared. It is the invisible which, veil after veil, there where it is forgotten, fades into grey.
Notes: incense, musk.
Perfumer: Christopher Sheldrake, Serge Lutens
What I think: I haven't smelled this one either, but it is another goth fragrance, inspired by Serge Lutens' memories of growing up without his mother. From what I heard, it's melancholic and depressing, like smelling a Victorian ghost or a house that's been abandoned for decades.
Smoulder by BARRE
Description from website: Stay a while, burn slowly, with smoke but no flame, drifting over, it felt warm, daytime, lowlight, anytime wool sweater.
Notes: embers, smoke, dry wood, fir tree
Perfumer: Bree Hyland
What I think: this is a Canadian brand, and I think this perfume captures the exact olfactory experience of camping up North. The perfume has an intensely smoky beginning, almost reminded me of barbecue. As it dries down, you get more of the dry wood and fir, and the generally greener scents peak through. It's like putting out a campfire, going to sleep in your cabin still smelling the smoke, and then waking up to clearer air. If you doused yourself in this scent while being up North, I doubt anyone would notice, because it's going to smell exactly like the environment.