SPITE EAU DE PARFUM

“This falls right in line with what seems to be the nascent Chronotope aesthetic […] a ‘choose your own adventure’ perfume.”
–Mark Behnke, Colognoisseur

A PERFUME ABOUT ADAPTATION

Spite Eau de Parfum takes place in an imagined garden, a hyperreal timespace where a group of spiteful spirits have gathered for the day. They meet below a lattice dripping with molle jasmine vines, interlaced and connected like synapses, as connected as these congregants are to each other. They haven't met to seethe together, but instead to plot out a plan of action in support of one another.

Shakespeare’s seafaring gender-bender, Viola, is the first of them. She appears as two unique essences made from white rose of York—crystalline rose otto and thick rose absolute—as well as tuberose and orange blossom. There's a third rose material as well, but it's her secret to keep. 

Cynara, the mortal who Zeus transformed into a goddess and brought to live as his paramour on Mount Olympus before striking her violently back down to earth, sits in a chair woven from rose vines, with thorns and all, cradling a bouquet of peonies, her relatives. When she hit the soil after her fall from the Mount, she sprouted into the world's first artichoke—fresh and green yet oddly odorous and somewhat fruity, like guava, and covered in tiny thorns. A perfect form to protect her soft heart, represented here by a supple French lavender absolute.

Oscar Wilde, the third congregant, arrives with his signature floral pinned to his lapel: a green carnation, another bit of hyperreality, rendered here via an accord of ruh khus, Iranian galbanum, clipped nasturtium stems and green sacra frankincense. 

And fourth is Magdalene, who wears the oil of nard, thyme and sandalwood that legends of her say she anointed Christ with during their first meeting. She's also brought along a chrysanthemum, a mandalic symbol of the manner in which tales tend to grow as they repeat themselves over time, especially when those tales are lies. They spread outward and expand. Sometimes, as in her case, they explode.

But Spite, these gatherers know, is wrongly maligned. It is not an altogether negative behavior, but one that exists quite to the contrary. Far more often than not, when we act out of spite, we do so knowing full well that we will personally absorb the cost of a single action's small consequence in order to bring larger adaptive advantages to kinfolk we choose to keep close and want to see thrive. Underneath the exterior, thorny layers of spite, like Cynara's artichoke, lies a soft and nourishing heart. Spite is the garden from which acts of altruism grow.

Spite Eau de Parfum is not an intense variation of Spite Eau de Toilette, but rather a new adaptation and a different fragrance altogether and the second installment in a broader, ongoing series of work exploring the many facets of spiteful urges and their consequences, as well as the situations within which they manifest. Spite Eau de Parfum is compounded at 19% concentration and is vegan. A handcrafted incense, also named Spite, will be available in April. 

In the spirit of transparency, customers should be aware that Spite Eau de Parfum contains nutmeg, clove and pimento berry oils in addition to the materials highlighted above. While the parfum is formulated in accordance with usage standards outlined by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) and all materials are deployed well under IFRA's maximum limits, customers who experience allergic reactions to eugenol and eugenol-containing materials are advised to use care when applying Spite Eau de Parfum directly onto skin.