Dark Queen - Scent Shop

For the third Ҫafleurebon birthday fragrance, founder and editor-in-chief Michelyn Camen suggested that we move away from our Alice in Wonderland theme into modern urban fantasy: vampire killers, shapeshifters and time delaying beasts in human form. “No,” we said, but she still talked us into it.

Our Dark Queen is a sleek wildcat which has been grazing at a berry farm. The aroma of a furry animal, but a very well groomed one, which only shows it claws if it absolutely has to. Untamed beasts are not for us. Its base is a traditional amber – the colour of our imaginary wild cat’s eyes – with the lyrical sensuality of styrax and labdanum. There are dark and fruity hints of oudh, with a stirring of red fruits, tonka, plum and apricot. Our animal may look as if it’s been out hunting, but the red stains on its furry nose are just raspberry juice.