India Ink

An exceptionally uncommon and mysterious perfume, this is a subtle mystical scent which combines notes of clove, incense, amyris, and a bit of oud to create a light spicy aroma that is an ode to the drawing ink that has its roots in Japan. A bit like a more refined and elegant version of Encre Noire, without the vetiver notes. All natural with moderate sillage and projection, this is an intriguing composition with alternating shades of light and dark.

Deep spicy and mossy. 100% masculine. Not a compliment getter. Along the same line as some of the Beaufort London and Dev scents. It takes a certain type of person to appreciate and even like this type of left field scent and unfortunately it's not for me. It smells like a tire shop where you can get a used tire for 25 bucks.

Weird scent. Smells like old stuffy book, sofa, or old people’s rotten house. A bit sugary, musty perfume. Somehow nostalgic, but also irritating; I had to wash it off actually.

So, here goes my pitch for the next season of American Horror Story. It’s about the spooky goings-on that occur during an Adult Film shoot that takes place in an abandoned dentist’s office, and it features India Ink from Heretic Parfum. This fragrance smells overwhelmingly of a mentholated, latex-clad hand slowly descending toward your face as a disembodied voice intones OPEN WIDE. But I’m not sure if it’s some sort of mint or a disinfectant clove oil, or something more camphorous and herbaceous and sour like tea tree oil or cypress. This empty office is located in a run-down strip mall, there’s a discount auto store next door and a deserted gas station nearby. A ghostly miasma of carbon, sulfur, and petrol hangs low in the air in this blighted scene of desolation and both urban decay and tooth decay, ruin porn and actual porn. The BDSM Rubber Man has found the laughing gas, and the faint, sweet scent of nitrous oxide fills the studio. As the investors show up to see what their money’s getting them, they are greeted by a chaotic scene too disturbing and gruesome to script, and production is shut down within 48 hours. The lead actor is never seen again, but they say you can still see his reflection in a mouth mirror from the set that is currently being sold on eBay.

This one's for the daring gothic sensibilities. Bela Lugosi is dead. Long live Bela Lugosi. India Ink is the first of Heretic's "Dirty" line that I've experienced that's truly dirty and even faintly heretical. I get an intense, animalic oud and anise primarily, connoting rubber, mouldering wood, and musty books. Clove and a smokey incense work in the background, neither adding any of the sweetness that these two notes sometimes carry. India Ink is blackest black and certainly not pretty, but it's an intriguingly unique scent that is committed to its haunted-ossuary-at-night vibe.