Need some advice on "gothic" perfumes

[autumngleeman]

Hi there everyone. I'm asking about goth scents on behalf of my girlfriend. We wanted to know what you might recommend. I would offer a list of notes, but that is sort of the problem. When someone thinks "gothic" they usually have in mind notes like frankenscence or rose or something like that. I don't want to hold back your imaginations for recommendations because of a few hackneyed notes. Not that there is anything wrong with frankenscence or rose...I just want to get your idea of "gothic", even if it is different from the standard expectations. So, what kind of gothic perfumes would you recommend for my girlfriend?

Also, do any of you have any experience with Black Pheonix Alchemy Lab? We haven't tried them yet. Are they any good?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[srellim1]

No Rose, but Il Profumo's Patchouli Noir is exquisite, and is unisex. The nicest patchouli that I have come across.
Amouage's Memoir man is another option. Lots of absinthe, incense frankincense, a touch of rose, mint, tobacco and vanilla.
A great (slightly more masculine)inexpensive option is Vintage Zino Davidoff...A beautiful floral with hints of rose but also lavender, sandalwood, and patchouli. It is a true classic. Seek out the vintage bottle (all script letters in the logo). 4.2 oz's can be found for under $30!

[gmstrack]

I have memories of "goth" ladies wearing Angel during the mid to late 1990s so I will forever associate the candied patchouli funk with dog collars, electrical tape and Genitorturers shows (heh). If you want a literal interpretation of goth, then a perfume evoking a funeral is a good option. Passage d'Enfer by L'Artisan Parfumeur has notes of lily, incense and wood (al la church pew) and evolves into a strange skin scent. If you are into the church theme, then I highly recommend Avignon by Comme des Garcons which is hands down amazing; a gorgeous incense fragrance evoking a Catholic church. IMO, Coromandel by Chanel is another good option. Basically, I recommend fragrances heavy on the incense and/or patchouli, but it is up to you to decide if they evoke the feeling you are searching for.

[srellim1]

Avignon is a great recommendation.

[flathorn]

People of the Labyrinth's Luctor et Emergo immediately comes to mind. Weird, interesting, unusual.

There's plenty of Goth fragrances to be had on BPAL. I haven't sampled the line enough to give you particulars. Their tried and true regulars are good, their seasonal and others less so. I just tried a Christmas BPAL that was too much sugar on everything, including the Christmas tree. Bleck.

And I consider L'Artisan's Voleur de Roses with its dying garden note, to be fairly goth.

[Duke Smellington]

SL Borneo 1834 brings to mind cobwebs. Nice gourmand take on patchouli.
Profumum Fumidus is smoky to an almost unwearable degree.
Patchouli 24 smells like the aftermath of a forest fire.

[jbthorpe]

I know this is more of a male scent, but VINTAGE Ungaro III is dry, dark and rosey. You have to buy the vintage stuff though, the reformulated stuff isn't that great. Either way, it has zero longevity.

Black Aoud by Montale is also a dark rose scent. It is much pricier than the above but is more unisex and is worth the money as far as quality, longevity, projection, etc.

[SaNielsen]

Try Tokyomilk Arsenic

[cacio]

Goth imagery in the bottle usually has nothing to do with the actual scent. Case in point the latest Lady Gaga thing, which, despite the black liquid and pointy cap, smells like pink fruity bubblegum.

A material that can have goth connotations, I'd say, is oud, especially when the mineralic quality is emphasized. A very expensive example could be the unwearable Petroleum by Histoires de Parfums, which smells like a damp cave full of strange minerals. A toned down, and wearable, version is Dubai by Scents of departure, by the same brand, which was being sold at Urban outfitters, though a couple of weeks ago I noticed they had put it in the offer bin for half price (meaning they will discontinue it).

cacio

[Primrose]

Hi there everyone. I'm asking about goth scents on behalf of my girlfriend. We wanted to know what you might recommend. I would offer a list of notes, but that is sort of the problem. When someone thinks "gothic" they usually have in mind notes like frankenscence or rose or something like that. I don't want to hold back your imaginations for recommendations because of a few hackneyed notes. Not that there is anything wrong with frankenscence or rose...I just want to get your idea of "gothic", even if it is different from the standard expectations. So, what kind of gothic perfumes would you recommend for my girlfriend?

Also, do any of you have any experience with Black Pheonix Alchemy Lab? We haven't tried them yet. Are they any good?

Thank you in advance for your help.

I like the fun of BPAL scents and have several. My favourite is Cathedral, a real incense scent that would qualify as darkly "gothic."

Another vote here for CDG Avignon. More cathedral incense.

[kalli]

Gothic fumes that come to mind are:

Lolita Lempicka Eau De Minuit or Minuit Noir
Midnight Poison Dior or Midnight Poison Elixir
Amouage Ubar
Amouage Memoir Woman
Tom Ford Noir de Noir
Maybe even Portrait of a Lady by Frederic Malle
Lutens De Profundis

[gandhajala]

I get a gothic vibe from Czech & Speake no.88. Yes, it is rose, but a musty rose that is escaped from a mummy's crypt. OoooOoooOoo

[PerfumePorMoi]

Probably the most "goth" perfume in my collection is Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance. Straightforward rose, vanilla, patchouli.

[Alityke]

Original Dior Poison must be the ultimate Goth scent! Then anything with aldehydes, leather, patchouli or that smells purple. EldO Sex Pistols (now Malaise of the 70s) smells of well worn leather jacket and hairspray. I love it!

Oh and yep I know it's my current crush but have a sniff at all the Gorilla scents at Lush.

[seattlelight]

When I think Goth, I think edgy and pushing the envelope: Bandit, MKK, maybe that Secretions Magnifique (never sniffed that one) - but that is direction I'd go. Goth is not stereotypically pretty, it's impactful and subversive. I'm thinking some of the men's Amouage might fit this need pretty well, if worn by a Goth woman. Could be very striking. Or maybe a strong "men's" leather fragrance: Antaeus?, something like that.

[gmstrack]

When I think Goth, I think edgy and pushing the envelope: Bandit, MKK, maybe that Secretions Magnifique (never sniffed that one) - but that is direction I'd go. Goth is not stereotypically pretty, it's impactful and subversive. I'm thinking some of the men's Amouage might fit this need pretty well, if worn by a Goth woman. Could be very striking. Or maybe a strong "men's" leather fragrance: Antaeus?, something like that.

Excellent point!

[ExtremeK]

I'm thinking along the same lines as seattlelight. For me, goth connotes iconoclasm, subversion, and challenging expectations and given identities. Your sense of goth may differ, but that's my context.

So, with that in mind, you could take the fragrance search in two very different directions. As a goth girl, she could seek out the most masculine of masculine fragrances and play on people's expectations that way. For example, Kouros, M7, Antaeus, Muscs Koublai Khan, Black Afghano (or Sonoma Scent Studio Fireside Intense, for a less expensive foray), Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche, Montale Oud Cuir d'Arabie, the original Polo green (if you can find some before it was reformulated -- if not, Slumberhouse Norne is a great contemporary reference), Dior Fahrenheit, Slumberhouse Jeke ... Take the very masculine and make it feminine.

On the other hand, what I've suggested above could be considered *stereotypically* goth. So why not take the goth stereotype itself and flip it on its head with a goth meta-statement by choosing the prettiest, most innocent feminine fragrance you can find? For example, Clinique Happy would be a particularly hilarious choice, I think. If you want something a bit more serious, any of the "pretty" florals would work -- Pleasures, Lutens Un Lys, Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie, etc.

Or, if I'm overthinking things (which is always possible), +1 for Avignon, Black Aoud, and JHAG Vengeance, and two thumbs up for Sonoma Scent Studio Rose Volupte, Malle Une Fleur de Cassie, PdN Le Temps d'Une Fete, and Tom Ford Black Orchid.

[gmstrack]

Actually, I like to pair Pleasures with extra eye-liner and I always wear Fahrenheit with a dress...

I think you are on to something, ExtremeK.

[Bridgewater]

Nasomatto Black Afgano

[bonsai]

Maybe somewhat out of the box, but once I recommended JHAG Citizen Queen to a goth girl and she loved it a lot.

[VintagePoison]

Don't let my username make you think I'm biased, but I do think vintage Dior Poison is pretty gothic in the elegant way and not the Hot Topic way.

[Foustie]

+1 on ExtremeK's ideas.
+1 on Czech and Speake no 88. It has a dusty, aromatic, dark vibe. Victorian vampires in tail coats.
+1 on Voleur de Roses. Roses after a thunderstorm.

Also, Etro Patchouli, Patchouli with Geranium, mysterious and beautiful.

Etat Libre D'Orange Eloge Du Traitre, a fougere, a non floral fragrance. Dark and very dry. Very intriguing. Gets unexpected compliments.

[Kaern]

Salvador Dali Pour Homme

[CX827]

Aesop - Mystra

A multi-layered fragrance with top notes of Mastic, Frankincense and Labdanum. Named for the Peloponnesian hillside town, creative wonder and historical intrigue led us to create this scent of coiling smoke and cool earth, for intrepid souls.

Dry and emotionless scent. Neither warm nor cuddly from this one.

[Le Grand Duc]

Midnight Poison

[Darvant]

Here some dark fragrances with gothic/decadent facets:

Dark Aoud Montale
Aoud Flowers Montale
Black Musk Montale (dark but in a metallic and post-industrial way, not gothic)
Full Incense Montale
Black Afgano Nasomatto (Gothic, extremely dark and modern/chic at once)
Black Tourmaline Durbano
Norma Kamali Incense
Etro Patchouly (i agree with Foustie about it) + Messe de Minuit Etro
Salvador Dali Pour Homme
Zagorsk + Avignon CdG
Patchouli Noir Il Profvmo (decadent)
Lancome Magie Noir
Tauer Incense Rose+Incense Extreme
Mazzolari Lui
N.88 C&S
Parfum d'Empire Cuir Ottoman
Cinnabar Estee Lauder
Serge Noir, Sarrasins and Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens
Poivre Samarcande Hermes
Leather Oud Dior
By Kilian Pure Oud
Amouage Memoir Man
Olibanum Profumum Roma
Bandit Piquet
Ferre Pontaccio 21
Jacomo de Jacomo
Nombre Noir Shiseido
Vintage Ungaro III
Il Nero by Il Nero Profumi
V For Men Clive Christian
Gotham Neil Morris
Shams Memo
M Puredistance (more decadent and antique than dark/gothic)
Encens Flamboyant Annick Goutal
Stella by Stella McCartney
Kingdom Alexander McQueen (sinister, highly spicy but modern)

[L'eaulita]

Stephen Jones- Comme des Garcons.

[Shiny Beast]

I get a goth vibe from Slumberhouse. They're worth a look anyway, even if they don't fit the bill. Put on a Current 93 album and dig some samples.

[Leontion]

+1 for Tom Ford's Noir de Noir, Avignon, Black Aoud and Passage d'Enfer - all have a pleasing dark, offbeat aspect to them.

In my goth days I wore Paloma Picasso - terrifically potent, dark, green chypre with animalic notes.

[darkdreams]

According to these guys it is definitely Jasmine and Rose...Opium and Poison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaqSeM6s0Xg