Best Icon by Lush Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

This collaboration with Dia Art Foundation and American artist Meg Webster is an earthy, layered scent. Notes of geranium and frankincense sit on top of a mushroom accord that feels plucked from the dirt. Madagascar patchouli and sandalwood envelop green organic notes.

Meg Webster is best known for her sculptures composed of salt, earth, sand, and other natural materials, powerful statements built to disintegrate. The dramatic silver pyramid packaging is a work of art in itself, referencing Webster’s sculptural vocabulary.  The mirrored surface nods to ephemeral encounters with nature, while the bracketed pictogram emblazoned on the packaging references a motif from her early works.

Perfumer : Emily Coppermann

January 1618 A Japanese Galleon, the Pacific Ocean

Following a diplomatic mission to the West, a galleon carrying a delegation of samurai charges through dark ocean currents. Loaded with a rare and precious cargo, the ship’s hull is redolent of sweet-smelling tropical woods, heady Spanish leather, frankincense, fine black pepper and other exotic ground spices—the intoxicating spirit of a singular, extraordinary voyage of discovery.

A good perfume to visit if your are in a search for perfect true sandalwood,  smoky and a touch dirty. Arquiste carefully selected the companions for its sandal in this formula: tea and osmanthus, coffee, myrrh and stryrax and others to give it a dark, sensual depth.

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GQ US on Nanban:

"This is my signature scent. I wear it all the time. And let me tell you: I’ve never worn something that has gotten so many compliments—no sunglasses, no sneakers, no full-body rubber suit. People actually turn their heads and ask me what I'm wearing. And then they jot down the product name. Arquiste’s masterpiece introduces itself with Malabar black pepper and Persian saffron, gives way to coffee, sandalwood, myrrh, and Spanish leather, and embraces you all day with a blanket of frankincense, balsam, and cade juniper."

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Financial Times' resident perfume writer Victoria Frolova on Nanban:

"... approach coffee notes creatively. Instead of mimicking nature, a perfumer instead might fashion a blend that hints at coffee’s pleasing bitterness and heady richness. Such is Arquiste’s Nanban (£160 for 100ml EDP). The composition uses a plush backdrop of woods to frame the smoky, spicy notes of myrrh and incense, with an accent of coffee to lend the composition a dark, delicious twist. It teases with its smoky, nutty warmth, but keeps its presence mellow behind layers of sandalwood and leather."

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‘All the soarings of my mind begin in my blood’

Rainer Maria Rilke

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A perfumed celebration of saints and superstitions, centred around a fierce fenugreek absolute note lavished with singed pyrazines, sacrificial myrrh and mournful molten honey poured over everything like amber rain.  Meadow blooms, sticky dark resins, pungent balms and ashen clouds of iris swirl like dramatic weather.

Zagal is the Spanish word for a shepherd’s apprentice, a figure that embodies discovery and innocence. This namesake fragrance invites you to approach the familiar with fresh eyes. Zagal is a dialogue between saffron’s dry, subtle bitterness, and fig’s fleshy, vegetal sweetness. Rose, jasmine, sandalwood, myrrh and vanilla provide deeply cushioned upholstery, rendering Zagal as a contemporary oriental.

Perfumer: Gaël Montero 

Bergamundi (a Latin-esque name meaning “bergamot of the world”), starts bright and fizzy with bergamot, tangerine and lime. This eau de parfum is fleshed out by smiling magnolia and orange blossom, and anchored by airy musk and cedarwood.

You’re being followed by a myrrh shadow. A shadow that traces your outline, then embellishes with enigmatic depth. This intriguing extrait de parfum flirts with myrrh’s dark charm, tickling its dusty delights with peppery cedarwood, spicy akigalawood and earthy patchouli. The zesty sparkle of bitter citrus succumbs to an enveloping cloud of benzoin and musk as the shadow lengthens, leaving behind an echo of the fascinating person everyone longs to meet again soon.

The finest gum extracts from Somaliland — frankincense, myrrh and opoponax — combine in this resinous and sophisticated scent. Berbera is a powerful woody amber suitable for layering, as is common in the Middle East, as well as a standalone manifesto. Opoponax brings nuances of leather and old wood, myrrh swirls in a cola note, and frankincense soars high and dry. A charred-around-the-edges fragrance to uplift your soul and deepen your mystique.

Inspired by a dream of a romantic encounter in a Parisian bakery. The air is filled with the mouthwatering aroma of candied fruits, vanilla-laced pastries, a hint of sweet tobacco. You’re captivated by the sight of a beautiful stranger holding a bouquet of fresh freesias. This playfully flirty mix of cream-topped fruits and florals conjures the dream all over again.

Perfumer: Bertrand Duchaufour

“On a track through an unforgiving desert, starting point and destination are indistinguishable from one another. Terra-cotta hued dunes twist and writhe, their shapes ever shifting. Only the merciless sun and aloof constellations can be trusted to point the way. Weighed down by treasures; some tempting the eyes with their glittering sheen, others enticing with exotic aromas, the camel plods towards a far off marketplace. Water is but a dream now, the taste of sweet dates a distant memory. There is nothing but an endless ocean of sand.” - Zoologist.

Perfumer: Christian Carbonnel.