Perfume Extraordinaire Winner: Les Potions Fatales by PARFUMS QUARTANA:
"Even bees, the little almsmen of spring bowers, know there is richest juice in poison flowers" - John Keats
Les Potions Fatales explores the treacherous beauty and intriguing lore behind nine of the world’s most poisonous flowers. At once tantalizing and perilous, these mortal fleurs have been used to nefarious ends throughout history. Yield to their charms and surrender to a fragrant femme fatale (or homme fatale) — seductive on the outside but ultimately dark, sinister, and dangerous.
Created by Joseph Quartana, founder of both Six Scents Parfums and the former cutting-edge fashion boutique Seven New York, PARFUMS QUARTANA is a new premium fragrance line within the Six Scents umbrella exploring singular themes through a series of prestigious limited-edition scents. The brand is the culmination of Joseph Quartana’s unique vision, produced in small batches using the finest ingredients and precious oils that are fair-trade, cruelty-free, and as "green" as can be.
Poppy Soma, one of the nine "poison flower" fragrances within Les Potions Fatales, won the coveted Perfume Extraordinaire Award at the 2017 Fragrance Foundation Awards held at Lincoln Center in New York City. The prize itself was presented by actress Katie Holmes to Joseph Quartana, Emilie Coppermann, and David Apel.
Les Potions Fatales was perfected over the course of 2.5 years with the accomplished noses of our fine fragrance partner Symrise.
A portion of proceeds from sales of these fragrances will benefit the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
All original artwork by Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic. Based in NY and Tokyo, Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic has been exhibited at the MoMA, The White House, Art Basel, and his work is a part of the Smithsonian Collection. He was awarded as Top 40 Alumni of Pratt Institute and the SCOPE Grand Prize. @aerosynlex
Les Potions Fatales was released globally in November 2016 to select prestige apothecaries, boutiques, department stores, and hotels. See our list of stockists for a store near you.
PRESS HIGHLIGHTS for Les Potions Fatales by PARFUMS QUARTANA:
WINNER - 2017 Fragrance Foundation Parfum Extraordinaire of the Year Award
Best of 2016 Lists in Fragrantica, Persefume, Das Duft Tagebuch, and Brooklyn Fragrance Lover
"File this under the most badass fragrance line in history." — InStyle
"Digitalis, the best Aquatic fragrance ever created?" — The Scented Apprentice
"I think this is a collection which should be sought out by those who enjoy something different in their perfume." — Colognoisseur
"The perfume Venetian Belladonna alone could substitute the rest of Les Potions Fatales, because its smell perfectly captures the meaning of the collection's name: floral fruity sweet, mesmerizing and inviting in a smarmy way. You're trapped and smitten by its tenderness, although you already hear how its lulling purring is turning into a hungry, anticipating growling. But you are not afraid, you are bewitched with desire and live in a delirium." — Fragrantica
Venetian Belladonna
$165 USD
$165 USD
$7 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Pierre-Constantin Gueros
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
"Non tradire una bella donna..."
(Do not betray a beautiful woman, or she'll poison your wine)
— Anonymous
FLORAL-FRUITY, FRUITY, SPICY, WOODY-DARK
Cassis, Violet Water, Plum, Sultanene, Cognac, Styrax Pyrogene, Ambrette Seed, Sampaquia, Honey, Purple Iris, Tuberose, Patchouli, Labdanum, Suede, Saffron, Beeswax, Sandalwood, Vetiver
@15% Eau de Parfum
COMMENTARY: Belladonna is a sweet smelling poison with a rich tradition in Italy going back to ancient times when Livia used it to poison Emperor Augustus. Literally translating to ‘beautiful woman’, medieval Italian women would put droplets into their eyes to dilate their pupils as they believed this made them appear more attractive; this would cause hallucinations, or in wiccan terms, a "flying spell". It is often equated with aggressive female sexuality and was used by Northern Italian witches (streghe) to place seduction spells on men. Our Belladonna lures you in and then burns you with her hellfire, thanks to the accord, styrax pyrogene.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned" which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Bloodflower
$145 USD
$145 USD
$6 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Alexandra Carlin
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
"Look at my blood flowers, because I write with a serene sharp blade that soothes as much as cuts into the deepest parts of my soul"
— Basith
AROMATIC, BOOZY, GOURMAND, AMBER, METALLIC, WOODY-DARK
Licorice, Anise, Blood Accord, Clover, Orris, Dark Rose, Amber, Patchouli
@18% Eau de Parfum
COMMENTARY: While used as a poison in Brazil, Bloodflower’s key feature is its role in the transformation of the Monarch Caterpillar into the majestic Monarch Butterfly, so emphasis was placed on the fragrance transforming in front of one’s nose. Given the name, we wished to attain a haute-Goth experience by adding blood accord, but sweetening it up through the addition of black Sambuca, a dessert liquor; the result hints at the vampirish. The fragrance is also imbued with rose for dark romance and various spices for passion.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned' which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Midnight Datura
$165 USD
$165 USD
$7 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Lisa Fleischmann
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
"Any man who falls asleep after smelling datura
will fall in love with the first woman he sees"
— Anonymous
FLORAL-FRESH, FLORAL-FRUITY, CREAMY, BOOZY, POWDER, AMBER
Green leaf, Mandarin, Bergamot, Davana, Rum, Jasmine, Tuberose, Magnolia, Muguet, Rose, Violet, Lavender, Heliotrope, Datura, Clove, Nutmeg, Pepper, Balsam, Patchouli, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Amber, Musk
@17% Eau de Parfum
COMMENTARY: Also known as “moonflower”, Datura is an essential ingredient in love potions and is known to induce visions and a trance-like state. Datura has aphrodisiac qualities and fittingly, it’s white flowers open at nighttime, glowing in the moonlight. Featuring ten flowers, we envisioned this fragrance to be a voluptuous super-floral tinged with a platinum luminosity, but a bit drunken due to the addition of dark rum. As it was used for Lunar worship, ours is an homage to Diana, goddess of the moon and hunt.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned' which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Digitalis
$145 USD
$145 USD
$6 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: David Apel
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
"The foxglove bells, with lolling tongue,
Will not reveal what peals were rung
In Faery, in Faery,
A thousand ages gone."
—Mary Webb
(Foxglove is the common name for Digitalis)
GREEN, FRESH-CLEAN, OCEANIC, SPICY
Galbanum, Silver Iris, Cucumber, Basil, Pepper, Ozone, Coriander, Florozone, Drenched Violet, Neroli, Rose, Jasmine, Gentiane, Incense, Fern, Wet Moss, Violet Leaf
@16% Eau de Parfum
COMMENTARY: Also known as “Foxglove” and besides being a poison flower, Digitalis has a tradition of being used by pagans to summon woodland spirits such as fairies and elves. Thus we created a sparkly, fresh ozonic fragrance to suggest the presence of fairies, set along the banks of a magical wooded stream. It is the most innocent, whimsical and childlike of our fatal potions.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned' which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Hemlock
$145 USD
$145 USD
$6 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Christelle Laprade
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
"Socrates gave a lot of advice, and he was given hemlock to drink"
— Rose Kennedy
GREEN, ORIENTAL, SYNTHETIC, WOODY-SPICY
Martinique Rum, Pink Pepper, Calabrian Bergamot, Crushed Leaves, Glossy White Floral, Cinnamon Bark, Clove Buds, Jasmine Sambac, Styrax Pyrogene, Black Vinyl Accord, Black Magnolia, Cyclamen, Salt, Benzoin, Vanilla Bean, Suede, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Tonka Bean, Musk, Masculine Amber Woods
@12% Eau de Toilette
COMMENTARY: In Ancient Greece, hemlock was used to execute condemned prisoners, the most famous being the philosopher Socrates. The word itself derives from the Greek word ”konas” meaning to whirl about, as its effect is vertigo and death. Hemlock itself is a delicate, small white flower that grows in green grassy fields, and thus we started with this idea as the backdrop for the fragrance, but added black vinyl accord to suggest a wicked black liquid.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned' which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Lily of the Valley
$165 USD
$165 USD
$7 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Nathalie Benareau
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
"Sweetest of the flowers a-blooming
In the fragrant vernal days
Is the Lily of the Valley
With its soft, retiring ways"
— Paul Laurence Dunbar
FLORAL-FRESH, FLORAL-WHITE, FRESH-CITRUS, LEATHER
Bergamot, Neroli, Dewy Petals, Cassis Buds, Muguet des Bois, Orange Blossom Absolute, Dark Rose Absolute, Jasmine Petals, Black Leather Glove Accord, Labdanum Extract, Vetiver Bourbon, Vanilla Absolute, Sandalwood
@18% Eau de Parfum
COMMENTARY: It is said that the Lily of the Valley sprung from the eyes of the weeping Virgin Mary during the crucifixion of Jesus, and thus has traditionally been a flower of purity and innocence. In order to put emphasis on its potential use as a fatal poison, we corrupted its sweet fragrant white-floral essence by enveloping it in a “black shroud” and reinforcing that with a base of black leather accord. We also added a salty, wet aspect to suggest tears.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned' which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Mandrake
$145 USD
$145 USD
$6 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Carlos J. Vinals
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
"Go, and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me, where all past years are,
Or who cleft the Devil's foot."
— John Donne
GREEN, FRESH-FRUIT, NARCOTIC, LEATHER, WOODY-DARK
Crisp Apple, Pomegranate, Birch Leaf, Birch Root, Bergamot, Mandrake Flower Accord, Rhubarb, Cardamom, Sueded Leather, Deadly Addiction Accord, Patchouli, Madagascar Vanilla, Sandalwood, Tonka
@17% Eau de Parfum
COMMENTARY: In biblical scripture, mandrake was referred to as ‘the love plant’ and was through to have male fertility enhancing properties. Long used in Wiccan ritual, its roots were thought to emit a fatal, supersonic scream when dug up. Because mandrake actually smells of strong red apple, we gave the fragrance a red fruity heart but grounded it with birch leaf and birch root to suggest the roots of the flower dug into the soil. We also gave the fragrance a sharp aromatic note to suggest its infamous, deadly shriek. Finally 'Deadly Addiction Accord' lends a creamy, gourmand wood quality to pull it all together.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned" which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Poppy Soma
$185 USD
$185 USD
$8 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Emilie Coppermann
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
***2017 Fragrance Foundation Awards Winner: Parfum Extraordinaire of the Year
"The poppy opes her scarlet purse of dreams."
— Sharmel Iris
FLORIENTAL, SMOKY, NARCOTIC, SPICY, AMBER
Sichuan Pepper, Curry Leaf, Red Pepper, Black Gardenia, Jasmine Sambac, Red Rose, Old Church Incense, Labdanum, Tuberose, Styrax, Musk Tonquin
20% Parfum concentration
COMMENTARY: Known to the Ancient Sumerians as “the joy plant”, poppy symbolized nocturnal oblivion, specifically sleep, night, and death in the pre-Christian world. “Soma” is a Vedic word that means “moon” and refers to the sweet milky sap that when oozing from the poppy bulbs would glow in the moonlight, and which was processed into raw opium to be smoked. Ours captures the before-and-after of the experience from sweet, milky sap to pungent smoke.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned" which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
Wolfsbane
$185 USD
$185 USD
$8 USD
$56 USD
Designer: Parfums Quartana
Perfumer: Philippe Paparella-Paris
Series: Les Potions Fatales
Release Date: September 2016
Named a Best of 2017 fragrance by the UK olfactory blog Persolaise!
Recently featured by Twisted Lily on www.Racked.com as a niche fall fragrance!
"The lolling weeds of Lether, green or wan,
Exhale their fatal languors on the light;
From out infernal grails of aconite
Poisons and dews are proffered to the dawn."
— Clark Ashton Smith
(Aconite is the common name for wolfsbane)
ANIMALIC, EARTHY, SPICY, BALSAMIC, WOODY-DARK
Angelica Root, Fig Leaf, Cumin Seed, Ginger Root, Absinthe, Patchouli, Cedarwood, Tuberose, Tobacco Flower, Castoreum, Benzoin, Sandalwood, Prunol, Vetiver, Deer Tonque, Black Truffles
@18% Eau de Parfum
COMMENTARY: Originally used in the West for exterminating wolf populations, Wolfsbane was used in the Far East for hunting and warfare by poisoning arrow tips. We wished to imbue the fragrance with this animalic ferocity of the hunter/warrior/wolf to reflect virile rage, but complemented with rich woods and luxurious black truffle. To give it a psychedelic twist, the heart note is wormwood, the basis for the hallucinogenic liquor, absinthe.
Our 50mL box comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, transparent chrome mylar pouch.
The purchase of our Les Potions-Fatales Discovery Set (available below) unlocks the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned" which can be used during checkout at a later date of your choosing toward a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales, thus making the Discovery Set FREE! You try before you buy with no risk!
PARFUMS QUARTANA: Les Potions-Fatales "Les Petites Morts" 9 x 2mL Discovery Pack
$56 USD
$56 USD
PARFUMS QUARTANA: Les Potions-Fatales "Les Petites Morts" discovery packs contain all nine parfums in 2mL atomizer vials. They are the perfect way to experience their dark seduction and ideal for travel too.
Contains 2mL atomizer spray vials of Venetian Belladonna, Bloodflower, Midnight Datura, Digitalis, Hemlock, Lily of the Valley, Mandrake, Poppy Soma, and Wolfsbane.
Each 2mL vial lasts approximately 1 week with normal usage.
Our discovery set comes factory heat-sealed in a tamper-resistant, liquid mirror chrome mylar pouch with a 'Q' hologram seal of authenticity.
Discovery Set is essentially free with redemption of the $50 discount code "IveBeenPoisoned' during checkout of a purchase of a full size bottle of Les Potions-Fatales.
Six Scents Parfums Gift Card
$50 USD
$50 USD
$100 USD
$500 USD
$1,000 USD
We fully realize that one's choice of fragrance is a very intimate and personal matter in finishing one's style identity (perhaps even more-so than one's choice of undergarment and at least as equally important). Give the gift of olfactory pleasure and let THEM choose with a Six Scents Parfums gift card.
Our gift cards are delivered by email and contain instructions to redeem them at checkout. They have no additional processing fees and NEVER expire.