Collage artwork created by: Jeanette Christina Collage

Notes: Chili pepper, dark chocolate, mezcal, labdanum, vanilla,

Descriptors: Chocolate, citrus, spice, gourmand, smokey, bittersweet, earthy

Ingredients: Isopropyl myristate, fragrance

Known Allergens: Benzyl alcohol, eugenol, oak moss extract

About: Chili pepper gives its spicy citrus sheen to the frothed chocolate top note accord, while the mezcal top notes are reminiscent of a smokey butterscotch. The middle notes dry down into the earthy bitterness of dark chocolate backed by the sweet and phenolic mezcal accord. The base notes of labdanum and vanilla continue the earthy sweetness, with the barest hints oak moss and the final notes of mezcal.

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Inspired by one of the characters in City of Sacrifice by Michael R Fletcher, which in turn was inspired by Mesoamerican mythology. I became infatuated with the name Her Skirt is Stars, a different version of her more commonly used name, Her Skirt is Snakes. The combination of chocolate and chili comes from a traditional drink, xocolatl, that was first made about 5,300 years ago by the Olmec people. Xocolatl was a ceremonial drink that eventually became a recreational drink. Mezcal – an alcoholic drink made from roasted maguey plants (also known as agave) - is a fantastic accord that I think is underutilized in perfumery. Mezcal has strong phenolic aspects, with light notes of booze and butterscotch, on top of the barest undertone of a vanilla-clove spiciness. I felt like this was the perfect companion to the bittersweet dark chocolate. The dry down of vanilla and labdanum help give the impression of both chocolate and incense.