Halloween appeals to our darker impulses. So too, it awakens our sense of play. The two join hands at this unearthly time of year, the latter shamelessly coercing the former. But for all the hocus pocus, our taste for forbidden fruit, the desire to become someone — or something — else, comes alive.  

Perfumes of heavy profile — rich ambers, leathery woods, intense gourmands — can cast our alter ego centre stage. “A mask,” said Oscar Wilde, “tells us more than a face.” With these dark delights, who will you be this halloween?

Daringly different, Bandit is regarded as Robert Piguet’s most audacious experiment. Translating to English as ‘criminal’, Bandit — first released in 1944 — was the world’s first chypre fragrance for women.

A true radical, this Eau de Parfum is a complex blend of personas, splicing a neroli top, into florals, aggressive leather and oakmoss. Anything but safe, Bandit is animalic, ambiguous and androgenous all at once — a fragrance for provocateurs.

Perfumer Julien Rasquinet delves into the darkest ingredients. 

A rich woody amber, he plays with tonka bean, tobacco leaf and frankincense — even suede — concocting something powerfully distinctive and leathery. Inspired by Kurt Cobain’s impromptu chord-playing at the 1992 MTV Music Awards, Black Powder stands up for a generation, where freedom of expression was under siege. 

The pleasure and pain pick, this “Mexican cocktail” toils with pimiento chilli heat and saffron spice, as well as clary sage and ginger, then plunges into fresh alcohol and crushed ice cubes.

A teasing contrast throughout, the cunning use of iced accord marks the final dramatic twist of this contemporary soft amber.

The femme fatale, Lady Vengeance seeks retribution. Rich, sensual and seductive, Juliette Has a Gun’s mossy woods is an expression of femininity, dead set on disarming anyone who crosses her.

A rich woody accord of Bulgarian rose, patchouli and vanilla, Lady Vengeance is a frightful thorn in the enemy's side, a formidable weapon of mass seduction.

A bewitching trick or treat, Montale’s Oud Dream is hellbent on spice while at the same time gently sweet.

Black pepper and honey enter into a heart of Loatian oud, patchouli and Bulgarien rose, before laying to rest on an amber, musk and cedarwood base. A leathery sillage to die for.

For those who like it just a shade darker, Tokyo Milk spins a lethal beauty in Black Widow.

The trap is set, coaxing with top notes of sage, then seizing into submission with a heart of luscious orange blossom and ylang-ylang. A bewitchingly exotic fragrance, Margot Elena’s wild and earthy creation is an unforgiving floral amber that simply won’t let go.

The Secret burns an “aromatic poison” seldom shared, releasing notes of fresh ginger, basil, cedarwood, eucalyptus, freesia and jasmine into the air. Keep it close to the soul, some feelings are meant to be kept hidden.

Descending from the families of alchemists, engravers, rebels, mystics and poets, Coreterno expresses ancient knowledge and know-how through the beauty of inanimate objects.

Known in historic literature as la fée verte, or “the green fairy”, absinthe has been cursed for centuries. The Swiss-French spirit was banned in multiple countries, falsely accused of being a hallucinogen — hence 'green fairy” — and survives to tell the tale.

Herbaceous and vividly green, Carriere Freres’ Absinthe Candle is one of three scents inspired by the Natural History Museum — this, the most supernatural of them all.