Venetian Red
Anna Zworykina Perfumes

Venetian Red strikes me as more wearable than the others I’ve tried in Zworykina’s Gothic series (Ghost House, Huế)—particularly if you like Victorian vampire tales. The seaweed and ambergris (and perhaps some jasmine indoles) conjure something halfway between freshly spilled blood and seawater crashing against rocky cliffs, while the rose and patchouli inject more warm-bloodedness—the flushed cheeks of our excited heroine, perhaps. The longer I wear it, the more the rose emerges and the better it gets.

Dark stuff, perhaps, but neither as cartoonish nor as off-putting as many other gothic fragrances tend to be. Think a sexier twist on Hammam Bouquet. You might not be able to think of an appropriate occasion to wear it, but you’ll come back to it anyway.