KAFKA 2026

KAFKA (perfume) was one of my earliest compositions, originally blended around 2011 whilst I was struggling (crying, kicking, screaming and moping) through the agony of digesting endless critical theory when completing my PhD. What did it all mean?

In my youth, I’d been hooked on getting high, Harvest (Neil Young), Greetings from LA (Tim Buckley), sandalwood agarbatti, The Eastern Emporium, and reading morose literature by Herman Hesse, Mikhail Bulgakov and Franz Kafka et al. This turbulent fragrance just seemed to recapture the intensely fractured mood of my own early adulthood; it matched the inner turmoil of ‘the seeker’ as I wrestled the tiger of tertiary torment. Therefore, I wore it a lot!

Of late, the entire world seems to have fallen into the clutches of throw-back tyrants and vintage villains, and it just seems like the right-on perfume to match the gloom of the moment, well, for me at least. I can’t wear much of anything else right now. 

KAFKA FEATURES: Bergamot, Pink Lotus, Jasmine Sambac, Jasmine Grandiflorum, Red Champaca, Italian Neroli, Rose otto, Siberian Cedar, Cypress, Rosemary, West Aus. Sandalwood/Spicatum, Indian Sandalwood/Album, African sandalwood/Osyris, Northern Sandalwood/Lanceolatum, Santalum Album/Aust-grown, Mysore Sandalwood/Album, Virginian Cedar, Amyris, Blue Spruce, Ambrette seed, Tonka bean tincture, Afghani Musk Root abs, Qadeem Hindi oud, CO2 Vanilla, Turkish Black Fasoukh, Omani Royal Green Hojary Frankincense, Omumbiri Myrrh, Dalzieli frankincense, Papyrifera frankincense, Rivae Frankincense, Kenyan Frankincense, C0/2 Bosw Carterii Frankincense, steam-distilled Bosw Carterii Frankincense, Kataf Myrrh, Benzoin, Rivae Frankincense hydrosol