Niflheim

Extrait de Parfum (25% concentration)

Niflheim, the higher realms of Yggdrasil and Valhalla.

Typically, perfumes at Elixir Attar are meant to tell a story, they are not simply a “mixture” of ingredients that should smell good. The story should smell good, thats how we do it at Elixir Attar, and also unique, as well as beautiful.

We have released perfumes based on Japanese incense formulas, Arabian and Persian formulas, as well as Ghaliyas and French based formulas. The challenge however is to come up with a new perfume that is unique, not based on any certain school of perfumery,  and reflects the story you want to tell in very precise manner.

Niflheim is based on Norse mythology, a topic that i always found interesting since childhood. Some of you may think that Kalevala was based on Norse mythology, and thats because this area of the world is very un-studied), however, Finnish Gothic mythology is not even remotely related to Norse mythology, related only by proximity of geographical location, its a totally different realm. So Niflheim is our first – and wont be our last- perfume that is based exclusively on Norse mythology.

Vikings used to burn incense in ritual ceremonies and their connection to the spiritual was always full of incense. According to the formulas and reconstructions of anthropologists and historians, Vikings used to burn lavender, firs, flowers, honey, dragons’ blood resins, and oddly enough, dried garlic.

The term Niflheim is a state that Vikings believed to be a state of “hell” in the afterlife, and oddly enough, it was freezing cold, but full of despair, and the inner self of the ones who end up there would be burning. After months of contemplating a name that can work well enough for a perfume based on Norse mythology, i couldn’t come up with a better name for it, and here it is, Niflheim.

The perfume is a story of struggle, and here it is a story of the struggle between notes, spiciness and coolness, hotness and coldness, in perfume terms that translate to the following olfactory description:

Top notes: pepper, lavender, fir balsam, spearmint

Middle notes: honey, rose, tolu balsam

Base notes: Lots of ambergris, roasted seashells, dragons blood, oud (an accord of various ouds to give a smokey resinous drydown), fir balsam smoke tincture

Of course this list of notes is not a comprehensive list of the ingredients used, its full of twists and turns and it smells incredibly unique and smooth and one great experience)

The majority of Elixir’s perfumes and attars are handcrafted and made of 100% of the highest quality natural extracts and are unisex. If synthetics were used, it is indicated on the product page.