Carnival Wax

Agatha Blois came to perfumery through leather — she built a reputation as a custom leather artisan for rock stars and celebrities before turning her hand to scent under the Carnival Wax name. Working out of New York, she composes perfume oils and colognes that carry the same energy as her stage wardrobes: theatrical, edgy, and possessed of a genuine rock-and-roll mystique. Each fragrance is hand-blended from rare essences and essential oils, often packaged in hand-wrought leather pouches, making every bottle a small object of craft. The collections tend toward the heady and intoxicating — dark florals, smoky resins, and materials that suggest backstage corridors and velvet curtains rather than department-store counters. Carnival Wax represents a strand of American indie perfumery that is less interested in refinement than in atmosphere, and Blois wears that distinction proudly.