The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Holly Tupper built this composition around the volatile intensity of narcissus flowers, layering animalic Indian jasmine sambac and cumin with the leathery depth of tobacco and labdanum, then anchoring the whole structure with myrrh's resinous smoke. The fragrance belongs to Cultus Artem's debut collection of signature scents, where Poeticus stands as Tupper's meditation on florals that refuse to behave, the ones that smell more like sweat and skin than like gardens. On skin, the narcotic sweetness of the bloom surges forward first, almost heady enough to feel illicit, before the spices and resins pull the composition back toward earth and shadow.
What sets Poeticus apart is the deliberate collision of materials most perfumers keep separate. Butter note brings a lactonic softness that reads as flesh rather than fabric, giving the composition a skin-like warmth you can almost feel. Spanish labdanum and myrrh provide the resinous spine, but the cumin and jasmine sambac push the whole thing into territory that smells alive, even slightly unsettling, as though the narcissus is exhaling rather than sitting still.
The evolution
The first ten minutes hit with cumin's sharp, almost dirty warmth, almost body-heat before a sound. Tobacco arrives fast, leathery and slightly sweet, weaving through blackcurrant bud's tart, almost vinegary greenness. The jasmine sambac blooms next, not fresh but overripe, indolic and dense, the kind of jasmine that reads as skin after dark rather than a bouquet. Myrrh threads through everything from the first hour onward, giving the composition its resinous spine. As the hours pass, the sharpness softens. The butter note surfaces around the two-hour mark, lending a milky, lactonic warmth that rounds the edges without dulling them. Labdanum and orris settle into a quiet, powdery base that lingers on skin into the next morning, warm, slightly sweet, unmistakably close. On fabric, the tobacco and labdanum outlast everything, leaving a shadow that lasts through a wash cycle.
Cultural impact
Poeticus sits in territory that most commercial perfumery avoids entirely, somewhere between skin scent and statement scent, a composition that reads as bodily rather than decorative. It lingers in memory precisely because it doesn't behave the way florals are taught to behave, refusing the bright transparency of mainstream soliflores and leaning instead into something older and stranger. Wearing it feels like carrying a private heat with you, one that others register before they can name it, and the sillage stays soft enough to reward close attention without ever disappearing.
