The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Ex Altiora is a 2023 Sucreabeille release built around a specific concept: a book with paranormal properties, a fictional object that carries something electric and otherworldly between its pages. The fragrance is meant to capture that idea in olfactory form, the sense of holding something that shouldn't exist but does, something ordinary on the surface and deeply strange underneath. Sucreabeille released it as part of their ongoing Magnus Archives collection, a series of scents tied to the horror podcast of the same name. The collection translates the show's atmosphere into something wearable, and Ex Altiora focuses on the charged, unsettling feeling of encountering an object that radiates more energy than it should.
The composition pairs ozone with old books, and the contrast between those two materials is what makes the scent work. Ozone is volatile and fleeting, a note that tends to evaporate before it can establish itself. Old books are the opposite: dense, slow, heavy with age. Sucreabeille paired them deliberately so the sharper element has something to cut against. The paper note refuses to evaporate, giving the ozone a surface tension to vibrate on. The ozone registers as cold and metallic, a charged atmospheric quality rather than anything fresh or clean.
The evolution
On first spray, the ozone hits cold and sharp, almost metallic, reading cleaner than expected for something so electric. It's brief, a little aggressive, and announces itself with the crackle of charged air. Then the composition shifts. The old books start to surface, rising up through the ozone with a warmth that softens the initial bite. The paper note carries its own character, not dusty or stale, but the accumulated presence of pages that have held ink and time. The two notes negotiate, layering rather than blending, and the ozone never fully disappears. It thins into something colder while the paper deepens, settling into a richer register as the hours pass. The interaction between them keeps the scent dynamic, never quite settling into a single impression. It's a composition that rewards patience, revealing different facets as the balance between the two notes shifts.
Cultural impact
Ex Altiora is part of Sucreabeille's Magnus Archives collection, a series of fragrances tied to the horror podcast of the same name. The collection translates the show's atmosphere into wearable form, and Ex Altiora focuses on the charged, unsettling feeling of encountering an object that radiates more energy than it should. The two-note structure, ozone and old books, captures that tension between the ancient and the electric, grounding something supernatural in a material that feels real.
