The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
№ 4 arrived in 2015 as one of SWITCH Perfumes' earliest compositions. Anna Zworykina composed the fragrance, building it around a palette of dense, resinous materials: incense, myrrh, labdanum, guaiac wood, and patchouli, the kind of base that anchors a composition in smoke and warmth rather than fleeting brightness. The opening introduces black tea and angelica, giving the smoke a dry, green bitterness before the heavier notes settle in. Choya Ral, a smoked note drawn from traditional incense-making, threads a faint burnt sweetness through the darker materials. The result is a fragrance that wears close to its own weight, built for those who want their incense uncut and their resins uncompromised.
What makes № 4 distinctive is Zworykina's refusal to soften the resins. She left them largely uncut, allowing the incense and myrrh to retain their full density rather than rounding them off with sweetness or fruit. Choya Ral threads through the composition, its smoked character adding a burnt-fruit warmth beneath the sharper top notes. Black tea and angelica keep the opening dry and almost mineral, pulling the composition toward something austere before the resins take hold.
The evolution
The opening announces itself with incense and black tea, bright and almost astringent at first contact. Angelica adds a green, bitter edge that keeps the smoke from tipping into sweetness too soon. The resins soon begin to layer in. Labdanum thickens the air with a sticky, golden warmth. Myrrh arrives underneath, darker and more medicinal, carrying that ancient apothecary quality. Choya Ral smolders beneath everything, adding a burnt sweetness that no other note in the pyramid provides. Guaiac wood and patchouli anchor the heart, pushing the composition deeper into warm, smoky territory. The drydown is where № 4 settles into itself. The sharp top notes fade first, leaving behind a dense blend of vetiver, patchouli, and residual resin. The smoke quiets but never fully disappears; it clings to skin and fabric with a steady, deliberate presence.
Cultural impact
№ 4 stands as SWITCH's most overtly resinous composition, the one that commits hardest to a world of smoke, wood, and amber. It's a fragrance that asks the wearer to sit with density rather than chase transparency, to be comfortable with materials that carry centuries of association. The incense notes don't lighten themselves for modern palates, and the resins don't dissolve into background warmth. Instead, the composition holds its weight, filling the space around the wearer rather than retreating to the wrist.
