Heretic Parfum

Key Takeaways

• Heretic Parfum was founded in 2016 by Douglas Little, a Los Angeles native who built a natural, artisan, small batch fragrance range around the provocative side of nature and the dirty side of clean.
• Every fragrance is crafted exclusively from natural materials including essential oils, concretes and absolutes, blended in organic non-GMO sugarcane alcohol.
• The house uses traditional extraction techniques including distillation, expression and enfleurage to obtain precious plant extracts at high concentrations.
• Heretic treats natural fragrance the way a winemaker treats terroir: alive, specific and impossible to fully replicate.
• This is perfumery for iconoclasts, people who want their fragrance to feel raw and real rather than polished and safe.

Founded in 2016 by Douglas Little, Heretic Parfum is a natural, artisan, small batch fragrance range with a specific point of view. While the brand was created in New York City, there is something distinctly Los Angeles about it, which makes sense given that Little grew up in San Fernando Valley and still calls LA home. The landscapes, the heat, the particular quality of light and plant life there: all of it is present in how Heretic approaches its materials.

Erotic, Natural and Unconventional

Heretic Parfum celebrates outliers, iconoclasts and those who challenge conventional norms. The mission is to show the provocative side of nature and the dirty side of clean, which sounds like a slogan until you smell the fragrances and realise it is a genuine description. The brand works with raw botanical ingredients to create compositions that explore the unpolished version of plants and flowers, with their organic imperfections and earthly character intact rather than refined away.

Every fragrance in the collection is crafted exclusively from natural materials: essential oils, concretes and absolutes, blended in organic non-GMO sugarcane alcohol. Heretic believes that nature itself holds the keys to sensuality and depth, and that the most interesting olfactive territory is what you find when you stop trying to make plants smell more comfortable than they actually are.

As Douglas puts it: "Natural fragrances, much like wine, bear the nuances of the plant, the soil, and their surroundings. They possess characteristics that cannot be replicated synthetically. These fragrances are alive, leaving behind an olfactory fingerprint." That framing is useful. Heretic is not trying to make the cleanest or most approachable version of natural perfumery. It is trying to make the most honest one.

Inspired by Ancient Traditions

The production methods at Heretic connect back to how fragrance was made long before the modern industry existed. Traditional extraction techniques including distillation, expression and extraction are used to obtain essential oils, isolates, absolutes and resins from plants and flowers. These extracts are blended at high concentrations, which gives the fragrances a density and complexity that lighter natural compositions rarely achieve.

The raw extracts used are chosen as much for their aromatherapeutic properties as for their scent profiles, making wearing Heretic Parfum a more holistic experience than most fragrances aim to be. This is perfumery that takes seriously the idea that scent can do something to you beyond simply smelling pleasant.

Shop Heretic Parfum at Connection Parfumerie

The Heretic Parfum collection is available online at Connection Parfumerie. If you want fragrance that feels alive rather than finished, this is worth exploring.