INEXCUSABLE EVIL BY TOKSOVAT - CRITIQUE OF WAR
Key Takeaways
- Inexcusable Evil by Toskovat was inspired by the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and confronts the reality of war without sanitising or softening it.
- Founder David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi questioned whether it was even ethical to turn such a brutal subject into fragrance before deciding that art has a responsibility to respond to evil.
- The composition moves from metallic gunpowder and ozone through a heart of blood, iodine and burning flowers, settling into the quiet aftermath of rain, concrete dust and incense.
- This is not a comfortable fragrance to wear. It is not meant to be.
- One of the few modern perfumes to engage directly with war as subject matter, executed with restraint and genuine conviction.
Inexcusable Evil is not just a perfume. It is a protest. Inspired by the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, this fragrance confronts the reality of war without softening or romanticising it. From the metallic air of the opening to the scorched stillness of its drydown, it is a statement piece: a reflection on destruction, on grief, and on the moral line we all must reckon with.
Founder David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi has said this scent was deeply personal and difficult to create. He questioned whether it was even ethical to turn such a brutal subject into fragrance. He pushed forward anyway. "If art doesn't respond to evil," he said, "what does?" This is not an easy fragrance to wear. But it is not meant to be.
Top Notes: Shock and Silence
Gunpowder and ozone. The opening strikes like a flashbang. Metallic ozone cuts through the air like static before a strike. Gunpowder is raw and real, not abstract. It is a deliberate invocation of violence designed to jolt the senses. Cold, harsh and eerily quiet. This is the moment before the chaos, the held breath before everything changes.
Heart Notes: Ruin and Response
Blood, bandages, iodine, burning flowers, guaiac wood, copaiba balsam and nagarmotha. The heart is medical, bitter and smoky. Blood and iodine transport you to war-torn hospitals and scorched streets. Bandages suggest trauma and the attempt at healing. There is beauty in the ruin too: burning flowers bloom in smoke. Guaiac and copaiba add a resinous, scorched sweetness underneath. Messy, raw and honest in a way that most perfumery is simply not willing to be.
Base Notes: Aftermath
Fallen concrete, rain, incense and sandalwood. The drydown arrives still, like walking through what is left. Rain falls over rubble. Concrete dust clings to the air. Incense burns quietly, like a memorial. Sandalwood brings warmth, but only faintly. A human trace amidst devastation. The silence after horror, held in fragrance rather than words.
A Fragrance as Witness
This is not perfume as comfort. This is perfume as witness. Inexcusable Evil stands in a rare category: fragrances that dare to confront the world rather than decorate it. David has described this as the most emotionally challenging work he has made, and it shows. There is restraint here. No glamour and no romanticisation. Just a bitter, careful honesty about the idea of evil that cannot be explained and cannot be excused.
For collectors drawn to concept-first perfumery, to fragrances that carry genuine meaning beyond their composition, Inexcusable Evil is one of the most significant releases in contemporary niche perfumery.
