In this new episode of "Off With Nose", Benoît Verdier, co-founder of Ex Nihilo Paris, presents Spiky Muse — a creation by Louise Turner, the perfumer already behind Lust In Paradise, built around an unprecedented strawberry extraction technique and a rose bouquet pushed to excess.
Carte blanche for Louise Turner
Spiky Muse was born from a conversation between Benoît Verdier and perfumer Louise Turner. The subject: feminine emancipation and creativity with total creative freedom. Turner had already signed Lust In Paradise for the house — Spiky Muse is her second proposition, with a deliberately fruitier and more taut olfactory territory.
The name says two things at once: the thorns of the rose — literally present in the composition — and the irreverence of the muses who inspire the fragrance. A deliberate ambiguity between softness and sting.
The signature of Spiky Muse
The most singular ingredient in the fragrance is an upcycled strawberry, obtained through an innovative extraction technique. Verdier describes the result as a natural sensation on skin unlike anything previously encountered in conventional perfumery — a strawberry that bears no resemblance to what we know from mainstream fragrance.
Around this central accord, a rose bouquet built in overdose — naturals and captives blended together — and a Virginia cedar in the base. Compared to Lust In Paradise, sunnier and more exotic (pink pepper, lychee), Spiky Muse takes a resolutely fruity direction.
Discover Spiky Muse and the Ex Nihilo universe in our selection below.