Nose Republic BAD WOLF, official image via the brand

“All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. (…) Just think about it. There’s escaping from the wolves, fighting the wolves, taming the wolves. Running with the wolf pack. Turning into a wolf. Best of all, turning into the head wolf. No other decent stories exist.” Margaret Atwood

Nose Republic grew out of an eponymous blog – the brand’s owner’s Telegram channel about perfume. A well-known Russian perfume blogger Ksenia Golovanova, and her brand’s slogan, “Smells like a good story”, reflects its philosophy- creating perfumes that are inspiring stories told in the rawest, most genuine language of all, the language of olfaction. In her words: “To me, its name (from Latin res publica, ‘public affair’) resonated a lot with the idea of smells, the rawest, most unfiltered sensations of all, bringing people together, making them equal on a primal level. Very different people from very different countries, cultures, walks of life etc. Nose Republic, the brand is based on the same simple idea. The stories I want to tell with perfumes are simple, too – but genuine. Originally rooted in my culture, these stories are universal – again, on a primal level – and will vibrate through many souls. The longing for space, the thrill of running free through the woods, the rush you get when viewing the city at night, from the top of a high building, – some of these feelings, I’m sure, have passed through the rooms of your mind. Let them pass again with Nose Republic  – and leave fragrant traces on those imaginary door handles.”

Ksenia Golovanova, photo via official website

I loved that the discovery kit is called “short stories” – as in literature, short stories offer you a chance to get a glimpse into the world inside a writer’s head. The same goes for perfume, and the smellscape created by Nose Republic can through the six tales made to reassure and inspire you: Moon Child – an aldehydic potion in which the rays of the moon have been sublimated into something strangely cold, dreamy, and cosmic. I can imagine Grimes wearing it at her next Sphere concert – a raspberry, lily, and gunpowder mix for an out-of-this-world, 3D stargazer experience. Rose Gambit is a counter-clock rose to checkmate your expectations, a fruity metallic thorny queen attitude with a bitter liqueur twist, unexpected almond milky facets & hints of tobacco – because one will surely need the “after” smoke. Queer de Russie is a knot of contrasts with a tongue-in-cheek-attitude, a fruity suede with zingy ginger, drippin’ melons, and juicy bruised peaches that surely forgot the safeword. Tansu Silk dials a low frequency woody – zen experience with hinoki, sandalwoods, and musk that smells of locked old boxes, memories, and gold-dust-women (somebody send this to Courtney Love, asap), while Empire T is a tobacco floral straight out of Mulholland Drive, that paints the perfect imaginary setting where Naomi Watts wears it, on her nocturnal walk, heading to the cinema.

AI Mood image for Nose Republic Bad Wolf, by Nicoleta

My favorite? The big BAD WOLF! The beast that has paced through the myths and legends of ancient Europe for longer than we have records of it – in local medieval folklore, wolves were often linked to witches and shape-shifters, the ones who could blur the line between human and beast. The “vârcolaci”, the Romanian version of the werewolf, were said to be humans cursed to transform into bloodthirsty creatures under the full moon, a most perfect cautionary tale for societies obsessed with sin and redemption. Wolves were always seen as creatures of the liminal space – dangerous, elusive, and always watching and it didn’t take long to cast the wolf as the perfect metaphor for a sinful villain – a predator who comes to snatch the innocent lambs away from the flock. If we look beyond Western interpretations, wolves aren’t always the bad guys, as in many myths, they are teachers, guides, and symbols of loyalty and strength. In many Asian traditions, for example, wolves are seen as noble, strategic, and protective figures, embodying resilience, wisdom, and guardianship over the land and its people. And beyond all of that, if we peel back the psychological symbolisms, we find wolves as the symbol of the sophisticated, well-spoken predator – a silver-tongued seducer who lures us away from the beaten path not with brute force but with charm and persuasion.

AI Mood image for Nose Republic BAD WOLF by Nicoleta

So here comes the bad wolf and a dark guttural whisper that invites us to step off the path and smell the flowers. The real question is – when you hear the wolf’s call will you run? Or will you listen and embrace the primal, untamed side of human nature we so often suppress? And as the Nose Republic nudges us –  just you imagine – a free world with no boss to please, no rent to pay, no lines to be stuck in — just а wolf singing into the night at the edge of a cliff.

Cristiano Canali (now with MANE Italia), photo via the brand

Nose Republic BAD WOLF – a green leather fragrance to set you free, was released into the wild by Cristiano Canali. And in Cristiano’s words, the key to understanding Bad Wolf is the contrast of its woods and flowers. On the one hand, we have the precious woods: “The forest our wolf inhabits is done in many colors of the woody spectrum. I used Virginian cedarwood for its warmth and Texan for the dry bark astringency. Chinese cedar gives Bad Wolf its smokiness, while Moroccan is responsible for the sweet resinous aspect. And that mysterious, emerald green presence you’re feeling while wearing it is French pine absolute” and on the other, the dainty flowers: “There’s so much raw power in nature, but also fragile gentleness that is so, so breakable. The latter is represented by natural wild daffodils, a key element in BAD WOLF: their fragrance, both spring fresh and utterly intoxicating, sheds golden light on the composition’s most secret hidden places — its mossy nooks and passages in the dense undergrowth”

Nose Republic BAD WOLF COLLAGE with AI image by Nicoleta

Nose Republic BAD WOLF is a fragrance painted in every shade of green, laced with the raw texture of wet bark – cool, primal, and utterly free. I can’t imagine a better scent to usher in the spring awakening, with roots swollen with sap beneath the misty forest floor, snow melting into the delicate pearls of lily of the valley. The air thick with the promise of rebirth – all cruel beauty, endings disguised as beginnings and life stirring in the undergrowth, raw and relentless. The most alive time of all.

BAD WOLF wakes up my inner Red Riding Hood – the version who’s seen the wolf, danced with it, and is now striding back through the woods, wearing its fur, all cool and unbothered. It’s for the those who run with the wolves – or make the wolves run for their lives, for the lone wolves, the leaders of the pack, and those who roam the spectrum – from alpha to sigma and back.

Top notes: wild, fierce, free Heart notes: hunt, roam Base notes: spirit, freedom

Notes: leather, cedarwood, weeping cypress, juniper, pine needles, angelica, lily of the valley, wild daffodils, misty forest floor

Nicoleta Tomsa, Senior Editor

Disclosure: A bottle of BAD WOLF was kindly offered by the brand, opinions are always my own.

Nose Republic BAD WOLF via the brand

Thanks to the generosity of Nose Republic we have a 50 ml bottle of Bad Wolf for one registered reader from the USA or EU. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Nicoleta’s review of Nose Republic Bad Wolf  and where you live. Draw closes .2/28/2025

Michelyn’s note: Nose Republic received an Art And Olfaction award for Best Newcomer 2024

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