Ofrenda (“offering” in Spanish) is the first perfume from Parfumerie Imaginaire. It was inspired by a day spent in Oaxaca, Mexico, during Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations — held each year on November 1-2.

Ofrenda contains pungent, spicy marigold (its rich scent and brilliant orange color are believed to guide the deceased back ‘home’ — thus its designation as the flower of the dead), heady tequila, powdery masa, fresh chili, “hot” vanilla (think vanilla pods simmering in boiling sugar that will be molded into candy skulls), beeswax, and haunting copal incense.

Ofrenda comes in a milky-white bottle with a “melted” gold skull stopper (imagine the worn face of a marble angel in a cemetery, eroded by a hundred years of rain, sun, wind). The bottle is wrapped in a black tissue paper cut-out, or papel picado, showing a skeleton spraying on some perfume.

This is the perfect scent to wear on a cool autumn night while leaning against a tombstone, sipping some warm chocolate atole, eating a tamale, singing songs and welcoming the “visitors” — the dead — who are returning for a night of feasting with their families who still live and breathe…

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