The quest for death's scent: Uncovering the aromas of mortality

Model Bee Beardsworth writes for "Dazed" magazine about unusual scents. In the series's latest installment, she sought to answer the question of what death smells like and whether anyone has tried to recreate this scent in perfumes. She sought answers from people working in hospitals, funeral homes, and creators of unusual perfumes.

Tree Carr, a death doula and author of books, stated: "Death can have a scent, but there is not one scent that you can pinpoint." It greatly depends on the cause of death. The dying of lung cancer smell different from those dying of stomach cancer, and yet different from those with Alzheimer's. Carr added: "Whereas, if a healthy person gets into an unfortunate accident and dies, they aren’t going to be giving off any odours as a fresh corpse."

When the body begins to decompose, a range of intense, unpleasant odours appears. It comes from a cocktail of chemicals that are released when microorganisms break down proteins. Carr clarified: "When the body moves into an active decaying process from 72 hours and beyond, then the strong, unpleasant odours of decomposition are present: foetid, rotting, sour and pungent."

In the case of an embalmed body, the scent is entirely different. This can be partially attributed to the fact that some chemical compounds that make decaying corpses smell so offensive can be pleasant in smaller amounts. Skatole and indole, responsible respectively for the smells of faeces and sewage, are in lower doses, suffocating, earthy, and floral. According to one viral TikTok by a mortician intern @katescosmeticcorner, Tom Ford's Lost Cherry perfume "smells like corpses."

Perfumer David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi created a perfume deliberately meant to evoke death. In his niche brand Toskovat, he released the scent Inexcusable Evil. Beardsworth described her impressions after using it: "A heavily uncomfortable chemical smell hits me before something like a mix between burning plastic and gunpowder. This dries down into an acrid spiciness that seems to radiate a cloying heat off my skin."

The creator of Inexcusable Evil, Jipa-Slivinschi, confessed: "It still surprises me how many people actually put it on their skin. The perfume was created as a protest for war. I specifically formulated it so it would scream off your skin and pull you back into thinking about our violent nature. Either I failed or people have a very strong self-comfort-preserving dissociation." The scent had the intended effect on Beardsworth. She wanted to wash it off as quickly as possible and launder the clothes that were saturated with it.

The model described the perfume Death's Elixir by Cursed as "something akin to the mythical, revered death of fairy tales, saints and martyrs." She stated that the scent is incredibly smoky and leathery with base notes of saccharine amber. It dries down to an earthy floral of patchouli, which she perceived as both alluring and repulsive. On the other hand, she considered Dead Air by Oddity to be "snapshots of memories I’ve buried."

Concluding her quest, Beardsworth concluded that there is no single scent of death. She stated: "The smell of Death is whatever your association is, arguably a manifestation of your own dealings with darkness."