Lupercalia 2020 was our last major perfume launch before the pandemic dashed the world out from under us. Our video announcement for that launch featured The Lovebirds, a whimsically romantic duo which inspired an equally whimsical set of fragrances. It would be a long time before whimsy was something that felt accessible to us again.

Three whole years and a cross-country move later, it seemed appropriate to invite them to nest here again. The world’s health crisis hasn’t ended, we’re far from fully settled in our new home, and the excitement folks imagine they’re supposed to feel at this time of year can seem difficult to conjure. Whether it’s lust, romance, or purification you long for, please consider the common entry point they often share: whimsy, the melting away of seriousness, the erosion of those stark barriers set up to protect our soft interior selves from the world outside.

These boundaries we develop out of necessity often become the shell we must burst out of as we continue to grow. Relaxing into the absurdity of this conundrum is what makes it possible to bond with others, relating through our shared desires, frustrations, fears, often stumbling headlong into Eros by way of laughter, sympathy, or even just the discovery of pure animal attraction.

Pressure demands release, and release invites the smallest suggestion, any excuse to pour forth. The smallest and silliest thing, the most ephemeral gesture, a breath of scented air — and then wham, you’re outside of yourself again, and letting others deeper inside than ever. This eternal cycle of whim and wham is what Lupercalia is all about, and we wish you both in equal measure. May a small bird perch in your soul and sing! And may its call attract another, and another, and so forth, until the branches break under them and all the sap runs free.

We’d bottle that if we could! For now, these will have to do.