In Charles Perrault’s fairy tale “Toads and Diamonds,” a kind young woman is blessed by fairy magic so that diamonds and flowers fall from her mouth whenever she speaks; trying to achieve the same results, her rude sister ends up cursed instead, spewing toads and snakes with every word.

Presumably we each have the capacity for either gift, containing the possibility of toads as well as diamonds, our insides a veritable amphibian’s lapidary. For Lupercalia ‘24, we’ve adapted our General Catalog fragrance “<Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds" inspired by this tale — “Red roses, dazzling crystalline musks, and pearlescent coconut-tinged orris” — to account for a broader variety of precious gems, to incentivize speaking more kindly to strangers.