Covert

A dry twist of bergamot slips into the room before anyone looks up.

Clove follows, warm and a little biting, and then orange blossom arrives with the ease of someone who belongs there. Underneath, resins and balsams settle into cedar and cypriol, earthy and worn-in, classic enough on the surface that the strangeness takes a second pass to find. Frankincense and opoponax hold a low hum beneath it all. Ambrox and white musks smooth the edges down into skin.

Nothing announces itself, which is rather the point — a wear for late arrivals and unexplained absences, for the kind of evening no one quite reconstructs afterward.

• Mark Sage

Clandestine Laboratories is an underground, artisanal fragrance house based in New York City, born from perfumer Mark Sage’s obsessive, experimental approach to scent.

Blending small-batch, hand-mixed compositions that are natural-smelling yet deliberately unfamiliar, the brand focuses on fragrances that feel effortlessly wearable while still leaving a quietly addictive impression. Rooted in a “clandestine” ethos of intentional obscurity and word‑of‑mouth discovery, it invites fragrance lovers into a world where niche-level quality, meticulous ingredient choices, and a wry, artistic sensibility meet in perfumes made to be lived in, not just admired from afar.