Thumbsucker

Thumbsucker by Stora Skuggan is a fragrance for women and men. Thumbsucker was launched in 2020. The nose behind this fragrance is Olle Hemmendorff. Top notes are Honey and Narcissus; middle notes are Cherry and Violet; base notes are Beeswax, Bitter Almond, Styrax and Himalayan Cedar. "It started with the idea of creating a hangover perfume, a sweet and comforting cloud to fill the void of chemical anxiety we find ourselves in after too much of a good time. A scent of hedonistic self-soothing, with an aspect of craving for intimacy. The name Thumbsucker represents this compulsive need of physical contact and existential comfort. As we do love a good myth, we also wanted to find a story that could place the fragrance in time and space. We started researching different explanations of thumb sucking in folklore from around the world, until finally stumbling upon the myth of Yuvanaswa and Mandhata. It may not contain any depictions of hangovers, but it does tell of magic potions and gods with nectar in place of blood – this seemed fitting as honey and flowers had been the foundation of the fragrance from the very start of the project. The rest fell into place when we found ourselves in ancient India and the Himalayas, where a specific cedar tree grows that smells absolutely divine, and there exists a species of wild cherry native to the region. In this intersection between hangovers and mythological Hindu magic, the fragrance Thumbsucker was created. An ancient king named Yuvanaswa had great wealth, good fortune and many wives. But no children, which he wanted more than anything. So the holy sage Bhrigu agreed to help prepare a magic potion for the king, and Yuvanaswa, being a very devout man, arranged a great ritual to please the gods. The ritual went on for several days, by the end Yuvanaswa was exhausted and very thirsty and as he stumbled around he came across a beautiful pitcher of water and drank all of it. PLOT TWIST. The pitcher was the magic potion prepared by the great sages, intended for the Queen. So, obviously, the king himself got pregnant. Luckily for Yuvanaswa, he was held in high regard by the holy powers. And when his pregnancy came to term, the seven great sages and even the King of Gods, Indra, joined him and cut a hole in the king's thigh to deliver the baby boy. But a new problem arose; the king could not breastfeed his child. Indra slit his thumb, and because he was a god, his veins were filled with life-giving nectar instead of blood. So he let the boy suck his thumb and he proclaimed “Mandhata”, and that was the name of the new king, who would conquer all of the earth. And that’s why babies, being born with the memory of their divine ancestors, still suck their thumbs. (Mandhata in sanskrit literally means “Me he shall suck”)." - a note from the brand.