House of Atropa is the house of Elisabeth Andrék, a perfumer and glass designer who composes her perfumes and cuts some of her bottles from glass herself. Her oldest perfume, Crystal Herb, dates from 2021. The house became known for unexpected pairings, such as the durian and champagne of Gurza, and for its two twin perfumes, She is Fish and He is Fish.
Elisabeth Andrék and the birth of the house
On the house website, Elisabeth Andrék presents herself as perfumer, glass designer and founder. She explains that she created House of Atropa because the perfumes she could find lacked a certain strangeness. She says she built everything herself, from the logo to the website, with no sponsor. Her idea is to make strange, even slightly ugly things beautiful and desirable, while drawing on visual traditions of the past.
Two inspirations come up in what she says. The first is Asia and its rare plants: she sources absolutes and essential oils from certified producers in Asia, looking for unusual natural materials. The second is glass, and the work of René Lalique in particular. That is what led her to cut her bottles herself from solid optical glass, and sometimes from uranium glass made by a certified Czech manufacturer. This glasswork is described in detail in our article House of Atropa: cut glass and strange perfumes.
She does not work entirely alone. The website also presents Alex Huffman, perfumer, designer and web designer, shown with the American flag. For orders placed in the United States, the bottles are filled by the house's perfumers there.
Where House of Atropa is based
Sources do not agree on a country, and we will not decide on the house's behalf. What the official website says is specific: Elisabeth Andrék appears with the flags of Georgia and Armenia, the cut bottles are made in Georgia or Armenia, the standard bottles for American customers are produced in the United States, and the terms of sale fall under Georgian law. For Europe, the house names Passion Parfum as its official partner, at the top of its own website.
The olfactive style: sweet, salty, and an oud base
Reading the pyramids, you first notice a constant play between sweet and salty: ice cream and seaweed in Mermaids Steal Ice Cream, peach and salty freshness in She is Cat, watermelon and seaweed in She is Fish. Elisabeth Andrék also likes fruits rarely used in perfumery, such as the Isabella grape in Honey, I Bought a House! or the durian in Gurza.
Oud ties these fantasies together. It sits in the base of seven of the nine perfumes carried by Passion Parfum and serves as a woody anchor for very light top notes. That is what gives the house's perfumes a longevity and a gravity their names do not always suggest.
The house also states what it does not use. It uses no natural animal ingredients, no castoreum, no civet, no deer musk: leather notes are always synthetic molecules, and synthetic ingredients are IFRA certified. The perfumes are presented as eaux de parfum, most often in 50 ml.
How the collection is organized
The house website groups its creations into several families of objects rather than fragrance families.
- The Special Design Collection gathers bottles cut and shaped by hand by Elisabeth Andrék, often one of a kind, with production lead times.
- The standard bottle collection offers the same perfumes in 50 ml in a classic bottle, at a much lower price.
- The Crystal Collection brings together more recent perfumes such as Emerald Herb and Tesseract.
- The house also makes glass jewelry, including pendants that serve as perfume bottles.
The same perfume can therefore exist in a sculpted bottle and in a simple one, with the same formula.
She is Fish and He is Fish, the two fish
These are the house's two most sought-after perfumes. They share a theme, the sea, and a shape, the fish cut in glass for their sculpted editions, but their compositions are very different.
He is Fish is the older of the two. It is a mineral, powdery aquatic: pear, calone and ozone in the top, iris absolute and violet in the heart, seaweed absolute and salt in the base. Calone gives the sea air effect, iris a powdery, almost waxy texture, and the salt lingers for a long time. In its sculpted edition, the fish-shaped bottle holds a small 3 ml refill vial.
She is Fish came out in 2025 as an answer to He is Fish. It opens on watermelon and moss, moves through a heart of seaweed, tea and maté, then settles into an earthier base of honey, patchouli, vetiver and oud. It is greener and warmer than He is Fish, with a base that lasts longer. Its sculpted edition has a stopper shaped like a fish head cut in glass, whose form changes from one piece to the next.
When choosing, the difference is simple. He is Fish suits those who like dry, salty, powdery aquatics. She is Fish will appeal more to fans of green and tea scents that end on a woody, honeyed base. Despite their names, both are unisex.
Other House of Atropa perfumes at Passion Parfum
The notes below are the ones on our product pages. Depending on deliveries, some references may be temporarily out of stock: the product page shows the availability of the bottle and the sample.
She is Cat (2025) is a musky fruity scent: peach, strawberry, cherry and salty freshness in the top, musk mallow, milk and cotton in the heart, oud and cashmere in the base. Soft and fluffy, it is the easiest perfume in the house to wear. Its original edition is dressed in faux fur.
Gurza (2025) is dedicated to the Year of the Snake. The gurza is a viper found from the Caucasus to Central Asia, and the stopper of the sculpted edition takes the shape of its head in cut glass. The bottle contains a phosphor and glows under UV light and in the dark. The perfume dares to open on durian, with champagne and cherry, then a heart of leather, honey, immortelle and vanilla, over oud, patchouli, vetiver and cedar.
Tesseract (2025), from the Crystal Collection, is a green aquatic: cucumber, melon, watermelon and lemon, then Armenian gourd, salt, seaweed and moss, over oud and sea moss. The freshest and most summery of the selection.
Emerald Herb (2025) opens on iced lemonade, white tea, heliotrope and neroli, moves through immortelle, fern and mugwort, then ends on incense, cedar and oud. A clear aromatic scent that keeps a resinous base.
Crystal Herb (2021) is the oldest listed perfume from the house. Wild grape and davana, then blueberry and violet, over dark chocolate, cocoa and truffle. An earthy, gourmand fruity scent, darker than its name suggests.
Mermaids Steal Ice Cream (2025) plays on a seaside snack: strawberry, coconut, mojito and salt, then ice cream, seaweed and lime, over agarwood.
Honey, I Bought a House! (2025) tells the story of buying a house, from the garden to the roof beams: green grass, ozone and Isabella grape, then milk, rice and coconut milk, over oud, cabreuva and blue spruce. We carry it in a standard bottle and, on request, in a design bottle made to order.
Where to start with House of Atropa
If you are here for the fish, order both as samples and compare them over a day: it is the best way to see which one suits you. If you want a soft, easy perfume, She is Cat is the best entry point. To gauge how bold the house can be, Gurza says the most, with its durian opening.
Every perfume is available as a 2 ml sample, shown on our samples page. Our guide to 2 ml samples explains how to test them.
Frequently asked questions
What does House of Atropa She is Fish smell like?
She is Fish is a green, woody aquatic. It opens on watermelon and moss, moves through seaweed, tea and maté, and ends on honey, patchouli, vetiver and oud. It was released in 2025.
What is the difference between She is Fish and He is Fish?
He is Fish is a salty, powdery aquatic built around calone, iris and salt. She is Fish is greener and warmer, with tea, maté and a base of honey and oud. Both are unisex.
Who created House of Atropa?
The house was created by Elisabeth Andrék, a perfumer and glass designer who composes the perfumes and cuts the bottles of the Special Design Collection herself.
Where is House of Atropa from?
The official website presents its founder with the flags of Georgia and Armenia, states that the cut bottles are made in these two countries and places its terms of sale under Georgian law. The databases do not agree on a single country.
Where can I buy House of Atropa?
Passion Parfum is an official retailer of House of Atropa in France, and the house names us as its official partner for Europe on its own website. Bottles and 2 ml samples ship from our stock in France.
The full selection is gathered on the House of Atropa page, and Passion Parfum is an official retailer of the house in France. The other houses we carry are presented on the Houses and Creators page.