Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

It seems like there are people who like the forest and people who like the sea, with some hybrids, like me, who enjoy both but may have a slight preference for one or the other. I live by the sea so of course I gravitate toward it, but I do like to go to the forest to refresh my soul with the real smells of nature. There is almost nothing like the resinous, almost gooey sap that smells so amazing when it hits a little bit of sun. I also enjoy the smell of the pine cones and the dusty needles on the floor of the forest. If you get close to that and put your nose to the ground and maybe dig around a little then you get a smell that is sweet, loamy and full of the sound of the little critters making their homes and getting their meals. The interior of the forest is usually much cooler than on a trail, and that smell is a little more crisp than the areas that get more sun.

"Cat in Pine Tree" by Keiko Suzuki

With Sève de Pin ( translated from the French "Pine Sap")  Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has created all these smells in one fell swoop in one perfume, which  is exactly what Dawn wanted to achieve. She writes in her blog, "Seve de Pin was partially inspired by the smell in the night air on my first overnight trip away from my parents when I was 4 years old and in pre-school summer camp.  *The trees were speaking to me all night long* and in this construction, there is the distinctive smell that was in the air (in the drydown) that night.  I would know this smell anywhere.  It is mysterious and ancient and all-knowing.  Like the earth itself.  And that there are secrets that may be revealed to those who listen (and smell it)", she wrote, '"There is another inspiration, which was simply the incredible sensation of the first clear, oozing pine sap from the pine trees in my own back yard each Spring". 

Sève de Pin opens with a refreshing evocative blast of glowing pine like you were lying on a bed of fresh cut branches.  To achieve this effect she used some very precious material she obtained from a vendor who collected tiny balls of 50-year-old resin from a fallen piñon tree and put them in pure pine essence. This aroma reminds me of the way my hands smell after picking out a Christmas tree, or the way my cat used to smell when he would come in after hiding out in his tree. Next it's a sweetly green but also warm smell like the very top layer of the forest floor where the pine needles have dropped. This scent lingers as the perfume slowly dries down to a cozy, almost hay-like scent with a touch of sweet resin.

"Autumn Dryad Forest Floor" by Maureen Fillman

Of course, there are scents on the market, some quite good, that have pine in them or are supposed to give you the effect of a forest, but I believe Sève de Pin far outshines any I have encountered. The pine aroma is clear and clean and nothing like a household cleanser or car deodorizer or any of those very synthetic pine smells. Although primarily a natural perfume, Dawn added a bit of a green accord in the top and an  augmented resinous base to the bottom to provide more structure. I could see wearing this on a walk in the snow, where the crunch and cold air would blend so well with Sève de Pin or any time I want to be transported to a place where I can feel cool, calm and collected.

Notes:lemon, bergamot, pine needle absolute, leafy green accord, antique resin infused pinon, rose absolute, amyris, olibanum, labdanum, virginia cedar, oppopanax, ambriene, and  pine moss.

I received my sample from Dawn at DSH Perfumes. Sève de Pin will be available on the DSH website in September.

Tama Blough, Managing Editor.

Pine Abstractions by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Instagram

Editor's Note: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz chronicles the creative process and the creation of Sève de Pin in DSH Notebook .  It began with her fragrance Matsu, which was inspired by Japanese pine trees. If you would like to place orders for samples or a bottle for Sève de Pin before the September release,  please email Dawn here or call the DSH Studio (720) 563-0344. In a conversation with Dawn she explained that the perfume was 98 percent botanical because she could not achieve the depth in all natural perfume, which would have been her preference. -Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

Thanks to Dawn and DSH Perfumes, we have a worldwide draw for one reader anywhere in the world of one dram of Sève de Pin. Tell us what you think you'd like about this perfume , where you live and your favorite DSH perfume. Draw ends August 22, 2014.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.