Scented Snippets, New Fragrance Review: DSH Sève de Pin / The Forest Speaks
Fragrance Reviews

“Well, I’m not ready to launch this particular design just yet but I think that it is finished. It’s a much more literal experience of a pine / spruce fragrance but it doesn’t read at all like Pine-Sol or worse, in a way, a bad interpretation of Polo or Pino Sylvestre. Sève 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). Along with this sense of peering into other realms, there is comfort and protection, too, inherent in this aroma. Like lying cozily on a soft bed of needles, nestled in the trees with only the night sky above; you are sure to see the shooting stars.”—DSH Notebook How do I feel about this primaeval elixir? Dawn was good enough to give me both absolute form and EDP. She pressed the vials into my trembling hands a few weeks ago, and I received them like a sacrament—which, to me, something of this nature clearly is.

Some folk are Ocean People, some are Forest People—and I am one of the latter. All nature revives me, sings to me, heals me: nevertheless, if I had to choose between the water and the forest, I'd choose the forest. I'm a sylvan type.

To lie alone among the drying or moist pine needles and undergrowth, only to c contemplate the majestic conifer canopy so exquisitely like a cathedral ceiling! To clamber barefoot, as I did in teenage years—up the pines, resin clinging resolutely to the soles of my feet for days afterward. That elusive sense of solitude, of connection to an immense otherness larger than oneself and the peace and expansivity which accompanies it. One can even chew the pine sap [sève de pin!] for hours while pensively savoring its aroma. All this is a part of me which is as inextricable and intrinsic as breath.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

In Sève de Pin, Dawn wanted to capture that gorgeous sappiness in Spring, not simply the scent of a pine cone or batch of needles. She wished to encompass the experience as a whole, and I feel that she has succeeded. There is a fruity richness which is so integral to this perfume's veracity, largely due to the quality and provenance of its aromatic constituents: Eric Bresselsmith's House of Aromatics harbored the treasure trove of 50 year-old Pinion pine resin crystals—the prime inspiration for this perfume. The Engelmann Spruce may find itself in here, with its fruity, airy quality about which Dawn rhapsodizes. The forest is illuminated, burgeoning with new growth. Everything upon which one gazes is utterly new and fresh; the promise of The Eternal Return has been fulfilled, down to the last detail. However jaded one's eyes, one's nose may have been—they cannot but rejoice in its vernal beauty. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz I can't resist stealing a few lines from a favorite song in Des Knabens Wunderhorn song cycle by Mahler. This is just how it feels:

“Macht Herzen gesund
Macht Jugend verständig,
Macht Tote lebendig,
Macht Kranke gesund.”

—"Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?"

"Makes hearts healthy
makes youth wise,
brings the dead back to life,
heals the sick."

—"Who thought up this song?"

Dawn's challenge came in the guise of utilizing 99% botanicals; they proved very unruly. She is finally satisfied with the fruit of her labors. So am I! Every patient soul I've pressed to sniff Sève de Pin has had the selfsame reaction, nature-lover or no. They feel uplifted, refreshed, incredulous: it is the Real Deal. Unlike other, very lovely conifer fragrances [Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles and Slumberhouse Norne], Sève de Pin is liberatingly wearable and optimistic, full of joy and light. I can't wait to purchase the biggest bottle I can, as soon as I can.