It is always a great privilege to be able to count a perfumer as an acquaintance. And days are never quite as exciting as when a package of samples arrives at my door from Dawn Spencer Hurwitz. We've covered quite a few of Dawn's creations under her DSH Perfumes label here at Fragrantica and collectively we're consistently impressed by her range and skill, utilizing a large palate of fragrance ingredients to create numerous genres of scent.
This past spring and early summer Dawn has been creatively prolific and I'm happy to share my impressions of eight (yes, eight!) new aromas, seven of which are currently available for purchase and the eighth launches later this year. These new aromas take us on an olfactory journey around the globe.
Let's begin with a most unusual smoke-themed fragrance.
Become the Shaman is, "A grounding ritual mix based on palo santo, copal, tobacco, and sappy milkweed. The result is a lush forest of milky-woody incense, with spice-like hints, and smoke softly curling around you."
Have you ever stood near a bonfire and wished you could bottle the aroma? Or maybe you are a fan of a match upon being struck? How about the scent of burning paper as you prepare the barbeque or the logs in the fireplace? I don't mean the sweet, artistic interpretations of flames that we appreciate in scents like Diptyque's Essence of John Galliano, I mean the actual aromatic smoke.
I was mesmerized by Become the Shaman precisely because of how closely it resembles this natural, burning aroma...well, that and the relative similarity to copal incense I enjoyed smelling on vacations into the heart of Mexico.
And next we have a range of 7 different floral fragrances, each as different as the next. We begin with the traditional aroma French Lily, a gentle, traditional blend of lily, ambergris, lily of the valley and white musk. Of course there is much more going on here than just those four notes but the overall result is deceptively simple. I'm reminded of the vintage versions of Creed's Tubereuse Indiana or Jessica McClintock's eponymous perfume. French Lily is a must try for lovers of white florals. Dawn writes, "Le Premier Mai: the essence of Spring in a bottle. Greens, muguet, and rich animalic nuances in the drydown."
April is a celebration of spring blossoms (sweet pea, freesia and orchid are most prominent) highlighted by a robust and addictive fruit note (pear) that seamlessly blends with the rest of the composition to create a rounded, non-cloying topnote that is green, sweet and dewy. This is set against a grassy (moss), powdery (orris root) bouquet where white rose hovers at the edges. "Just as the name implies, April is a Spring fresh fruity-floral with refreshing leafy green nuances, subtle green fruit notes, and a soft, floral-musk drydown."
Poppy on the other hand is a different kind of fruity-floral where peach and lily create an almost melon-like topnote. Amber, balsams, woods and other oriental notes such as clove, incense and opopnax create a rich background for what otherwise might seem downright sunny. Poppy is a temple on a south Asian coast where incense burns amid tropical greens. What an unusual and enchanting creation! From the DSH website: "A spiced, fruity-floriental perfume with rich peach and fig leaf topnotes that blossom into a fiery heart of jasmine-tea, carnation, and nutmeg. The drydown is a warm and enveloping base of amber, patchouli, clove tobacco, and musk."
Bluedaisy is "An airy spin on a fresh, grapefruit-y floral gourmand. It’s lively and softly sweet, with fresh and tropical fruit notes, green grass, as well as hints at warm candy floss mixed with fragrant woods in the drydown." This juicy burst of citrus fruit, most notably grapefruit paired with passionfruit, has some impressive depth thanks to the inclusion of basenotes that anchor the scent with musk, vetiver and woods. Such a happy scent and one of my favorites of Dawn's creations (but honestly, there are so many succesful aromas to choose from that I have A LOT of favorites).
While all of Dawn's scents are developed for anyone to enjoy regardless of gender, Il Marinaio da Capri (The Sailor of Capri) is part of a new series - Flowers for Men, floral fragrances crafted in homage to genres of fragrance typical in traditional men's perfumery. "Il Marinaio da Capri is an interesting mash up of styles resulting in a crisp, green, honeysuckle chypre with subtle aquatic nuances (salty sea air without the calone / musk combo so often used for marine scents)." Il Marinaio is surprising in that I totally get the honeysuckle, especially in the background, but its watery (the lemon and jasmine really sing on my skin) and slightly earthy (vetiver?) nuances round the edges in an unexpected way. As Dawn notes, "It’s fresh and utterly wearable for both men and women. (It’s kind of addicting, too)."
Next, Dawn takes us to Japan with Tsukiyo-en (Midnight Garden), "A diffuse and succulent Summer scent of green bamboo leaves, white tea, bathing herbs, and mikan fruit (citrus). A Japanese tea garden by moonlight." Tsukiyo-en completely reminds me of the aroma of an herbal sauna at a Japanese onsen I used to visit in Kyoto when I lived in Japan back in the 2000s - shiso, citrus, cypress and mint! Total nostalgia trip! And for a green citrus aroma, this has incredible longevity and presence.
And finally, we have Habibi, not in our database as it hasn't been formally launched yet. Dawn explained in an email to me, "Habibi is actually coming out on the site mid-summer and it's the (sort of) female part to a pairing I am working on with an Arabic influence. I'm describing it as an Orange Blossom - Honey - Oud…but there is a Saffron note (that is where the leathery aspects lie) and yes, there's some jasmine sambac, jasmine grandiflorum, and champaca in the heart to keep the orange blossom from getting too sweet with the honey and to round out the heart. I think a man could easily wear it; it's kinda gender bending - as will be the "male" counterpart which will be deeper, more woody / resinous of course but with some unexpected twists and turns."
Habibi is one of those fragrances that has to be worn to be understood; it's a changer. The fragrance opens with a sumptuous, leather and orange blossom accord. I'm immediately reminded of Caron's Narcisse Noir, but Habibi is so much smoother. The leather is the dominant note throughout the first hour and then amazingly, the orange blossom just grows more prominent as the leather softens. What begins as a leather-oriental changes to an airy floral. Astonishing. I can't wait to see what Dawn offers as the companion to Habibi!
Ok, so now the fun part! I'm happy to share my samples (although I already sent Shaman to another Fragrantica writer). Here's how to enter the giveaway: Go take a look around Dawn's website and come back and tell us in a comment below by July 16th, 2017 about some of her other creations that intrigue you and why. US members only. Winners will be notified by Fragrantica private message.
www.dshperfumes.com
Thanks to Dawn for sharing samples of her newest creations!