DSH Perfumes - The Roses

Eight Long Stem Roses For A Birthday

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is an indie perfumer from Boulder, Colorado. She sells her perfume from the Essense Studio in Boulder and from her online shop. I previously reviewed her Secrets of Egypt collection which sought to recreate the perfumes of ancient Egypt.

I think she's a genius. Her perfumes all smell so true; you can smell the high quality materials and the love she has for each note she uses. Every one I have tried has been beautiful in some way. The Parfums des Beaux Arts are from her "ready-to-wear" collection. The Essense Oils are from the Essense Studio, perfume and essential oils  aromatherapy collection. The perfumes labelled Natural are made with 100% botonical materials.

A while ago I left a comment on Dawn's blog and won a set of samples from her perfume collection. The samples were all rose perfumes. Today Facebook told me that this week Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has a birthday, so I thought it was an excellent occasion to finally tell you about the roses.

American Beauty (Rose No. 1)

Parfum des Beaux Arts
American Beauty has the feel of deep, blood-red roses. There is a little tart-berry fruitiness from the cassis up top, a soft velvety rose heart and a smooth dark woody base with lots of patchouli and a touch of balsam.

Notes:
Top notes: Bergamot, Cassis Bud, Palma Rosa, Rosewood (bois de rose)
Middle notes: Bulgarian Rose Absolute, Bulgarian Rose Otto, Centifolia Rose Absolute, Egyptian Rose Geranium, Moroccan Rose Absolute, Orris
Base notes: Ciste Absolute, East Indian Patchouli, Mysore Sandalwood, Peru Balsam

Beach Roses (Rose No. 3)

Parfum des Beaux Arts
I can smell the ocean breeze and the waterlily in the top notes of Beach Roses, giving it that salty, aquatic feel. The rose note is soft, sort of lemony and creamy. The base notes are lightly earthy and musky.

Notes:
Top notes: Lemon, Neroli, Ocean, Palma Rosa, Violet, Waterlily
Middle notes: Carnation Absolute, Centifolia Rose Absolute, Chinese Geranium, Demine Rose Otto, Moroccan Rose Absolute, Rugosa Rose
Base notes: East Indian Patchouli, East Indian Sandalwood, Musk

Tea Rose

Essense Oils
Tea Rose is a true rose fragrance that's almost hyper-realistic, like a bunch of fresh cut roses transformed into a neon sunset. It's intensely sweet and green and somewhat sharp up top, with hints of lemon and tea cutting the sweetness. It smells exactly like tea roses and much like The Perfumer's Workshop Tea Rose but it calms down to something softer and fruitier, like rose hips tea and roses.

Notes:
Top notes: Tea Rose
Middle notes: Tea Rose
Base notes: Tea Rose

Dirty Rose

Parfum des Beaux Arts. Natural
Dirty Rose smells like rose petals tossed on a fire. It opens with a curl of wood smoke up my nose Followed by a leather note underneath. There's also a lot of wood and moss in there and some tobacco. The rose isn't apparent at first, but it grows in the heart of the perfume subtly, a twisting pink and red ribbon in the darker hues of black and brown. I am not usually a fan of natural perfumes, but this one might change my mind.

Notes:
Top notes: Bergamot, Egyptian Rose Geranium, Mastic, Pimento Berry, Pink Peppercorn, Rosewood (bois de rose)
Middle notes: Buddahwood, Centifolia Rose Absolute, Gallica Rose Otto, Labdanum, Olibanum (Frankincense), Orris, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Virginia Cedar
Base notes: Ambergris, Brazilian Vetiver, Cassis Bud, Guiacwood, Hiba Cedarwood, Leather, Myrrh Gum, Oude (Agarwood), Styrax, Tobacco Absolute, Treemoss

Umber: Bois de Rose

Parfum des Beaux Arts
Bois de Rose smells like sweet curried roses to me. Spicy curry, sweet rose and fresh green leaves are balanced with a bitter woody note in the heart and a dark mossy base.

Notes:
Top notes: Bergamot, Eglantine Leaf, Thorn Apple (accord), Violet
Middle notes: Gallica Rose Otto, Nutmeg, Orris, Patchouli, Rosewood (bois de rose)
Base notes: Ambergris, Brazilian Vetiver, Brown Oakmoss, Ciste Absolute, Vanilla Absolute

Le Rose Fleurette (Rose No. 2)

Parfum des Beaux Arts
The only rose perfume that I can't find listed on the DSH site, Rose Fleurette must have been discontinued. The sample card describes it as "Delightful. Blushing. Flirtatious."

Although Rose Fleurette is pretty, it's the only one that I'm note sure I could wear. The opening has a magic marker note, high sweet and sharp, (maybe the apple blossom?) that wrinkles my nose. But after that, it's a fresh, pale pink rose bouquet. It seems sort of fluffy like those giant peony-style cabbage roses. There's a touch of sweet and pollen-y yellow heliotrope in the base with light honey and musk.

Notes:
Top notes: Apple Blossom, Bergamot, Violet
Middle notes: Centifolia Rose Absolute, Damask Rose Absolute, Egyptian Rose Geranium, Moroccan Rose Absolute, Sweetbriar
Base notes: Heliotrope, Honey, Honey Musk

Arabian Rose

Essense Oils
Like the Tea Rose, this is a "single note" oil. Arabian Rose is an accord meant to re-create the smell of a particular flower, the indigenous rose of Arabia. It's a big, lush, full, real rose, but more velvety in feeling than the tea rose. It's very strong at first but it softens and gets greener in the drydown.

Notes:
Top notes: Cyclamen, Damask Rose Absolute, Egyptian Rose Geranium
Middle notes: Bulgarian Rose Absolute
Base notes: Moroccan Rose Absolute, Sultry Rose, Tea Rose

Rose Vert

Parfum des Beaux Arts. Natural
Rose Vert is one of the "Perfection Connoisseur Fragrances" - four natural perfumes that form an ultra luxury line within DSH Perfumes. Each one is created with fine natural essences, rarely used in commercial perfumes because of the difficulty in sourcing them and the cost.

Rose Vert opens with lemony citrus. The roses in the heart smell somehow vintage to me, like I have rediscovered a lost Victorian perfume. Rose Vert is like something precious that was kept in a tiny crystal flacon and dabbed on the bosom of a corseted and bustled lady. It's the condensed essence of  rich roses and moss.

Notes:
Top notes: Citrus Oils
Middle notes: Bulgarian Rose Absolute, Centifolia Rose Absolute, Damask Rose Absolute, Moroccan Rose Absolute, Turkish Rose Otto
Base notes: Treemoss

Wrap-Up:

My favourites of the bunch are:

• Beach Roses, which I think I would wear all the time, it's easy and care-free.
• American Beauty for it's lush rose-red bouquet with dark patchouli.
• Dirty Rose for all the smoke and leather and moss and the ambergris skin note. It's like a gorgeous and slightly rough man bringing me roses.

House: DSH Perfumes
Nose: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Opus Oils - Afraid of the Dark Collection

Lady Death, two vampires and a fiend for Halloween

It's that time of year, when glowing jack-o'-lanterns leer on porches, cobwebs and skulls become decorating staples and scary wee beasties creep in the shadows ready to pounce on candy. Don't you love Halloween? In honour of the delightfully dark day, I'm reviewing the Afraid of the Dark collection by Opus Oils.

The Afraid of the Dark collection has four perfume oils, Vamp, Ode de Vampyre, Lady Death and Charlie No. 5. The collection was released in 2009. 

Vamp

Vamp is meant to be a lush animalic floral in a vintage style, with "smoky" gardenia, orange blossom and tobacco. But Marilyn Monroe vampire never appears. Vamp starts with an interesting smoky note, but I don't really smell the promised gardenia and orange blossom. Instead I get a quiet and, generic white floral for an hour and then nothing. I don't smell the tobacco or vanilla at all. Unfortunately, I do smell coconut quite clearly, which I'm guessing is the coconut oil the perfume is based on. I don't think that it's meant to be a noticeable note.

Notes: Smokey Gardenia, Blond Tobacco, Orange Blossom & Vanilla

Ode de Vampyre

Now this is more like it. I'll admit it, I'm a vampire junkie. Name the movie, TV show or book, I've seen/read them all. So what could be better than a perfume named for my favourite dark and brooding fantasy?

Surprisingly, Ode de Vampyre is a cheerful rosy wood perfume. Loads of cedar and sandalwood combine with a fruity rose in the heart.  I can smell a smidge of honey on the wood in the drydown. This one has good sillage and lasting power.


Notes:  Blood Cedarwood, Saffron, Dark Rose, Orris Root, Sandalwood, Black Agar, Vetiver, Honey & Temple Incense.

Lady Death

Moss covered stones, ethereal night blooming flora, midnight air, sweet anticipation of the last kiss from a ghostly apparition.


I think this is the most unique and interesting of the four perfumes, even if it is the hardest for me to wear. Lady Death features lily, a note I associate with death. But that's perfectly appropriate here. There is also datura, a night-blooming flower with poisonous and hallucinogenic properties. The datura flower attracts ghostly moths at night and is supposed to smell sweet, like jasmine. Lady Death combines lily with this sweet floral and a slightly salty oakmoss. The result is exactly the feeling of funeral bouquets and deadly flowers growing around damp cold stones.

Notes: of Datura, White Musk, Black Lily & Oak Moss

Charlie No. 5

The most controversial of the lot, Charlie No. 5 has apparently been banned from eBay. It must have something to do with its inspiration, the killer Charles Manson. When I originally ordered my oils, the image on the left was a picture of his creepiness.

Do you like amber? If you do, you'll love Charlie No. 5. This perfume is all warm, delicious base notes. The labdanum is woody and balsamic, like a walk through a pine forest, and the patchouli adds a hint of dark earth. The vanilla and amber are smooth and sweet. This is my favourite of the four perfume oils. Despite its infamous inspiration, it's a cuddly comforting scent and  perfect for those chilly dark October nights.

Notes: of Dark Amber, Aged Labdanum, Vanilla, Musk, Vintage Patchouli & Soft Amber

Happy Halloween my fragrant friends!

House: Opus Oils
Nose: Kendra Hart

Ayala Moriel - Espionage and Rainforest

A spy walks in the forest

I'm not that familiar with natural perfumes. Ayala Moriel creates ready to wear and bespoke natural perfumes from pure botanical essences. Her perfumes start very strong, but mellow quickly and I was surprised at the complexity of the fragrances.

Espionage starts with a strong note of peat fire. A swirl of smoke and peat reminds me of whiskey, and maybe the person with the dram also has a lit cigar. After a few minutes the fire and smoke give way to a sweet vanilla and tobacco that lasts a long time. Very nice.

Rainforest starts with a strong mossy green with undertones of leaves and mulch. It is amazingly like walking in a forest, with the leaves and dirt under your feet and the trees dripping with water around you. After a few minutes an uplifting bergamot shines through like a beam of sunlight.

I smell green galbanum throughout the day, my favourite, and some rose in the heart. In the far drydown you can really smell the beautiful hay absolute. Gorgeous.

House: Ayala Moriel
Nose: Ayala Moriel

Notes:
Espionage: Ambrette (Musk) Seed , Bergamot , Guiacwood Jasmine Grandiflorum , Leather Notes, Orris Root Rose Otto (Turkey), Tabac Blond, Vanilla Absolute Virginia Cedarwood

Rainforest: Bergamot , Virginia Cedarwood, Orris Root, Pine , Rose Otto (Bulgaria), Rosewood, Spikenard, Spruce Black, Violet Leaf, Galbanum, Ginger, Hay Absolute, Juniper Berry, Oakmoss


Photos: ozjimbob and vladeb

Strange Invisible Perfumes - Peloponnesian

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Peloponnesian is an "authentic botanical", "certified organic," "wildcrafted," "biodynamic" and "hydro-distilled" imitation of what my kitchen smells like after a thorough going-over with pine and citrus cleansers. Strong ones.

House: Strange Invisible Perfumes
Nose: Alexandra Balahoutis
Notes: Hydro-distilled orange & lime, cypress, orange flower, mountain sage honey & botanical musk


Photo: Photography_Gal and Jim Moran