The final two of the six new releases from independent perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz display her love of the history of perfume. I know from many personal conversations how much she admires all of the great perfumes of the past. I know there are few I have spoken with who exhibit the dedication to study the great masterpieces and be unafraid to compose something like them. DSH Perfumes Reveries de Paris and Fou D’Opium are a pair of Retro Nouveau perfumes which take their cues from that knowledge.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
There is a wonderful collaborative spirit within Ms. Hurwitz. When she and Michelyn Camen Editor-in-Chief at CaFleureBon began talking about working together on Reveries de Paris they wanted to use some classic fragrances as their starting point. The full story in Ms. Hurwitz’s words is on CaFleureBon. When I asked her about the collaboration and the influences she replied, “Specifically, Femme de Rochas, as that is what MC wore during her time in Paris. I would also say that in the back of my mind Jolie Madame, although the scent is nothing like it, was there – mostly in the leather nuances at the dry down of Reveries, and in some ways Cabochard, even though that scent is also nothing like Reveries. And now that I think of it, Caleche is another classic perfume that in my subconscious has an influence; that might be more influencing the "fresh flowers" heart accord that I made, but very indirectly. The plum note in the top is purely inspired by Femme, though.”
If you need a connection to Rochas Femme, Reveries de Paris provides it in the first few seconds as that plum connects the present to the past. It is matched up with green and spicy facets to give that vintage-like feel. The heart is all about turning things more contemporary. Rose de Mai is the focal point but it is made something less innocent by a healthy dose of Boronia. It reminds me of the decaying nature of reveries that are sweet but fleeting. We get back to creating a chypre accord for the base by using castoreum and hyraceum to do the heavy lifting. Ms. Hurwitz adds in some vanilla and ambergris to give this chypre accord some interesting tweaks. Reveries de Paris is a fantastically realized Retro Nouveau construct. Reveries de Paris has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
When Ms. Hurwitz composed Euphorisme D’Opium as part of her collection to accompany the Yves St. Laurent exhibit at the Denver Art Museum she focused on a particular part of the classic Opium. Three years later she has composed Fou D’Opium and I was curious to hear the differences between the two. She replied to that question, “When I created the Euphorisme, I was thinking more about the overt spiciness of the Eau de Toilette formulation which is a bit more piquant than the perfume formulation. I also wanted to expand the euphoric aspects so I pushed the Ylang Ylang and Jasmine in Euphorisme. I also added pink pepper to the top note which wasn't in the original formulation at all, as far as I was able to discover. So the Euphorisme was meant to evoke the original formula but also be a departure. With Fou, I was working with deciphering the Parfum formulation and wanted to just go deep, deeper, no even deeper(!) into the heart of the concept and formulation to make something as magnetic and sensuous as the original. I focused on the more resinous richness, and the base note more in Fou. The Tolu balsam, ambers, and the animalics are way up in Fou as well as fruitier nuances with the aldehydes in the top. This formula is for the die-hard (original) Opium fans and lovers of a strong oriental / spicy/ resinous scent. It's seriously got EVERYTHING in it; it might be the longest, most complex formulation I've ever created and the balance had to be just right.”
I feel that Fou D’Opium is like part two of her examination of Opium. This time it is a fairly rapid development down to that study of the Orietnal base. A sprinkle of aldehydes, and we get to the floral heart of the matter. There you find Bulgarian rose, jasmine, neroli, muguet, and orris. It is nicely balanced but it might be a touch too frenetic as I had trouble with it settling down on my skin. Instead of gently coalescing around the spices the florals seemed to be much more kinetic. It does finally settle down as the balsamic suite of notes gain some traction. The combination of sandalwood and vetiver really provide the missing balance in the early going of the heart. Fou D’Opium is not as interesting to me as Euphorisme D’Opium was. Even so it is like delving into what it means to be an Oriental perfume in the 1970’s. If you love Opium it is an interesting exercise to participate in. Fou D’Opium has 10-12 hour longevity and above average sillage.
Taken as a whole these six recent perfumes show that Ms. Hurwitz can successfully find her muse no matter where she looks for it.
Disclosure: this review was based on samples provided by DSH Perfumes.
–Mark Behnke
