My favorite independent perfumers have different strengths. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is one of the best at working successfully across multiple genres. Even though I have many of her varied creations there are two styles where she connects with me. One is her Japanese inspired fragrances. So many of them are among my favorite perfumes from anyone. The other place she excels is in perfumes which celebrate trees as DSH Perfumes Gum Tree Cabin does.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
Ms. Hurwitz watched the fires in Australia and wanted to help. Her response was to create Gum Tree Cabin with 30% of the proceeds to be donated to the “Fire Relief Fund for First Nation Communities”. Based on this she chose a uniquely Australian ingredient as the keynote, eucalyptus leaves. It results in a singular woody perfume.
It opens with an herbal green top accord. Ms. Hurwitz uses a Spanish lavender which tilts more to the herbal as the spine upon which to append rosemary and clary sage. It forms a sturdy framework for the eucalyptus leaf to take residence in. That eucalyptus leaf is not the Vicks Vapo-Rub scent you might be expecting. It is a softer leafier smell with mentholated underpinnings. I’m not sure if I’ve ever smelled it at this concentration prior to this. I found it invigorating on these early spring days. The eucalyptus leaf stays front and center while the woody walls of the cabin go up around it. Fir, cedar, and sandalwood make them up. The joints are filled in with birch tar, tree moss, and Choya ral. The last ingredient provides the rustic charm of a cabin as construction is compete.
Gum Tree Cabin has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
From a perfumer who has been so prolific I don’t think I’ve ever smelled a perfume quite like this from Ms. Hurwitz. It is a distinct woody perfume where she uses the eucalyptus leaf to stitch together the three most prominent woody ingredients in fragrance. As part of her previous portfolio of woody scents like The Voices of Trees or last year’s Colorado; Gum Tree Resin cements Ms. Hurwitz as The Tree Whisperer of independent perfumery.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by DSH Perfumes.
–Mark Behnke
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