Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has launched Bancha, a new unisex natural perfume:
In alignment with nature, the refreshing fragrance of Bancha eases the wearer through transitional months, as signs of vitality and fresh starts begin to resurface all around. Memories of winter’s coldness quietly fold into warm breezes as the renewed element of invincibility overtakes the mind and senses. Bancha’s earthy-green notes are inspired by the fresh tones of the traditional Japanese tea of the same name and comprised of essences used in traditional ayrudedic medicine, to ensure complete wellness through simple scent meditation.
Charismatic and refreshing, the bold citrus top notes of Bancha intertwine with a base of earthy, green aromas for a crisp, lively fragrance that will revive the senses and restore harmony. The unisex scent welcomes spring’s fresh start…
The notes include green mandarin, lime peel, mint, yuzu, holy basil, centifolia rose, sambac jasmine, pine needle, sandalwood and cedar.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Bancha is available in 3.75 ($18) or 30 ($70) ml Eau de Parfum or 5 ($80) ml Parfum. (via press release)
I’m such a sucker for tea scents. There’s at least a sample in my future. 🙂
I love tea in perfume too!
Ive so far avoided this line because she just has so damn many scents, each of which come in a large variety of products. Im just a bit skeptical that quality and consistancy can be maintained with the sheer volume of stuff being pushed out.
Ok.
You might be surprised with her line. I’ve tried probably over 2 dozen of her fragrances and consider them quite nice. One of the better indie perfumers out there. The quality is quite good and her customer service is wonderful…..I can’t really speak about the consistency as I’ve not sampled numerous bottles of the same scent….if you mean batch to batch consistency. If you mean consistency as in always good product or sometimes icky product? Well, I don’t know any house where I consider all their output to be great.
I love Oeillets Rouge. It is one of my very favourite carnation scents, a close second to my vintage Bellodgia extrait.
Holy basil, Batman!
Sorry, I didn’t get enough sleep. 🙂 I haven’t tried any of the DSH’s, and for whatever reason can never get motivated to do so. This does sound enticing, though, and the idea of lime peel makes me drool.
omg! That was my thought exactly ! Holy Basil Batman! (but I’m working on too little sleep as well…)
The green mandarin with pine got me…I will be sampling!
Looks like you’re not alone…
Basil scares me, I don’t want that much green, but it is one of the listed notes in Sous le Vent and I really like that one. I also bought a bottle of Marc Jacobs Splash in Basil at Marshall’s because it was practically free and I find it quite agreeable as well.
Okay, a little slow. Just got the “holy basil” reference. I think that holy basil has a distinct licorice flavour to it. I think I grew it one time and if I’m correct it had small, dark green leaves with ruffly edges.
Excellent timing: I was going to reward myself today for a month of very hard work by stopping by her place and sniffing the new scent. Fun!
Astra – I was just thinking as I was typing my post below that we need a local Boulder perfumista/ister to do some reconnaisance at DSH shop to help us navigate her line! Make special rec’s, etc. Her site is hard to use!! I think some direct reporting would be very helpful.
Ann, you can’t go wrong with Cimabue. That I know for sure. I’m tempted to split a bottle. Maybe I’ll send you my sample to try to entice you into the fold. 😀
I’m willing to so some DSH splits, too. There are so many in her catalogue that I want.
Very tempting!
Happy sniffing!
I love green, but haven’t had much luck w/naturals. Also find her selection seriously overwhelming, so have only sniffed what others have passed on to me. This one sounds really nice though… but I’m wary of yuzu (think I may be allergic).
Not worth taking a chance then…
This sounds sample worthy. I made an attempt last year to get into the DSH line, and although I only tested about 8 of them, there were some very pretty and well done fragrances. My fav in her line that I have tested is the Giardini Segreti which is a tremendously beautiful floral from her Italian Journey series (#3). I actually bought a small bottle of this. I also like the Mille Fleurs (?) – the opening is challenging, but the patchouli drydown is almost as gorgeous, but different, as Coromandel’s patch. Coeur de Vanille is a gorgeous rough vanilla. Un Soir d’ete Provencal is a really interesting and fresh floral lavender fougere thing – very well done.
It is hard to keep track of all her fragrances, but there are other lines that have many fragrances that aren’t so hard to discern. Honestly, I blame her website format which is poorly designed and hard to browse. She has some great samples sets in the beaux art line. I encourage people to try her stuff!!!
The website is overly elaborate, agree — and they most unfortunately do not keep the front pages updated, so it is hard to tell what’s new.
Ann–I think you’ve hit the nail right on the head—-Sure, DSH has a lot of product but it wouldn’t be nearly so overwhelming if the site was easier to use, and the search boxes actually worked (at least in a way my tiny brain can deal with). I haven’t been there in months but the last time I was there —there was tooth gnashing to be sure!
yeah, the website looks low budget to me too.
I know, I about go cross-eyed when I try and browse the site. If I had motion sickness that would be a problem too, lol. It is hard to even google into her site if you know a fragrance you like and want to get right to it. Just strange – it’s too bad. Web redesigns are a pain in the butt. But, she’d probably boost her sales significantly if she got a better format.
Or selling through an easy to use sales site like Lucky Scent. I tend to never get around to anything that I can’t sample through Lucky Scent or TPC.
There is a small selection at Beautyhabit…
I haven’t tried any of her scents-but this does sound nice. I am totally in the mood for crisp green and citrus right now. I’m such a sucker for a cute bottle too.
I’m in the mood too…ready for spring!
Yes, it’s definitely easier in person. I have only been once (I am a new perfumista) but Dawn is very nice and effusive and we started in on a theme, sniffed several she selected on paper, and then narrowed down to four for the arm. Definitely an easier way to navigate the line, and it gives me plenty of excuses to go back, now that I have so many new perfume areas to explore.
Thanks.
That sounds wonderful, Astra!
I have a large sample of this scent. Upon first sniff I didn’t like it at ALL. Too bitter, too harsh green in a very unique way. But I tested it again the other day and it’s the kind of thing that could grow on me. It’s really not like any other green or tea scent I’ve tested, and not necessarily an easy “love.” I wish I could describe it better or that I was home now to test again. I probably wouldn’t have guessed there was rose and jasmine because there’s not much floral sweetness, or sweetness of any kind. It’s a very “dry” green if that makes sense. Interesting, though.
Some of her fragrances do require a bit of thought and retesting. The DirtyRose just about knocked my socks off the first time I tested it. I wasn’t expecitng RAWHIDE, but there it is. I dip back into the samples I have off and on to re-evaluate my feelings on them. I am sure it would be much easier if we could all field trip to her shop! I go around about whether I want to try her color fragrances, AND the rest of the Italian journey fragrances, AND And AND….. If we could all go there then, if we really felt the need for tea, we could go to that Dushanbe Tea House! It is so cool. I was fortunate to visit there once….
http://www.boulderteahouse.com/
Wow! What a cool tea house!
Sounds up my alley…had a sample but I think I sent it to Kevin.
I’ve only sampled a fraction of her line [6 of em], but I liked every gosh darn one I tried. I’ll probably add this one to my next sample order, dag nabbit.
I’ve liked quite a few myself. Probably not that high a percentage though.
oh dear, this description has “prix de eau faux” quality, can any faithful NST-follower really be better?
We’ll find out soon!
Mmmm…a refreshing tea scent for spring…and just when my craving for something vernal has begun kick in…to the piggy bank!
Hope it’s full!
Dawn is lovely to correspond with and happy to answer questions and make recommendations.
I’ve had a lot of hits and misses with her scents. For example: I’m a rose fanatic, but her Rose Vert that has received praises left and right – I couldn’t pick out a rose note from among the dry grass clippings to save my life. On the other hand, American Beauty is so pretty it reminds me of one of my long-discontinued favorites: Caswell Massy’s White Rose cologne, with more character. Another is Majoun – one of the yummiest gourmand scents I’ve ever tried and I never thought of myself as a gourmand afficianado though I’ve liked a few. My husband likes her Cafe Noir from the Connoisseurs collection and Parfum De Luxe from the same group reminds me somewhat of Femme. Sillage is an issue for me as many of her scents wear very close to the skin.
Thanks!