A selection of recent(ish) fragrances from indie perfume house Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: Le Serval; Adrenaline and Scorched Earth; and the 2020 holiday fragrance, Couverture d’Hiver.
Le Serval ~ "The newest addition to ‘my menagerie’ of animalic fragrances; this time inspired by a beautiful African cat called “Serval”. Ripe with unusual African aromatics, Le Serval is a warm, rich, and mildly spiced aldehydic-animalic floral fragrance. Beautifully Unisex."
Adrenaline and Scorched Earth {an isolation / meditation experience} ~ "What started as a series of meditations to cope with the uncertainty of the COVID times has become a mirror to the self of the world as well as a roller coaster of emotions and focus. From the quiet centering of tea and charcoal, through the intent on nourishment of hot masala, to the need to go deep, to the super safe place of sweet pine tar, and the joy of spending time outdoors with poplars and planes, to what has finally emerged. The end: a frenzy. It’s come to this: Adrenaline and Scorched Earth. Perhaps surprisingly, besides a ‘cowboy coffee’ accord, one of the main notes in this design is Mitti, an ancient and sacred attar from India made from co-distilling sun-baked earth and Indian sandalwood. Mitti is a deeply meditative and profound aromatic material and is the linchpin of Adrenaline and Scorched Earth."
Couverture d’Hiver {Winter Cover – Holiday no.20} ~ "For this year’s Holiday fragrance, I wanted to get very quiet… like a walk among the trees in winter with the snow crunching beneath your feet and chilly air all around you. I wanted something very cozy as well. My vision was like two images superimposed one over the other: the first snow blanket in winter and acres of white chocolate. This is a mashup fragrance with a dual meaning: Couverture is the name for the ganache covering on a bonbon as well as a blanket. I have to say that I love the juxtaposition of chilly earth and creamy, vanillic white chocolate; it makes for a surprising gourmand that holds sweetness in check while breathing fresh forest air and woods all around. I’m kinda in love."
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Le Serval, Adrenaline and Scorched Earth, and the 2020 holiday fragrance, Couverture d’Hiver are available in a variety of concentrations, sizes and formats, for more information see the website.
(via dshperfumes)
These sound lovely. Couverture means ‘blanket’, though, not ‘cover’.
She does say it means blanket in the description.
Dawn is unbelievable. After all of these years, her creativity never wanes and she keeps coming out with these fascinating and well-received scents. I want all of these!
I really like Adrenaline and Scorched Earth a lot — but it’s a natural (I think?) and not long lived. Le Serval I have only tried once and was busy, need to try it again, and I need to see if I have a sample of the holiday one.
These sound so cool – I have a hard time not getting overwhelmed on her website, though. But the winter one….oooh.
I went to her mortar store and was similarly overwhelmed — so much great stuff
It is really hard.
Also worth looking at her older holiday scents, many of which she still makes.
I love the art on this
I would have expected Parfum d’Empire to have come out with a perfume called ‘Scorched Earth’ – given its use as a military strategy 😅
I can also vouch for Adrenaline & Scorched Earth – it’s very interesting. I wish it had a touch more coffee, but I enjoy wearing it for the 3 -4 hours that it lasts (and it’s a skin scent after 1 or 2). More earthy and less gourmand than I thought it would be. Wish I had ordered a sample of Couverture d’Hiver as well.
I really like Le Serval and will probably get a bottle of the animalic honeyed goodness
I’d love it if she would make gift sets of larger sizes of all her Holiday fragrances, in 10 ml sprays, as she does with her Heirloom Elixirs! She does sell holiday sample sets, with smaller sample-size vials, of Holidays 1-10 and 11-20.