Foxy by DSH Perfumes

Foxy is one of the newest scents by the amazingly prolific Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes. Dawn says she was inspired by the movie version of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox which she watched with her young son during the cold winter months of a Boulder, Colorado winter. I am not familiar with this story but evidently various note components were drawn from the everyday life of Mr. Fox.

The perfume's opening features an apple whiskey note referencing the favoured drink of the story's Farmer Bean. This note is round, rich and fruity. It is joined by a gingersnap note, reminiscent of Mrs. Bean's "famous apple gingersnap". I could swear I smell a cinnamon note but perhaps this is just a part of the whiskey/gingersnap mix as it is not listed. Amber and ambergris are the dominate notes and miraculously the combination of these two does make one picture a rusty red color such as the fur on a fox.

I am a big fan of DSH's other "fur" scent, Chinchilla, which I described as "a slightly animalic musk with faint wisps of crushed flower petals and thick golden honey". For me Chinchilla is cozy and the animal note very tame, so I wondered, would she "go there" with Foxy? I put my wrist to my nose and inhale deeply and the answer is yes, DSH did include "go there"! There is a faint but undeniable feral aspect to this perfume not present in Chinchilla. Don't worry, it doesn't overwhelm and you have to be really looking for it. I am assuming this was in part created by the use of two different kinds of jasmine, as well as castoreum, costus, sable fur accord and fossilized amber resin. In addition to conjuring the red fur of the creature DSH has created a fox we can imagine in a wild habitat, a little less cleanly washed than the Chinchilla perfumed creation. This is an aspect of vintage perfume that is often missing in the modern perfumes of today, and DSH is an expert at referencing this era and those notes.

Despite what I've said about the animalistic notes, after it's opening Foxy settles into a warm amber perfume with contained sillage but rather excellent longevity. This is a vintage vibe perfume that is not too overpowering for those afraid of this genre.  And as a credit to Dawn's artistry, I can indeed picture a cute red fox when I'm wearing this perfume!

Stella McCartney with  Callie, a tame fox, wearing faux fur in Vogue February 2017.