Christmas Countdown: Dasein Fragrance Winter and Winter Nights

Winter Wonderland by Curious Bumblebee

Dasein Winter opens with an extremely fresh blue spruce and pine scent that makes me feel I've been dropped deep in an old forest, the branches laden with heavy snow. Or perhaps at the very least I am  at a fresh Christmas tree stand. There is an invigorating chill to this woody scent which feels cleansing and refreshing. Don't think room spray when you hear pine. There is a realistic freshness which makes you imagine the branches and the prickly stiff green needles. Lavender is listed as a note and usually I can pick lavender out easily but here it blends into the pine and spruce notes, adding an herbal oomph. There is something very peaceful and calming about this scent to me. I only wish that rush of freshness lasted a little longer, it is so stunning. Afterwards the scent settles down and softens, on me becoming more of a personal scent. After a few hours there is a faint honeyed sweetness that I sometimes get with lavender but the slight fragrance of the conifers is still present.

A Winter Forest Night by Moonlight by Lorinda Christene

Dasein Winter Nights is also a woody aromatic and although it is a very different scent from Winter, it continues with the same quiet contemplative air of stillness. Winter Nights has the forest element but the strongest scent is that of a fire smoldering somewhere nearby in the forest, perhaps from a chimney of some hidden cabin.  If you've been fortunate enough in life to be in a forest sitting in front of a campfire, you know the contentment and pleasure to be found there. In fact, I would go so far as to say if every child, rich or poor, could be exposed to nature and develop a love for the outdoors it would go a long way towards healing many of the problems we see  in society today. But I'm rambling. The point is that the scent provokes feelings of quiet well being. Notes listed are coastal forest, driftwood bonfire, cardamom tea, lavender, and wild musk. The campfire smell is the strongest scent initially but as the scent sits on my skin the forest note becomes more obvious, followed by the cardamom tea and lavender. Winter Nights changes quite a lot after several hours wear. The smokiness has disappeared and it has smoothed to a soft and pretty musky scent

Sam Rader, the perfumer and owner of Dasein Fragrances created both of these scents but Winter Nights was in a collaboration with Josh Meyer of Imaginary Authors perfume. Ms. Rader's brief bio on the website mentions that her inspiration for starting Dasein was sniffing the air of Big Sur. This inspiration to bottle nature certainly shows in these two perfumes as they bring to mind memories of enjoying the great outdoors. The fragrances are available at Dasein Fragrance or Twisted Lily.

Here's a little Christmas music to get you in the mood for these fragrances.


The samples were purchased by myself from Twisted Lily.