I was waiting for my Dame Perfumery Chilihead sample to arrive when I took this photograph at Woodshed Smokehouse in Fort Worth, the rather green Trinity River lurking in the background. The chili pepper margarita encapsulated every preconceived notion I had about this scent: lime juice, chili powder, chili pepper, spice, Ole!
When I got my sample -- this was for the oil, not the spray -- I did smell the lime and the chili along with a grassy dry tumbleweed note, vetiver? But in very short order there was also an unusual green note that I couldn't identify. The first thing that popped into my head was cactus! Now I know cactus doesn't really have a smell, nor is it in this perfume, but in case you haven't noticed, the cacti motif has been trending in popularity of late. I had been sniffing some "cactus" scented candles which had a creamy green fragrance. When I looked at the notes list for Chilihead I thought maybe it is the celery note that is giving me this green, almost watery vibe. Celery is a plant-it's green-it's full of water, like cactus. Haveing taken you so far down this path, I must confess that the next time I wore Chilihead it was the dry, grassy notes and herbal nuances that I smelled more strongly, and this creamy green note was slight. Skin is a funny thing. So take the previous description with a grain of salt, I suppose!
After the initial opening moments, the lime and chili notes enter the picture. The scent is not as spicy as I imagined it would be but you can definitely smell the red chili pepper. Greenish notes include bergamot, celery, mint, thyme, galbanum, and vetiver. The celery, lime, and herbs are the most prevalent to me in the opening. Everything is very light green, fresh, and aromatic, as if you've gone to your herb garden and grathered an armful of the various plants. A little later in the scent the dry vetiver and the earthy patchouli appear and the herbal notes become more background noise. Artemisia (wormwood) and cumin are used in Chilihead and this is what give the scent that desert ambiance and Southwestern cred , in my mind. You get the sense of open spaces dotted with spiky cactus and tumbleweeds, strings of red ristras hanging by the door on a sun-baked pueblo house, and a refreshing glass of aqua fresca dotted with lime slices. Cumin is an ingredient I use quite a bit in cooking, especially in my homemade red sauce for cheese enchiladas, so I am very familiar with its smell. Chilihead's scent only contains a light dusting of cumin, but you can find it if you know the note. Artemisia is a note that I became familiar with when reviewing some of Olivier Durbano's scents. It is earthy, dry, and can be slightly bitter or medicinal. Someone in Basenotes actually described it as "smelling of the desert," and it does lend that aura to this scent.
Dave Dame, Artist in Residence at Dame Perfumery. Photo from Dame Perfumery Website.
Jeffrey Dame is the creator behind Dame Perfumery based out of Scottsdale, Arizona, and his father Dave is pictured above in a photo from their website. I love this photo of Jeffrey's father Dave for so many reasons: the beautiful desert landscape is stunning. And Jeffrey's artistic father, Dave, who is so much a part of the creative process behind the bottle's artwork looks so at peace in this desert setting. He is responsible for the artwork on the Chilihead bottle.
The perfume eventually winds down to the base notes. The spice has become subdued and although the list of notes includes some heavy hitters: birch moss, tree moss, castoreum, civet, labdanum, myrrh, and olibanum, I can assure you that the final act of this play is a softly purring skin scent, earthy and mildly spiced.
My original impression of Chilihead was that it was fun and very unique, but more of a novelty scent. But as I lived in it for a couple of days I became attached to its scent of place, that dry desert. I thought it would be a summer scent of margaritas and mariachis, and it is all that. But I can also sense a touch autumn's promise in its fragrant dry down. It murmurs of dry earth, trails to hike, fragrant chili to spice dishes and warm the body from the inside out, and that soft warmness of a desert sky at sunset.
Top photo: Thanks to my daughter Allie for the hand modeling! Cactus photo: www.casavogue. globo.com. Last two photos from Dame Perfumes website. My sample was included with a purchase I made from Dame Perfumery. The opinions are my own.
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