Scent Trunk's December by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: A Russian Fairytale

The prolific perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz recently created a fragrance for Scent Trunk, released in December, and fittingly named December. It is such a distinctively beautiful scent perfect for cold weather wear that I wanted to write about it while the Northern Hemisphere is still experiencing winter.

Dawn lives in the Colorado mountain town of Boulder and the surrounding forests have inspired perfume creations for her own brand, DSH Perfumes. She also creates a new fragrance centered around holiday themes every December and these also feature winter vibes with Christmas or Hanukkah references, but with December for Scent Trunk she has created something especially haunting and evocative.

From www.scenttrunk.com website.

Scent Trunk commissions perfumers to create scents that focus on a particular ingredient  and provenance. For December, coriander is the spotlighted note, and St. Petersburg, Russia is the provenance. Dawn really nailed the Russian references. When I first sprayed December I got images of deep, dark Siberian forests and visuals from folkloric fairy tales, where there is usually the suggestion of something dangerous awaiting in the woods.

When I was young my father would read bedtime stories to me, and two books that always delighted me  with shivery excitement  were fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson and also the Brothers Grimm. These were not Russian fairy tales but originated in countries not too distant and contained some of the same dark elements. In these tales threats were waiting for the unwary, children faced danger with uncertain outcomes, and life didn't always offer a happy ending. Today's children read the Disneyfied cleaned-up fairy tales but in my generation the little mermaid never got her prince, her feet were a source of pain, and she died a mournful death as she turned to sea foam in the ocean waves. I would pull the covers up to my chin and shiver with gratitude that I lived safely in a house guarded by my parents and that my sister slept in a bed an arm's length away.

December gives me that shivery feeling of entering a dark woods, wild beasts possibly hiding in the shadows. The forest smells resinous with sappy pine cones and frozen spiky fir and spruce needles. It is as if we are already deep in the forest and far away from civilization. But there is another element that makes the scent whimsical, slightly mysterious, and takes you on a magic carpet ride to the icy cold forests of Russia. A cocktail of notes: bergamot, black hemlock, clary sage, vodka, cardomom, and most of all coriander, combine to achieve this alchemy.  Picture forests more foreboding than welcoming, large furry creatures, icicles hanging from shivery pines, and a spicy melange that does somehow impart a romanticized vision of the East.

The first time I tested December on my skin the scent quieted after a while. I half forget I was wearing it. Then later, and I mean hours later, suddenly it revived like a campfire whose spark had been fanned by the wind and burst into gentle flame again. I smell a deep wine rose and a rooty orris that combine to form a rich velvet against the now dim forest notes. New notes of leather and musk bring visions of bundling up against a white snow storm with leather coats and big Russian fur hats.

Scene from the movie, Dr. Zhivago

Other notes I smell are wisps of smoke, traces of tobacco, and soft leather. Now the scent feels more tamed and civilized. We've moved away from the dark, dark woods and are now cozily ensconced in front of a fire, a small tumbler of icy vodka awaits, and our warm clothing and thick walls keep the cold at bay. I feel enshrouded in my own version of a Russian fairy tale. 

Notes:

I have used photos from Russian photographer Margarita Kareva, who specializes in these fairy tale images, as for me they perfectly captured the feeling that December conjures.

I am not very familiar with Scent Trunk. I believe it previously had a bespoke element to it, but currently they seem to be commissioning fragrances from indie perfumers in which they feature a certain provenance and highlight a certain note. As far as I know this scent is only available via Scent Trunk, and comes in a very reasonably priced 100 ml bottle or a 5 ml sample spray.

This is not to be confused with the scent called December Holiday No. 10 that is on Dawn's website. I will correct this if I find I am wrong.