DSH Perfumes: Giverny In Bloom, Part Three

l'Opera des Rouges et des Roses, DSH Perfumes

When I first open the tiny vial from DSH Perfumes Giverny In Bloom collection, I immediately am hit with a pleasantly pungent, earthy rose note. I know an interesting ride is in store.   At first l'Opera des Rouges et des Roses (hereafter called Roses) is all about the dirt.

I am reminded of a rosebush planting spree I went on last spring.  I had not had great success with previous plantings, so I wanted to ensure that these three climbing rose bushes would be given every shot at flourishing in their new environment. I dug an extra big hole, which I then lined with bagged garden dirt and compost. I wanted the new tender root shoots to have someplace welcoming to go, before encountering the more resistant and tightly packed  earth. The cool damp soil, the fresh air,the green bloomless bush; they all melded together to give the wonderful smell of spring. This is exactly what I smell when I first apply Roses.

Soon, though, it is spring awakening. and the first tender rose buds are opening.  Their scent is subtle but beautiful as it catches in the breeze. This is a gorgeous rose, swirling among the freshly packed earth and the green leaves and branches. It is the whole rose bush.  I find the scent of rose to be a very euphoric smell, and this one certainly is.  Ingredients are always key, but rose is one of those notes that you can really tell when the perfumer has used  good quality. Cheap rose can smell thin and screechy. This one, when I put my wrist to my nose, smells as if I am cradling a succulent, velvety bloom fresh picked from the bush.

The perfume is described as "a classical bouquet of peony, old roses, carnation, and grandiflorum jasmine with oriental-animalic hints in the drydown." Dawn Spencer Hurwitz created this perfume to represent the red and pink flowers of Giverny, the more effusively fragrant section of the garden. As the perfume wears on me it never loses the character of being the whole of the rose bush; petals, branches, leaves and thorns. As time passes I am absolutely entranced. If you think there is no new way to present rose in a perfume, try this. Let it capture your heart, as it has mine.

The Giverny In Bloom collection coffret is pictured above, and can be found here on the DSH website. This is a great way to experience all the perfumes in the collection, including l'Opera des Rouges et des Roses, La Danse des Bleus et des Violettes, La Jardin Vert and Giverny In Bloom. For more on the collection go to Part 1 or Part 2.

Photo from the DSH Perfumes website.

DSH Perfumes: Giverny In Bloom, Part Two

La Danse des Bleus et des Violettes

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz created this perfume as one of the four in her Giverny In Bloom series. La Danse des Bleus et des Violettes (LDBV) is meant to represent the tender blue and purple flowers in Giverny, composed of violets, irises an lilacs. Notes of watery minerals and soft pale wood accord give the perfume an ethereal feel.

On first spray wispy tendrils of pale blue flowers impart a chill. LDBV smells like the delicate flowers of early spring, which won't survive once the harsh summer sun arrives in a couple of months time. Initially I smell mostly the violet. It is neither powdery or sweet. Next the lilac drifts into the picture adding a subtle touch of sweetness. For just a second I smell the dirt on the roots of the iris, then a watery note joins the florals. The overall feel is very quiet and contained; on my skin there is not a lot of projection. For some reason the line from the song in the Sound of Music popped into my head, "Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes." There is a certain prim and proper feel to this perfume that raises an image of a young woman in a white eyelet dress strolling on the garden path lined with violets and irises.

Although blue flower perfumes are not usually my favorite category, I find LDBV to be a very pretty and subtle perfume that gives a delicate interpretation of a walk among the blue and purple gardens of Giverny. You can find out more about LDBV here.  For more on the Giverny In Bloom collection see Part 1 or Part 3.

The photo above is a painting by Monet of the garden in Giverny.

DSH Perfumes: The Giverny In Bloom Collection, Part One

By now it is old news that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of  DSH Perfumes created a set of four perfumes for the Denver Art Museum's "In Bloom--Impressionists and Post Impressionists Flower Paintings" exhibition last summer. She used Monet's Garden in Giverny as inspiration, creating three perfumes to celebrate specific aspects of the garden, as well as an aroma meant to represent the entire garden and which was used to scent the experience space entitled Giverny In Bloom. I had sent for samples, as I try almost everything that Dawn creates, but somehow the samples got misplaced. I recently remembered I had never tried them, and fortuitously spring is the perfect season for their debut. In this post I will talk about two of the four scents, which though unique share some similarities. 

Giverny In Bloom

This is the perfume that Dawn created to represent the whole of the exhibit. On the website it is described thus: "An impressionist style perfume of green budding trees, wet dewy flowers and soil, that transforms to a rich floral bouquet." This is really it, in a nutshell. On first application the perfume gives a lovely viridescent effect. This pale green aura is so lovely I would like to immediately spray again, as it soon wanes and begins to change and evolve. 

Next comes the smell of raw earth in springtime. The earth is newly uncovered after hibernating all winter, rich and damp and ready to give life. I get the impression of digging in the dirt to plant sprightly spring seedlings,  ready to be neatly tucked in to their new beds. A few minutes later the scent is changing again. It gives off a little sweetness; not sugary sweetness but the beautiful honeyed sweetness of flowers in bloom. The floral scents are rich, yet at the same time muted. The scent is like the gentle wafts of scent the breeze carries as you're walking near the garden. No one note stands out but they make a lovely accord. On me this wears close to the skin but it is oh so beautiful!

After a couple of hours I no longer get the floral sweetness. Giverny In Bloom is still very green but the florals dance in and out. Overall the perfume reminds me of a watercolor painting of Monet's garden. It is a beautiful spring green perfume. The earth, the flowers and the effect of water and dampness make it a true painting composed of all the different parts of the garden, but everything runs beautifully together.

My review is based on the Eau de Toillette version. Giverny In Bloom also comes in perfume strength which I imagine would be gorgeous. And my heart started palpitating when I realized it is also available as a room spray! I would love for my bedroom to smell like an afternoon spent strolling through Giverny!

La Jardin Vert
Dawn created this perfume to represent the green background and foliage of the garden, a backdrop for the magnificent beauty and color of the flowers. The perfume is described as "densely green", along with aspects of rich soil, minerals, moss and woods.

Oh my! On application there is a burst of deep green which quickly turns vegetal,  and although it is not listed as a note, I get a mushroom vibe. The humus soil is damp and laden with twigs and leaves; mossy stones hiding in the shade of the lush green trees. For some time the scent does a dance back and forth between the green notes and the fragrant earth. In time I smell muted florals; it is still green but there is a slight floral edge.  The addition of galbanum  and oakmoss make this a chypre. At this point in the development Giverny In Bloom and La Jardin Vert seem as if they are polar opposites, but the strong green notes give them a common DNA.  At the end of the day after hours of wear these two scents end up smelling remarkably similar, at least on my skin. The La Jardin Vert still has the deeper oakmoss smell but otherwise their notes have come full circle.

I have admired DSH Perfumes skill with green perfumes. The vintage feel of her Vert Pour Madame and Pandora display Dawn's artistry with that which smells green. Giverny In Bloom is a green watercolor painting and La Jardin Vert is in oils, but they are both beautiful scents to brighten your spring. For more on the collection go to Part 2  or Part 3.

Beautiful painting by Carol  Renee and is for sale on Etsy.