For many, many years now, I’ve been a fan girl of the DSH Perfumes line. The brand has an extensive catalog that at times can be very overwhelming. But, it’s been my experience that no matter what I end up trying, I end up liking. Now there are exceptions, but those exceptions are always perfumes that I just “like” instead of “love” or “completely and totally obsessed with”. Dawn’s style agrees with me. I can’t imagine living in a world without her perfumes.
Being that I have this relationship with many of Dawn’s perfumes, I forget that she’s a painter. Because I know her through her perfumes, I think of her as a perfumer/olfactory artist. However, Dawn started her career as a painter. When I try a perfume like La Belle Saison, I’m immediately reminded of this. La Belle Saison is this olfactory equivalent of visible brush strokes and colors depicting light. This is a botanical perfume that brings to mind flowers that aren’t distilled. This is a perfume that gives the impression of flowers usually not found in natural perfumery.
La Belle Saison opens like honeyed mimosa and fresh, cool slices of cucumber. It’s so bright and dewy that I can’t help but to think about spring. The heart is a honeyed, powdery floral that brings to mind lilacs. DSH never fails at pairing florals with spice. This perfume captures that spiciness of newly bloomed lilacs. This is paired with green notes so it really does give the impression of the entire bush. The dry-down is a waxy floral like jasmine blossoms kissed by sunshine. It has a warmth from ambrette and beeswax.
The more I wear this, the more that I realize it’s more than an impression. It’s more beautiful than lilacs in spring. Wearing this is like being transported to your very own floral utopia. It’s perfect.
Notes listed include lilac, ambrette, anise, bergamot, acacia, honey, beeswax, heliotrope, sandalwood, jasmine, styrax, neroli and violet leaf. Launched in 2016. PERFUMER – Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
Give La Belle Saison a try if you like honeyed florals or lilacs. Or perfumes like Providence Perfume Co. Love-In-A-Mist, Aftelier Honey Blossom, Von Euserdorff Classic Mimosa, Guerlain Champs-Elysees and/or Caron Farnesiana.
Projection is average and longevity is above average. It’s concentration is extrait/parfum.
The 5ml parfum retails for $130 at DSH Perfumes. A larger size is also available. Currently, this perfume is limited edition but may become permanent if the ingredients continue to be sourced.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Perfect spring floral. I’m still amazed by how all these botanical notes are put together to create an accord of “UTOPIA”.
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I couldn’t agree with you more about Dawn’s perfumes. I like so many, it’s impossible! I haven’t tried this one though….next order!
I have been meaning to do a roundup of her perfumes for years but I can’t narrow it down to a few perfumes! It’s so difficult for me to do that because there’s so many that I like from tuberose to gourmands to old school chypres.
Same for me. Narrowing it down to 10 would be difficult!