Colorado-based indie perfume brand DSH Perfumes launched a collection of perfumes this year inspired by “Forbidden Fruits”. Les Fruits Défendus are all fragrances wrapped up in culture, mythology and symbolism associated with fruits.
Bakul Medjool
Notes listed include date, cardamom, bitter orange, bitter almond, rose, jasmine, frankincense, myrrh, benzoin, vanilla and sandalwood.
This one is delicious. I also think this one highlights a lot of what I like about Dawn’s style. It smells just like a dried date. It’s boozy and “chewy”. The heart of this fragrance is like incense, dried fruits and dried rose petals. It dries down to a smoky, resinous frankincense and myrrh.
Projection is average. Longevity is above average. If you like perfumes from DSH like Cimabue, you really should try Bakul Medjool. If you want a festive frankincense and myrrh scent for the upcoming holiday season, then you must try this.
Final EauPINION – Dried dates and incense. It’s sooo good.
Eau Cerise
Notes listed include black cherry, catalpa, sea buckthorn, licorice, violet leaf, rose, cassie, galbanum, ambrette, cedar, oakmoss and patchouli.
Why is a good cherry perfume so hard to find?! I feel like I’ve spent a long time trying to find a perfume that smells like a Manhattan and not like Lip Smackers.
Anyway, Eau Cerise openings with black cherry juice. It’s tart, fruity and in my opinion, it’s perfect. As it wears, it retains the juicy, berry fruitiness. There’s an addition of a tangy cassis and violet liqueur. It’s boozy, fruity and tart. It eventually wears as cherries, violets and iris. And then it just sort of vanishes…and that doesn’t make it me mad because it gave me that cherry fix I’ve been wanting.
In conclusion, I’m obsessed with Eau Cerise. If I could drink it, I would. If I could bathe in it, I would.
Final EauPINION – Fruity, tart cherry. Try it if you want a straight-forward cherry scent that also smells posh.
Figue Interdite
Notes listed include greens, apricot, peach, bergamot, davana, linden, mimosa, neroli, ylang-ylang, rose, jasmine, fir, ambrette, oakmoss, vetiver, sandalwood, orris and galbanum.
If you read EauMG, you already know that I love figs and basically have every figgy fragrance ever made. So, when I saw that DSH Perfumes has a new fig, I couldn’t wait to try it. But, I’m going to be real here – I’m disappointed. This isn’t really a fig. Now if you don’t like figs, then you are probably happy about this. But, as a fig lover, it hurts.
Anyway, Figue Interdite opens with a bitter lemon and grassy greens. Even from the beginning there is a dominant cedar note. As it wears, the fragrance becomes creamier and lactonic with peaches and coconut. I then get some green vetiver and then POOF, the fragrance is gone.
I like this perfume when I think of it as something else, i.e. a peach tree. It smells like cedar, greens and stone fruits. I guess I get the fig in it, but barely. It’s a greener, grassier fig but with creamy peaches.
Final EauPINION – Peach tree. My least favorite from the trio but I admit this one has some tough competition with those other two.
Each of these are botanical/natural perfumes. Eau Cerise and Figue Interdite both have below average projection and longevity (with Eau Cerise lasting longer on me). Bakul Medjool has below average projection and above average longevity.
All of these are available in different formats. Prices vary by perfume. For example, the 1 oz EDP of Bakul Medjool ($118), Eau Cerise ($125) and Figue Interdite ($110) at DSH Perfumes. Samples are also available for purchase.
Want more reviews? Try…
Ça Fleure Bon – Review of Eau Cerise
*Disclaimer – Samples provided by the brand. I am not financially compensated for my reviews. My opinions are my own. Cranach Adam and Eve, 1526, painting from Wikipedia. Osias Beert still-life 1604 also from Wikipedia. The Valentino dress is from “Heavenly Bodies” that was at Cloisters this past summer. That pic is mine.
While the idea of smelling like a Manhattan does at times interest me, Bakul Medjool sounds so decadently delicious. Oh yes, I’m really gonna have to look that one up.
I want to smell like a Manhattan and I have no clue why this is so hard for brands to do.
Bakul Medjool is so delicious but also incense-y. Ugh, just so good.
I love Bakul Medjool and Eau Cerise, too. (I’m just not a fig person, otherwise I’d probably enjoy Figue Interdite as well!) DSH is doing great work these days.
I’m a fig person and I didn’t love Figue Interdite. It just wasn’t figgy enough for me. However, I loved the other two. I could literally bathe in them if I could.