I went through many a green perfume in the past weeks and I found a lot to like, a couple I hate and a select few where it is love.
I have to end green week for now, because the week is over, whether I am done or not :), but be sure to see many more “Greens”on Olfactoria´s Travels over the next months. I found a genre I really like, so there will be a lot more to talk about.
Despite the weather outside, today´s perfumes make me want to pretend it is summer already, ah, I feel a great mood coming on, right there 🙂
DSH Perfumes is a line that impresses me over and over again.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz was so kind and sent a slew of samples with my last order (of the gorgeous Mata Hari, check out my review here) and on my quest for green, green, green, I struck Gold or better Green, in my DSH sample stash.
Celadon and Viridian are both part of the Chroma Collection, an inspired idea, where the perfumer attempted to “translate” colors of the artists palette into olfactory gems. As a highly synesthetic person, who assigns every smell to a color, that is totally up my alley of course.
Celadon is described as a velvet green. It is a wonderfully soft, plush, warm green scent that feels enveloping and almost like a caress. When I close my eyes I see the green velvet fabric right before me. It reminds me of Puredistance Antonia, which is the highest praise I can think of. 😉 The intensely fresh green opening, is followed by a warmed heart due to the addition of hay. The duet of green and warm continues in the drydown where vanilla like warmth and violet leaf´s cool darkness combine to provide the perfect softness and plushness of Celadon. It is a quiet scent, without a lot of sillage, but I can smell it on myself when I move, its staying power is about four hours on me.
Official notes include: Clover Leaf, Cucumber, Lime Peel, Green Grass, Liatrix, Orris Root, Balsam Fir, Hay absolute, Narcissus Absolute, Tonka Bean, Violet Leaf Absolute
Viridian is a bracing, almost bitter (I love that!) bright green, that embodies pretty accurately what I think a green perfume should smell like. It is fresh and crisp, like freshly cut grass in the beginning, angelica, a wisp of citrus and galbanum are blended into one perfect accord that is broadcasting “green” loudly and clearly. But soon it gains dimension and depth as the vetiver and oak moss make themselves felt. The drydown is gloriously dark green, moss and earth and a forest-y damp stay on for hours.
Notes include angelica, artemisia, bergamot, celery seed, aloe, chrysanthemum, galbanum, orris root, Australian sandalwood, Brazilian vetiver, green oakmoss, lovage, myrrh gum, patchouli and violet leaf.
Both are lovely perfumes, that once again convince me, that taking a closer look into artisanal perfumery is a good decision and a good place to put my money.
The absolute artistic freedom, the palpable passion for the subject and the artists own impetus to use only the best ingredients available, work in unison to make artisanal perfumes, and in this case DSH Perfumes, into the master pieces I count myself lucky to experience.
The only problem is, I want them all 😉
Picture source: Bathing Suit photographed by Tom Palumba via myvintagevogue.com, DSHperfumes.com, artsupplies-cornwall.co.uk, some rights reserved thank you!
Olfactoria's Travels 
Great reviews!!
I have a sample of Celadon. I should try it this weekend, especially since I have been craving the smell of cut grass.
I love the way you described Viridian as crisp and then “gain(ing) dimension and depth”. What a variety of notes!
Since you are craving green too, you will like Celadon. 🙂
DSH perfumes are on my list! I can’t wait to smell both of these—they sound stunning!
Would you say that they’re blonde scents, or that they’d be okay both ways? 😉
Dee, I think these are totally hair color neutral fragrances 😉 DSH is a must try for you! We need to discuss! 🙂
Bad enough, that I sold my soul to the Devil…I had to add the Green Fiend, too! I’ve never had the opportunity to try any of the DSH line (although I was hugely intrigued by all the glowing reviews of Mata Hari), but Olfactoria, I’m dying to try these two. Green is my favorite color and an all-time favorite family, so I would be a sitting duck! Especially Viridian (a lovely color, btw), with that bracing, bitter note sounds right up my tree line! Does it share any affinities with Jacomo’s Silences, do you think? (Since it’s also a ‘bitter’ scent, and that’s a good thing!)
Independent perfumers give me hope. They have the vision and the creativity I haven’t seen too much of at the mainstream perfume counters these days, especially when they go against the grain of trends and fashions – and IFRA restrictions! 😉
Ladies, I foresee it will be a stellar year for discoveries – and discussions, too! Have a great Saturday, all! 🙂
Tarleisio – you are so right! The independent perfumers are the future.
Sadly I cannot yet compare Viridian to Silences, as I am still waiting for my bottle to arrive. I´ll make sure to think of a comparison of the two when I write about Silences.
It is worth checking out DSH, so many really good and gratifying perfumes, I have yet to come upon one I didn´t like.
Have a great weekend! 🙂
BTW…I want that bathing suit! And the turban. It would go so well with my Diva Versace shades…;)
You would be ravishing in that outfit 😉
The perils of the redheaded gene! 😉
Like D, DSH perfumes are my very long “must try” list. Particularly Oeillets Rouge, as I have been looking for the right carnation scent for the longest time and think this may be The One.
I hope it is the right one for you! 🙂
(want the beads the lad wears in the picture!)
Fellow synesthetic here, although it happens for me with smells only once in a while; my “area” is mainly seeing letters in color 🙂
Letters in color, that is cool 😉 Is there a system to it, A=red, or is it random? (I am curious!)
Oh, I adore that picture of that green bathing suit!
Nabokov in “Speak, Memory” describes his synesthesia in great detail. He apparently saw different things in color, including the sound of letters. His colors are quite complex too! Like hazy grey with yellow undertones…
That is very interesting, I should read Nabokov, (or more realistically – at least put it on my vacation reading pile).
The picture is adorable, I would love to have lived in the fifties (in America, not here ;)).
I’ve sampled both but Viridian is my favorite. It reminds me of the rain forests here that bump right up to the Pacific coast.
I prefer Viridian too, but it is for a different mood.
Tarleisio reviewed Olympic Rainforest by Olympic Orchids recently, that sounds like something you could love too, Victoria!
What??? There’s an Olympic Rainforest perfume and I haven’t tried it yet!!!
Olympic Orchid Perfumes must be right in your backyard! Let me know if you try it! They have a very affordable sample set.
I love DSH Perfumes too. Viridian is simply THE greenest fragrance I have ever smelled. Its only rival is the original Vent Vert. It’s very daring and intense. Celadon is lovely, so soft and gently green.
I love that DSH has such a scope, there is a great scent to be found for every one. Viridian os a new favorite for me 🙂
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