Sarah Horowitz-Thran has been one of the earliest independent perfumers as she has been producing fragrances since 1997, beginning with her “Perfect Perfumes” series. Ms. Horowitz-Thran has used this series to explore simple combinations of a few notes to create undiscovered complexities. The most successful of these 13 fragrances, for me, was Perfect Veil. In Perfect Veil her use of bergamot, lemon, musk, vanilla and sandalwood created a true skin scent. Not one that stayed close to the skin but one that smelled like clean skin and for me showed what can be created in just a few notes.
Earlier this year I was hearing about a new fragrance from Ms. Horowitz-Thran called “May Deep” which was meant to be a “smoky, mysterious, unisex blend” as with her fragrances her encomium of words does not do justice to this fragrance. May Deep is four notes deep and it is all of the promised smoky and mysterious in the press release.
The first note of May Deep is a rich orris. This is as opulent an orris as I have encountered. I hesitate to call this a top note because it has a depth to it that feels like what many fragrances obtain on my skin after 15 minutes not 15 seconds. Because of this I am going to dispense calling any of the notes heart or base because in many ways May Deep really comes off as a fast moving fragrant scherzo. The next note to come is agarwood and it is agarwood in its smoky, astringently woody incarnation. This mixes with the orris really well and as the agarwood rises in intensity it creates a moment in May Deep where the ionones of orris and the woody nature of agarwood create a fragrant harmonic. May Deep continues to develop as oakmoss continues to enhance the woodiness and almost create a chypre-like grace note for a few minutes. The final component in May Deep was one I felt was going to be problematic but instead is that last piece of the puzzle which stitches it all together. That note is a Madagascar Vanilla. I believe Ms. Horowitz must have added this via the smallest increments that she could because it feels as if it is poised on a knife-edge of “just right”. The vanilla is a green vanilla from the orchid and it adds green contrast to the woods and then a slight sweetness to play a duet with the remains of the orris that is memorable. A little too much vanilla and it would have fatally flawed this with too much sweetness. May Deep is appropriately named as it dives deep and never comes up for air.
May Deep has outstanding longevity and excellent sillage.
If the woodiness of May Deep sounds like too much wood for you, Ms. Horowitz-Thran has an alternative for you in May Deep Floral where she lays yuzu, pear, pikake, jasmine, and gardenia over the May Deep base. For me I found the flowers kind of gilded the lily I had found in May Deep. For those of you who love big bold florals over a deep woody base May Deep Floral might be more to your liking.
Ms. Horowitz-Thran created these to be May fragrances but ever since I’ve first worn May Deep it has felt like the perfect fall fragrance and I am looking forward to wearing this under a cashmere sweater when the frost is on the pumpkin. Waiting for that first New England frost is going to be a long wait with May Deep sitting in my fragrance wardrobe.
Disclosure: This review was based on samples provided by Sarah Horowitz Parfums.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor