Tea and Charcoal drawing by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
Inspiration, and the need to create something of beauty for others, can leap from the darkest corners. For Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, the pandemic lockdown meant that she was soon searching for ways to engage her young son while sparking her own creativity. The 100 percent botanical Tea and Charcoal, a “scent of isolation,” became the first in a series that grew out of Spencer Hurwitz’s confinement, and her need to stretch creatively and offer a chaotic, imploding world something calming and beautiful. And she has. Tea and Charcoal is, in fact, more chipper than its subtitle suggests. Blending four different teas with a brilliantly realistic charcoal note, Tea and Charcoal is dreamy but urban, like a village tea shop plunked down in a cityscape, Tea and Charcoal is perfect for an arriviste chimney sweep or a steampunk Mary Poppins.
Photo via Visioluxus
Spencer Hurwitz related how the novel concept for Tea and Charcoal was rooted in the mundane: “We started making art at home. And I remembered that tea was used in the Renaissance for tinting papers and it seemed like a great idea for wash paintings. And as we started doing these I began considering other basic/ancient household items that might be used for art making. I started making tea wash and charcoal drawings, and the concept of a multi-sensorial project came.” The art that resulted from her blending of charcoal and tea stain accompanies the fragrances in the series.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes
Smoky, steamy Lapsang Souchong releases and rises in tendrils as the fragrance is released. For those unfamiliar with it, Lapsang Souchong is a Chinese smoked tea with complicated taste and aroma: astringent, ashy, woody, seeped in dark, half-dried flowers, slightly medicinal. It is the perfect predicate for the charcoal that comes out a few moments later. As an artist as well as a perfumer, Spencer Hurwitz has a deep knowledge of the smell and feel of charcoal: “I have long loved the idea of translating charcoal into scent. It couldn’t be just a smoke note or something burnt … it had to really feel like the texture of charcoal as well as evoking the scent of it. I also always imagined it as an all-natural design (no synthetics used). I am very familiar with the sensations of feeling, smelling, and even tasting charcoal, so I knew very deeply what I was after when I began to design the accord for Tea and Charcoal. It is comprised of around 25 natural materials to get the proper feel and ‘3 dimensional’ quality to the scent that I was looking for.”
Image via Steampunkworkshop
Qualities of the other teas come out in subtle touches: bitter, hay-like mate, acerbic, vegetal green tea, a soothing echo of Earl Grey. These teas dance through the composition throughout and keep it cooling and tranquil but wide-awake. As the charcoal and Lapsang combines, dots of bright citrus notes punctuate the smoky, steamy aromas like headlights breaking the fog. The addition of petitgrain and bergamot lift the bosky notes so that it never feels heavy or morose. A bit later, hunter green quality emerges from the leathery, woodsy smell of oakmoss and earthy patchouli in the base along with some birch tar. Revisiting Tea and Charcoal in the mid-afternoon, it is consoling and elegant, a welcome respite in the swelter of humidity outside.
drawing by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
Tea and Charcoal is a wonderful tonic for a torpid summer day when the world weighs heavy. When the scorch of summer steams the pavements, and buildings seem to crack in the heat, dab Tea and Charcoal on your neck and jump into one of the chalk drawings, to that perfect place where tea is poured from porcelain spouts into tiny cups, while dainty sandwiches with their crusts off are fed to coal-smudged urchins trying to mind their manners. An echo of charcoal clings to them, and the tea rises in the air which is never too warm or too chilly.
Notes: Bergamot, black tea, clary sage, lemon, petitgrain, amyris, black tea absolute, green tea absolute, Chinese green tea, Lapsang Souchong tea absolute, birch tar, brown oakmoss, charcoal, East Indian patchouli, mitti attar, orris concrete, maté absolute.
Disclaimer: sample of DSH Perfumes Tea and Charcoal generously provided by DSH Perfumes. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
DSH Perfumes Tea and Charcoal Voile de Parfum 10 ml
Thanks to the generosity of DSH Perfumes, we have a 10 ml Voile de Parfum or EDP bottle of Tea and Charcoal for one registered reader worldwide. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes about this fragrance based on Lauryn’s review, and where you live. Draw closes 6/24/2020.
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