DSH Perfumes Muresque Heirloom Elixirs #14 @dshperfumes
Once upon a time, long long ago when men and beasts trod the earth as kin – there dwelt a young maiden in a vast Forest Primaeval by her wee lone. As it often happened in those times, her blessed mother passed during childbirth and her father, a wealthy landowner – remarried in haste, only to repent in leisure. His new wife made it plain that she would not abide being second best; he was ensorcelled by the glamour in which she veiled herself and her true intentions, and began to neglect his beloved daughter.
In Bloom by Gina Litherland ©
For Nuala (that was the child’s name, from the Gaelic meaning “white shoulder”) life became intolerable and she retreated to the woods, where she found herself safe and amply sheltered. Nuala soon discovered that she possessed a gift which was to alter her life: an ability to understand the innumerable languages spoken by flora and fauna. And so the forest became her domain; the vixen and she-wolf, her familiars. It fell to her lot that, through their tender ministrations – she became known far and wide for her abilities as a healer. Follow her through the woods, past the brambles which bite and catch. Her step is sure; she traverses these environs in her sleep. It is the very cusp between autumn and winter: fallen leaves coat the forest floor, silvered with frost – but Nuala treads noiselessly in bare feet, oblivious to the cold. She forages for what remains, for she has already put aside a sylvan harvest’s bounty to see her through the winter. Nuts, berries, roots, herbs, mosses, bark – each preserved, dried, judiciously stored in loving order for libation, sustenance, enchantment. All that surrounds her is fragrant as the season – and Nuala herself, likewise.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
It must be that award-winning artisanal perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz created an elixir for her alone, sporting the fairytale appellation Muresque: that which resembles the blackberry. All the riches of legend are contained within a single drop: the violet red of the grape from which water of life is distilled (eau de vie), intensely hued berries that stain the lips so sweetly, their brambles which scratch the flesh and tug at the hem of her cloak. The juicy tartness of black currant, gentled by benevolent wood violets – bestows a beetroot-like hue reflected in fragrance as an olfactory mirror image. Dawn accords her the bergamot of high summer and whispers of sultry roses and indolic jasmine from that gilded season; aldehydes portend the chillier one to come.
Wolf Alice (For Angela Carter) by Gina Litherland©
The present is ensconced in moss and wood, loamy elements (patchouli) and pelts of Nuala’s companion creatures – reassuringly warm, leathery and musky, they attend her every footfall. Muresque is a woodland cordial, composed of diametrically opposite materials wedded to one another seamlessly, as if with spider-silk. It is aromatic innocence teetering on the precipice of decay, unselfconsciously sophisticated. Dawn has given us beauty, beasts and that which falls between the two in good faith, a talismanic safeguard. It is the odor which emanates from the Wood Guardian, Nuala – from the tips of her tresses, her fingers and toes – caught up in the rhythm of the seasons.
Notes: aldehydes, bergamot, blackberry, blackberry leaves and flowers, Pinot Noir accord, cassis bud, Bulgarian rose absolute, damask rose absolute, grandiflorum jasmine, orris, violet, wood violet, ambrette, Atlas cedarwood, Australian sandalwood, East Indian patchouli, balsam fir, green oakmoss, labdanum, musk
Flacon generously provided by the perfumer – I love it. Many thanks! My nose is my own…
~Ida Meister, Senior and Natural Perfumery Editor
Editor’s Note: Dawn revisited a theme from a perfume she composed in 1999, when there wasn’t the wealth of materials that are now available to independent perfumers. We are glad she did.
DSH Perfumes Muresque via @dshperfumes
Thanks to the generosity of perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, we are offering a 10 ml VdP rollerball pen of DSH Perfumes Muresque (Heirloom Elixir no.14) for one registered reader worldwide. You must register or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Ida’s review, and where you live. Draw closes 1/5/21
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DSH Perfumes Muresque, like all Heirloom Elixirs is a limited edition. It was the recipient of a CaFleureBon 2020 Best of Scent award
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