DSH Perfumes Soho Boheme art collage by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of Germaine Cellier at the Chelsea Hotel

“And I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel. You were famous, your heart was a legend.” ~ excerpt from Leonard Cohen’s song Chelsea Hotel No.2

It goes without saying that I am magnetically drawn to animalic perfumes, verdant ones, and most definitely Anything Leather – the only caveat being that none of these resembles an Olfactory Icepick. In this spirit, I blind-bought (something I very rarely do) a flacon of artisanal perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’ new Soho Boheme. Dawn simply wasn’t playing fair, to my mind: don’t tease me with nods to Germaine Cellier and Leonard Cohen and expect me to sit by silently. That wasn’t going to happen. Here’s her seductive copy.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz in her studio in Boulder, Colorado taken for this article

“Here’s my Soho Boheme: Imagine Germaine Cellier taking up residence at the Chelsea Hotel; having moved to New York from Paris…From her new abode, she creates the ‘essence’ of Greenwich Village Bohemians; wonderfully non-conformist and non-gendered. She becomes the Soho Boheme…free to live her most unconventional life.” ~ perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz describing her inspiration for Soho Boheme

One could infer that DSH Perfumes Soho Boheme is Dawn’s homage to Germaine Cellier’s brilliantly mordant Bandit, initially created for Robert Piguet in 1944; Dawn is certainly a staunch (fellow) admirer. I appreciate the comparison as I wear them side-by-side: they each commence with a bitter bite of resinous galbanum, segue to a floral heart, and eventually dry down to an aridly compelling leathery sonnet. There the similarities end, for a variety of reasons. Ironically, Bandit is actually the more spicily floral of the two, with its attendant carnation, neroli, ylang-ylang, and tuberose. You might conclude that Bandit’s inclusion of artemisia, violet root, and vetiver would intensify the perfume’s greenness and skew the balance – but it doesn’t, oddly enough. Perhaps the touches of amber and coconut temper its edges. In the final stages of development, Soho Boheme emerges as the more leathery, somewhat rough/deliciously raunchy victor. I don’t think that this is what we would have expected – an attribute which renders Dawn’s perfume even more pleasurable: a consummate verdant leathery chypre.

Germaine Cellier and the Soho Hotel by Dawn

This scrutiny brings us to a classically Dawn categorization: the retro-nouveau vintage style in which she excels. As an aficionado who has been amassing classical perfumes for 55+ years, I can honestly state that most frequently, one is more likely to fare better with DSH Perfumes vintage-inspired fragrances than with many fragrant unicorns available for sale on eBay. Dawn’s quality is unrivaled, and you never need to fret about top notes which have gone off, or a perfume which has become attenuated and/or altered with the passage of time. I would classify these scents, and DSH Perfumes Soho Boheme amongst them – as intemporal: they feel immediate and thoroughly modern without compromising the tenets of haute parfumerie. You are guaranteed to smell audacious, sophisticated, and distinctive when you anoint yourself with them.

Soho Boheme’s abundance of animalics ensure a richly aromatic experience. As is customarily the case, no expense is spared, and the polygamous marriage of styrax, musk, civet, castoreum, birch tar, ambergris, and a suede accord provide an inimitable leather presence which is majestic in its quirkiness. These elements are perfectly companionable with cedar, oakwood, sandalwood, and patchouli, deepened further by a scintilla of oakmoss and quietly tempered with a dab of vanilla. Silvery ionones of orris and wood violet impart a lovely counterpoint to the comfortingly indolic nature of jasmine, gardenia, and tiare; Bulgarian rose contributes its full-bodied, deeply floral warmth accented with soft citrus. Soho Boheme, for me, represents the melodic lines and harmony inherent in the perfumer’s body of work: it reveals artistry that exceeds the boundaries of perfumery and fine art, for Dawn is a master olfactory musician. Soho Boheme plucks at my soul in an insidious, skillful manner – so expertly that I am initially unaware that I am being played like a well-loved instrument.

As I write, I am eagerly awaiting another from DSH Perfumes (yet another recent blind purchase): her Soho Cuir, a more buttery riff on the leather theme. If you share my tastes, then the siren song of leather perfume interpretation is an endless string of aromatic baroque pearls in an opera-length necklace. Dawn has composed a prolific number of such fragrances to sate our olfactory lust – and Soho Boheme is one to snap up, hands down. I’m glad that I did, and I urge you to sample it for yourselves.

Notes: bergamot, galbanum, gardenia, jasmine grandiflorum, Bulgarian rose absolute, tiare absolute, orris, wood violet, brown oakmoss, ambergris, East Indian patchouli, sandalwood, styrax, cedar leaf, musk, civet, castoreum, birch tar, leather, oakwood CO2, suede accord, vanilla

Flacon purchased by me. My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor

DSH Perfumes Soho Boheme photo by Dawn

Thanks to the generosity of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes, we have one 30 ml EDP of Soho Boheme for one registered reader in the Continental USA.  To be eligible, please leave a comment regarding what sparked your interest about Ida’s review. Draw closes 10/14/2024.

All images courtesy of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz was the first in our American Perfumers Series which officially launched July 11, 2011 (to date there have been 177).

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