DSH Perfumes Urban Beekeeper © DSH Perfumes
She like to call me king bee
She like to buzz ’round my tree
I call her honey bee
I’m a man in a trance
I’m a boy in short pants
When I see my honey bee
Well I’ve got something to say “Honey Bee” by Tom Petty
Good the Hive mural, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
There are few scents more innocent than honey; its sticky pancake sweetness, memories of long summer afternoons, Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger and Eeyore inviting you to the Thousand Acre Wood, a flannel picnic blanket spread with teatime treats under a wise old tree. There are few scents more carnal than honey; unctuous, drippy, smelling of wildflowers and tree sap, its oozy trickle begging for that third silk button undone, its resinous syrup a slow, wanton prelude to dark, hidden things.
Honey and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz are old friends, and no one handles that rich syrup as she does. Some honey-laden perfumes come across as sickly sweet or go the opposite way, becoming dark and sour, even urinous. But Spencer Hurwitz can bend honey to her will like a sorceress, teasing it into highbrow, animalic naughtiness in Chinchilla, pulling it like gourmand taffy from the veiled souks of Marrakech with Mahjoun, or imbuing it with joyous, springtime abandon in her newest apiary scent, Urban Beekeeper.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes
Why return to honey scents? Spencer Hurwitz explains her love of the fuzzy little pollinators that create it:
“Bees and beekeeping have been a fascination of mine for as long as I can remember. I continue to marvel at the wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors of these magical beings… not to mention their abilities to fly, hover, and maneuver in space the way that they do. I think of them as friends to humanity and myself in particular. I try to help them in their work by planting bee-loving flowers and keeping the dandelions in my yard and do so with deep gratitude for all that they provide in our world. In my little world, they provide endless inspiration.”
Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger, illustration by E.H Shepard
DSH Perfumes Urban Beekeeper has a classic case of happy feet: it just can’t help but dance the minute it exits the bottle. Yuzu and grapefruit and bergamot jetee like Baryshnikov the moment you press spray, but instead of performing La Bayadere, they head straight into a jazzy little tap number. This combo is snappy, happy, and, like Tigger, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun! As the two sides dance alongside each other, I feel like I’m in the midst of my own summer party. The top is buzzy and bright, a happy dance on the roof when no-one’s watching.
The perfume is built on notes that hoist their fellows like a big, body surf. This frisky fragrance combines the modern verve of yuzu and zingy pink grapefruit with classical, lush white flowers and syrupy honeycomb. Yuzu, tart and aromatic yellow-green, and sweet, puckery pink grapefruit, with its lemonade sweetness leap happily from the bottle on first spritz. That slightly astringent greenness from the yuzu was an inspired choice; throughout Urban Beekeeper, this note keeps the central honey and beeswax notes from becoming too rich or dense.
image credit: Unsplash
Spencer Hurwitz explains that the citrus that frame the fragrance stem from her concept of the urban beekeeper who “tends to the hive, collecting wax, bee pollen, and of course, honey. In the course of their tending, they commune with the hive and return to their other ‘urban’ world carrying bits of the scent of the hive with them. The beekeeper wears a … citrus scent to the office but beneath it they also wear the scent of the hive. This is that amalgam fragrance; a perfume of two worlds meeting to create something beautifully magical.”
And then the honey. Oh, the honey! The animalic tang from Chinchilla is still there, but dialed way down. Mahjoun’s chewy sweetness is also in attendance but seated somewhere in the back. No, this honey is no vintage bombshell or exotic temptress but rather a high-spirited urbanite who is determined to see that everyone has a good time at her terrace soiree. In the honeyed heart of Urban Beekeeper, here’s a distinct floweriness, with a jammy rose very much in the forefront. The characteristic soapy-downy smell of neroli is also present in the middle, but more subtly, while jasmine fills in the fragrance with its girlish, green-tinged creaminess. The combination is so yummy I want to pour it on some homemade vanilla bean ice cream.
Think of that simple, perfect joy you get when the sun is high, the breeze is gentle and blue, birds are all a chatter, and the neighbours you pass in the street greet you with a crinkly smile, and that one guy whose eye you’ve always tried to catch just flashed you a big grin. That’s what Urban Beekeeper smells like. Sexy as a short cotton sundress and hip elegant as cocktails at Mama Shelter, Urban Beekeeper will leave you buzzed and blissed.
One of my top summer scents. Ever.
Notes: Bergamot, French beeswax, grandiflorum jasmine, honey, lily of the valley, musk, neroli, pink grapefruit, rose petals, yuzu.
Disclaimer: Sample of DSH Urban Beekeeper very kindly sent to me by the ever-lovely Dawn Spencer Hurwitz. My opinions, as always, are my own.
DSH Perfumes Urban Beekeeper is an all natural fragrance and genderless.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
DSH Perfumes Urban Beekeeper collage by Michelyn
Thanks to the largesse of DSH Perfumes, we have a 30 ml bottle of DSH Urban Beekeeper for one registered reader in the CON U.S. only. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what piques your interest in Urban Beekeeper and whether you’ve tried Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’s other perfumes. Draw closes 6/21/2023.
Please read Deputy Editor Ida Meister’s recent review of Love, Lemon Grass which contains Honey absolue in her 3 DSH perfumes You should be Wearing here
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