Faîr Parfum Dawn Rose, photo by The Perfumed Dahlia
Faîr Parfum is a French niche brand with a fairytale origin story. In the summer of 1884, a traveling circus made its way to Grasse, France. A local aristocrat named Francis saw Anna, a Russian dancer in the circus, and fell in love. After a heady romance, Francis married Anna—but his father disapproved, and disowned his son. As a result, Francis and Anna found themselves both penniless and homeless. Francis worked during the day for a local farmer and spent his evenings assisting a master perfumer. By 1888, Francis had developed popular perfumes that made enough money for him to establish his own perfumery. Faîr Parfum was ahead of its time. The perfumery was structured to protect workers’ rights, with a framework that limited workers’ hours, paid fair wages, and redirected profits to help educate workers’ children. In 1895, Francis established an exclusive perfume connoisseurs’ membership group for French high society called Le Club 1888, which limited access to his perfumes. In 2020, Faîr Parfum decided to open the doors of Le Club and share their fragrances with a broader audience.
Sleeping Beauty, photo by Claudia Maryschka via Pixaby
In the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, a king and queen neglect to invite a powerful fairy to a feast honoring their baby girl. Insulted, the fairy puts a curse on the baby girl to punish the parents—one day, the girl will prick her finger and fall into a deep, endless sleep. This comes to pass, and the princess sleeps until a prince slashes his way through a thorn-filled rose wall to kiss her awake. Sleeping Beauty can be read as a metaphor for parents who try to protect their children, or a tale of love that can overshadow any misfortune. If you take the fairy element out of it, Sleeping Beauty might also be about keeping girls sheltered until they can be safely shepherded from their parents’ home into a husband’s embrace. Or maybe it’s a story about the risks inherent to neglecting good manners.
Rose-Gated Castle, photo by Lillydes via PIxaby
The Faîr Parfum origin story and the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale have some common elements. Both stories open with a parent’s dread of what might befall their child, and young women who were ill-prepared for what came to pass as they grew up and/or fell in love. Both stories feature young men who went to great lengths to provide for the women they love. Both feature a period of limbo following an unanticipated setback. This feeling of waiting for life to start is highly relatable during a pandemic that has often felt like a year of endless sleep.
Citrus Rose, photo by Med Ahabchane via Pixaby
Faîr Parfum Dawn Rose starts out citrus-y clean and bright, a tantalizing promise of beautiful things to come. Faîr Parfum use the maximum percentage of essential oils allowed under IFRA regulations, and at 25% concentration Dawn Rose has staying power in addition to its fresh feel. The rose is faint at first, more of a suggestion, but before long a swirling spell of spicy clove and earthy vetiver conjure a rosebud more fully, and Dawn Rose stretches open under a balmy sky. It becomes gorgeously stem-y, very green and inviting. There’s a faint, earthy depth from the patchouli anchoring its base, but the entire focus is on a soaring rose, sparkling with lingering hints of citrus.
photo by Michelyn 2020 Summer
As restrictions slowly start to lift in the here-and-now, there is a stirring feeling of hope. It’s the pre-dawn of a new spring that carries a whiff of people, magic, and new beginnings. Looking back, this may have been a modern-day fairy tale in the making. For now, more waiting, and hoping, for a fresh dawn to bloom.
Notes: honey pomelo, rose, clove, vetiver, patchouli, suede.
Disclaimer: A bottle of Dawn Rose was provided by Faîr Parfum for this review. My opinions are my own.
Dalya Azaria, Senior Contributor
Faîr Parfum Dawn Rose, photo by The Perfumed Dahlia
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