Providence Perfume Co. Sedona Sweetgrass Review (Charna Ethier) + Desert Dreaming Draw

Sedona sandstone photo © by Sandi Lundberg 

"God created The Grand Canyon but he lived in Sedona"-New York Times, 1997

Native New England natural perfumer Charna Ethier is always someone to watch: she’s a bona fide original with her own distinctive iconoclastic aesthetic. Charna can summon dreams with finesse, including climes and locales I’ve yet to encounter in my travels. Providence Perfume Co. Sedona Sweetgrass is her latest composition and it’s stunningly evocative; I’ve always longed to experience the desert with its vast coloration and variations of stillness – and now it has me pining for the piñons. The solitary majesty of Sedona, Arizona and its famed red sandstone formations cropping up organically from the soil like mythical beings inspires awe in all but the soulless. It provides the opportunity to feel both at one with the immensity of the universe and one’s own cosmic insignificance.

Desert photo © by Sandi Lundberg 

Reverence, reflection, and communion, isolation: the gravitational pull of these instills the desire to be alone with nothing more than the bare essentials required to keep body and spirit together. Providence Perfume Co. Sedona Sweetgrass is such a soul-soothing, meditative fragrance, I find. It smells wild and true, gentle and fierce in the manner of untamed and untameable things – in other words, very close to my heart. It’s my fond hope that you too will be similarly moved…

Pinecone photo © by Sandi Lundberg 

The piñon pine is an ancient conifer possessed of the rich jamminess one sometimes finds alongside their hallmark terpenic quality and tonicity. It combines that brisk, clean aroma punctuated with a hint of lemon, of peach. The coumarin-intense nature of sweetgrass (hay) delivers a hazy glow redolent of fine tobacco which is amplified by the grassy, delicate smokiness of Charna’s choice of vetiver and is highlighted by sage’s haunting herbalcy. Just a smattering of incense to punctuate; nowhere in this eau de toilette is there an overdosage of any component. What I love about it is its equilibrium, sense of proportion – all is intimated, not cudgeled. The campfire, mezcal are insinuated; they whisper.

“If you find me in a gloom, or catch me in a dream
Inside my lonely room, there is no in between
Whispering pines, rising of the tide
If only one star shines
That's just enough to get inside
I will wait until it all goes 'round
With you in sight, the lost are found.” ~ Whispering Pines, written by Richard G. Manuel and Robbie Robertson of The Band

Sedona sandstone photo © by Sandi Lundberg 

Part of the wonderful ephemeral character of Providence Perfume Co. Sedona Sweetgrass lies in its fragrant format, eau de toilette, to which this scent  is well-suited. This assures that one is not trapped inside a bucket of Pine-Sol, but sheltered underneath the wraith of the desert zephyrs and all the subtleties which that suggests. I suppose I’ve found myself a new favorite and Southwestern compadre. Notes: Piñon pine, sweet grass, sage, vetiver, incense, mezcal, campfire

 Providence Perfume Co Sedona Sweetgrass samples kindly provided by Charna Ethier – I love them. Thank you! My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

~ Art Direction: Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief —With gratitude to Sandi Lundberg, Associate Contributor (who is also a fan of Providence Perfume Co.) for the use of these jaw-dropping desert photos used in the review

Thanks to the largesse of Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Co. Sedona Sweetgrass we have one 5ml rollerball of available to one registered reader  worldwide. Be sure to register or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please tell us what you enjoyed about Ida’s review of Providence Perfume Co. Sedona Sweetgrass, where you live, and what it is about the desert that appeals to you. Draw closes 10/20/2018

We announce the winners only on our website so like Cafleurebon and use our Blog feed…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

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24 comments

  • INYA says:

    Ms Ida, you described this fragrance as if it contains the essence of nature itself. All I need now are the stars at night. USA

  • einsof says:

    when i found myself in desert surroundings, i have thristed and found every pore communining and consuming the fragrance rising from needles as oasis for mind and body.

    what instant dry colorscapes of the amber and brown and greenery spotted i am found… ida. this is shockingly overheated and almost gasping for breath in the transporting, with or without fragrance supporting.

    thank you for bringing charna a million miles to me!

    no need to enter me, i am saited in my triggered state of disgesting what ida has offered.

  • jeremyn87 says:

    The jammy pine makes me think of some resins, which have a bit of a citrus and fruity vibe to them. Though the other notes sound dark, aromatic, and dry. And the mezcal effect sounds so smoky.
    Im in the US.
    The desert is appealing because of its dryness. Plus, food from areas with deserts can often be really delicious.

    Thanks for tje draw

  • Monica Beaton says:

    As always Ida, an incredible review – I can almost feel the red dust and dry air. I always wonder how on earth anything can possibly grow in that red dirt. Lovely photos as well. I live in Australia

  • Harbinger says:

    I have been dying to try this fragrance and Ida has done a remarkable job describing it. The vastness of the desert (and lack of cold and snow) is what appeals to me about it. USA

  • Zibbyz says:

    Ida’s review was very evocative, for me, of desert. We regularly visited New Mexico for family when I was a kid, so I love the stillness and the scents of deserts, they are very different from landscape and country in the Midwest, but still very open. I love visiting and this would allow me to visit without traveling! In the us, and thank you for the generous draw

  • Cynthia says:

    Wow, gorgeous photos! I agree with your assessment of the desert, Ida. It is a magical place that makes us feel small. You’ve made Charna’s latest sound very good. Thanks for the review.

  • VerbenaLuvvr says:

    Once while a teenager, my car left me stranded alone for several days in the Crazy Mountains of Sweetgrass County, Montana. Not desert but high and dry, certainly wild and untamed and a soul-searching experience all the same. I live in the US and thank you for the draw.

  • minteacup says:

    My husband and I eloped in Sedona in an outdoor ceremony on and overlooking the red rocks, among the agaves and in the shade of a spreading piñon pine. I tore the bottom hem of my dress on a prickly pear cactus too, hehe. We chose the desert in the spirit of adventure, and because we already knew how much we were moved by the dramatic, ethereal landscape of red rocks in the southwest; the vivid contrasts of blue skies, red stone, and lush green foliage, the wide open vistas rolling into eternity from grand vantage points… peace and bliss! From majestic Saguaros blooming in southern AZ, to the dreamy hues of the painted desert further north, there is so much desert to marvel at on daytrips out of Sedona, too.

    Love that this review reminded me of that wonderful corner of the world, and mentions that irresistible “jamminess” that makes piñon smell positively indulgent. Providence Perfume Co.’s Sedona Sweetgrass sounds like it’ll make me real wistful… the east coast has its own beauty, but I miss those dusty trails and sparkling night skies. I’m in the US, thanks for the draw!

  • Onyinye says:

    I have never been to the desert but I love seeing the big expanse of land in pictures.
    I always enjoy how the reviews have pictures to help one have an imagination.
    I live in California

  • audesko1 says:

    I love Sedona and can imagine the sweet grass that grows there. Thank you for the chance to try. I live in the US.

  • Annatar says:

    Deserts, same as oceans and mountains, first of all, are a true test of strength. I’m a wuss so I’ll just admire them from a safe distance.

    Sedona Sweetgrass sounds like something I’d wear; I’m on a quest for soul-soothing, as you perfectly called them, perfumes.

    I live in Russia

  • Alen says:

    Great descriptions by Ida, desert can be a magical place. The notes sounds really nice and i would love to give this one a sniff. Thanks for the chance, i am in the EU.

  • aurora_ru says:

    I have a nostalgia for American desert sceenery and I wish i could visit magic Sedona mountains. Also I love the terpenic scent of pine, so this one sounds very appealing to me, especially if it is natural perfumery.
    Thank you, I am in the EU.

  • aurora_ru says:

    I have a nostalgia for American desert sceenery (i once visited the Grand Canyon) and I wish i could visit the magic Sedona mountains. Also I love the terpenic scent of pine, so this one sounds very appealing to me, especially if it is natural perfumery.
    Thank you, I am in the EU.

  • Marcus says:

    This sounds right up my alley, especially when you put it in relation as an EdT versus one of those too realistic natural outdoor scents. I’ve never been to the desert though. Would love to win this to Germany, thank you for the draw.

  • lindaberlin says:

    This sounds so beautiful. I have visited Sedona and fell in love with it at first sight. The notes seem just perfect for a description of that beautiful desert setting

  • cigano says:

    Sounds lovely. I remember visiting Sedona frequently when I lived in Phoenix. I would go and play in the river with my dog. The lovely bright red rock up against the crystal clear blue water. I loved to get the resin of the pinion pine to burn on charcoal when I got home. This article brought back some fond memories.
    Fort Lauderdale, Fl

  • Noelle says:

    I so rarely wear scent anymore and the review made me wonder why. The idea of jamminess of the piñon was what drew me in most.
    Winner or not I may have to buy some.I live in Ontario, Canada

  • doveskylark says:

    i love fragrances that summon a place. The piñon pine and sweetgrass are very evocative of the southwest USA. I love the isolation of the desert and also the wild flowers in the spring.
    I live in the USA.

  • bumbuliuki says:

    I love evocative fragrances and Sedona Sweetgrass seems like that type. I haven’t been to a desert, but I would enjoy the calmness and isolation.
    Almost everyone needs to be alone sometimes, contemplate in a beautiful scenery and this creation would be perfect for that occasion, especially taking into account it’s a natural perfume.
    Thank you for the wonderful review .
    I’m in the EU.

  • roxhas1cat says:

    I’m happy to know it doesn’t go to Pine-sol territory! I don’t know what it is about the desert, but I always feel like I’ve gone “home” even though I was raised at the beach. Don’t know if it’s the expansive blue skies, the quietness of it all or the warmth. I’ve travelled a lot in NM, AZ and southern Utah and love all those places. I’d love to see if this fragrance captures the essence. Thanks for the chance at a sniff. USA.

  • Julie N DeMelo says:

    Hello,
    A beautiful scent…I recently visited PROVIDENCE PERFUME CO. just before she launched Sedona Sweetgrass. Providence is a short drive for me as I also live in RI. and could not resist purchasing a bottle of this perfume upon my first sniff! Charna is very talented.

  • Jos says:

    Yearning for pine and the cool of a pine forest during this heat. Great review! Living in the EU.