Fine fragrance has always been a staple of the French and great perfumers have mainly been from France. American perfumes never gained the respect of their French counterparts and perfume elitists wouldn¹t dream of going American. However there comes a time when all things change and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz lands a heavy step forward for American perfumers.

Hurwitz manages to create beautiful high quality scents with dazzling creativity. She uses her education in the arts (she was a student of painting) to design her creations in accordance with fine art principles such as light, shape, color, texture, and expression. Perhaps it is this unconventional approach that allows her to create unique fragrances that stand distant from any other scent on the market. In an industry where scents are mass marketed and made to sell, not to excel, ambitious perfumers like Hurwitz are commodities.

From her modest beginnings at Boston¹s ESSENCE perfumery to her online perfumery www.essenceoils.com, Hurwitz has charmed her way into the hearts of the most elite fragrance aficionados. She offers four lines, Les Parfumes Beaux Arts (limited edition), DSH New Creations, Passionflower Perfume Poems (scents built around a poem), and Perfection Connoisseur Fragrances.

 

Above: Café Noir

Café Noir which is from her Perfection Connoisseur Fragrances collection and Jitterbug from her DSH New Creations collection will be reviewed in this article and other creations of her will be examined in forthcoming weeks.

Café Noir, according to Hurwitz, summons the atmosphere of a dark Paris night filled with fine Jazz music complete with smoky rooms and a giant cup of coffee. The scent is composed of black pepper, cinnamon, bergamot, benzoin, pimento, labdanum, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, tolu balsam, and vanilla. VERY STRANGE!!! It sounds like a catastrophe where a flower bouquet fell in a vat of coffee. Yet it smells not like a catastrophe but rather a dream. Warm notes of cinnamon and pepper explode upon application. As the scent evolves light rose notes sashay over deep vanilla notes laced with an extraordinary java aroma.

Jitterbug, one of my favorites from this line, was made to resemble the memorable scents of yesterday, "the kind your Mother and Grandmother wore." Like the 1940¹s dance craze (and not that God awful WHAM! song) this sparkles with zest. Clove notes jump out in step with a floral (jasmine and rose) turn. Now that the dance is warming up the hand of a delightful frankincense note steps with patchouli, labdanum, and musk sauntering into a delicate yet powerful spicy amber finish. These scents can be purchased online at www.artscent.com or by calling 1-800-551-0701.

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