HS3

I recently got a sample of this in the mail (thanks Nathan!) and finally got a chance to give it attention. It’s made by natural perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz and is an oil. It is from 2002 as a holiday release. Here are the notes and description from her site:

An ancient aroma of sacred incense…the Holy Smoke of the Midnight Mass rises with a blessing for the coming year.
Top notes: Bergamot
Middle notes: Mastic, Oppopanax, Sandalwood
Base notes: Brown Oakmoss, Frankincense (Olibanum), True Arabian Myrrh

I really thought it would be a dry, churchy thing, but what I got was a warm, enveloping scent that opened with the tartness of bergamot and warmth of oppopanax and slowly developed over the entire day. If you’ve ever had a hot toddy, that’s exactly what this reminded me of for most of the morning. It develops well throughout its life, with pops of frankincense taking turns with a sweet sandalwood. A full 12 hours later, it was still quite detectable but evolved fully from what it had started out as in the morning. That’s incredible with it being a natural perfume. I’d highly recommend giving this a try if you’re looking for an introspective, warm fragrance – I can totally see this as a perfect scent by a fire at Christmas (and any other time of the year, for that matter).