Behind the Bottle: DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz) 2021 + Ida Meister/Billie Holiday Women’s Artists Series Draw

DSH Perfumes Don't Explain Women's Artists

Dawn Spencer Huwitz of DSH Perfumes, DSH Perfumes Don’t Explain and a gardenia from Dawn’s garden

No explanation is needed for three of the most talented artists to have graced this earth – Award Winning Perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes, one of the most inspirational jazz singers Billie Holiday and our own 2 x Perfumed Plume and The Fragrance Foundation award winning Deputy Editor, Natural Perfumery Editor and Fragrance Evaluator Ida Meister. Coincidently both of Dawn’s muses (are there coincidences?) share the same birthday April 7. September 24, 2021 is the launch of  DON’T EXPLAIN, the fifth perfume in Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’s Women’s Artists Series. It brings me great joy to share with you the creative process in my Behind the Bottle discussion with Dawn.-Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief

Michelyn Camen: What was the creative genesis of DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN? How long have you worked on this perfume?

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz:  DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN, the perfume, has been in process for 3 or 4 years.  It started with a deep conversation about gardenia perfume, Ida’s favorite aspects of the flower and how it is translated into fragrance, and what a “dream gardenia” perfume might be like:  a gardenia fragrance with ‘an over-the-top quality” that pushed the boundaries of more debauched notes… like the blue cheese and mushroomy nuances that can be found in some gardenia fragrances we had smelled. I wasn’t sure how it would all come together as I worked on the accords, with Ida in mind, but as soon as I started working on ideas for the Women Artists Series (and a Billie Holiday fragrance in particular), Ida’s gardenia came immediately to mind. Billie’s song “DON’T EXPLAIN” materialized as I contemplated how to put Ida’s gardenia ideas into the Billie Holiday fragrance.  The song tells so much about Billie’s own life, her sadness, heartbreak, and her struggles with men.  Once I had chosen the song to reference, the other pieces fell into to place conceptually and the fragrance did, too.

Billie Holiday inspired perfumes

Billie Holiday via Wikipedia and Ida Meister(a gifted vocalist) via Ida

Michelyn Camen:  As the fifth in the series of Women Artists which have included Maria Callas and Frida Khalo, how do Billie Holiday and Ida Meister meet in this perfume?

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: It may not come as a surprise to those who know Ida and a bit about Billie Holiday, but they share a birthday (!).  They are both passionate and gifted vocal artists, and deeply glamorous, and beautiful women.  ( I am sure that there are more similarities that I don’t know about, but they wouldn’t surprise me).  Although in marriage, it seems that their lives differed wildly, Billie and Ida come together in this perfume with their love of gardenias and a penchant for elegance.  Together, Ida’s ‘dream gardenia’ finds kinship with Billie’s life story; there is wonderful meeting of two glorious women.

 gardenia perfumes

 gardenia via Elise Pearlstine©

Michelyn Camen: The central accord is the gardenia, of course iconic to Billie Holiday who wore it in her hair to cover a curling iron burn, but why choose gardenia for Ida Meister?

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: Ultimately, Ida chose it for herself without knowing it when we spoke of the gardenia she’s most love to have.

 Michelyn Camen: Ida is our deputy editor AND natural perfumery editor… what percent is natural?

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN is a mixed media design that uses new and more conventional aroma molecules as well as many natural materials.  It’s far from an all-natural, as many of my perfumes are, but the naturals content is relatively high compared with ‘commercial’ perfumes.  In order to create the concept just as I wanted it,  DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN in at around 35% naturals content.

 Michelyn Camen: Did you work with Ida Meister on DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN or was it a project you had in mind?

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: This was a perfume story that I wanted to tell.  Originally, I had a totally different story envisioned that was purely about the gardenia as a soliflore (as a gift for Ida) but when I started my Women Artist Series (and I always knew that I would feature Billie Holiday) the idea came to make this design about these TWO wonderful women artists instead of either /or.  I love how they come together through time and space (and Billie’s incredibly moving song, DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN) magnified through the lens of expressing the gardenia concept that Ida and I had discussed so long ago.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz composed No Regrets for Billie Holiday and Ida Meister of CaFleureBon

Dawn with Ida and her son Xander 2014

 What is an umami gardenia? How did you achieve the blue cheese nuance?  Did you look at other fragrances Ida loved for inspiration?

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz:  Ida actually coined the term: an umami gardenia” after wearing DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN.  I had gifted her a bottle when we met up for a dinner on a recent trip to Boston.  I was looking to express both blue cheese and a mushroom nuance in the perfume (two of Ida’s wishes), along side a kind of ‘post-sexual’ saltiness  (to tell the story of Billie’s husband’s philandering and her own tears).  The combination of these notes with the fleshy-floralcy creates an unusual feeling that the gardenia has an ‘umami’ vibe.  I completely love this idea. To achieve the blue cheese nuance I utilized some aroma molecules in the ketone family (these are often employed with gardenia notes…. Germaine Cellier used them in Jolie Madame). They can be used in low percentage to accentuate rich, fleshy, tropical flowers like gardenia, tuberose, lilies, and ylang ylang, but when pushed to a higher percentage, the blue cheese-like qualities come out.  While I didn’t really look to any other perfumes for inspiration, now that I think about it, I suspect that both Billie and Ida would love Jolie Madame! (Maybe they both do).  I’m glad that although Ida and I spoke at length about gardenias and gardenia perfumes she didn’t mention any specifically by name so that I wasn’t influenced by any other concepts.

 Taste areas of the human tongue - sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami

the five taste receptors  via stock photo

Michelyn Camen: Umami is the relatively new identified fifth taster receptor on the tongue and is usually perceived by super tasters, those who can taste food more intensely than others. Since the tie to the culinary arts is often associated with olfactory arts, I often call Ida a super smeller. How does this fit in with DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN?

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: While I didn’t set out to create a specifically ‘umami’ floral or to tie in the culinary arts in any direct way, I think that DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN does explore some very nuanced concepts that are mostly perceived through taste (or even a sense of “mouth feel”) like saltiness, meatiness, fleshy-ness, and foods like mushroom and cheese.  As someone with synesthesia, I love creating with multi-sensory impressions in mind.  I’m so glad that you feel this crossover, too!

Notes: Ambergris, Australian Sandalwood, Blue Cheese Nuance (accord), Butter co2, Castoreum, Civet, Gardenia, Grandiflorum Jasmine, Leafy Green (accord), LeatherMusk, Orange Flower Absolute – Spain, Sambac Jasmine, Tiare AbsoluteTobacco Absolute, Tuberose Absolute, and White Button Mushroom (accord).

 

DSH Perfumes No Regrets 

Thanks to the largesse of perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, we are offering one 5 ml extrait of Don’t Explain for one registered reader anywhere in the world. Please share with us what appeals to you about DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN, if you are familiar with Billie Holiday, any message for Ida and where you live. Draw closes 9/28/2020

Here is the link to order here

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27 comments

  • Michelyn!!! ❤️ This is such a top interview! ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you for sharing so much information, nuance, respect, and emotional depth with us. What a group of amazing women! I ADORE Ida and trust her very much. Please tell Ida that she is amazing! CaFleurBon is such a wonderful resource because of the fantastic writers. I also love DSH & Billie Holiday! The notes in this perfume sound divine! I would Love to experience this fragrance! Thank you so much for the opportunity! ❤️

  • Everything about DON’T EXPLAIN appeals to me. I love the meaty mushroomy gardenia idea. I love Billie Holiday. Strange Fruit would be the obvious song to base a fragrance around, I’m so glad Dawn Spencer Hurwitz went with the less obvious choice. Ida – YOu have exquisite taste, and I wish I had your supersmeller abilities. I am in the US.

  • The amazing stories behind this fragrance appeal to me. I’m not really familiar. My message: Your senses are amazing! I live in Poland, EU.

  • DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN seems to be a very creative perfume indeed, and I love Ida’s idea of “umami gardenia” and in general umami in olfactory tasting in general. Maybe Ida can use her olfactory and literary and culinary skills together and flesh this idea out further, to see how olfactory umami may be compared and contrasted with the Japanese idea of culinary umami. Thanks Michelyn too for this lovely interview with DSH. Blue cheese and mushroom nuances using ketones in various proportions – very interesting indeed. Now I am curious to try DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN. This interview reminds me of Tempo Rubato perfume by Shawn Maher, which means “robbed time” and Billie Holiday represents this style of singing. Thanks for the informative interview and draw. I am from USA.

  • Wonderful interview! So many new things to learn. I already heard the name of Billie Holiday, but I’m not familiar with her. Don’t Explain sounds extremely good, so many wonderful notes in one fragrance. Ida, stay always so kind and amazing person as you are now. Thank you for the draw. I live in Europe.

  • Dawn never ceases to amaze with he unique and stunning creations! Who would think of blue cheese and gardenia? Except Ida! Billie’s Summertime is a classic and this is set to be similar. I would love a chance to win. In maryland.

  • Oooh mommy umami gardenia sounds so intriguing! I’m a huge lover of Billie Holliday and as it’s now “Autumn in New York,” I’ve been playing that one on repeat this last week. God Bless the Perfumer (Dawn) for being such a wonderful woman artist herself and honoring other women.It would be My Thrill to win this strange fruit of a perfume. I’ve liked the CFB behind the bottle FB page. In USA

  • heathermariebarton says:

    I loved the discontinued Tom Ford Velvet Gardenia, with its blue cheese qualities and I would be delighted to try this scent. I love earthy/funky florals. I am in the USA.

  • Michelyn Camen: Umami is the relatively new identified fifth taster receptor on the tongue and is usually perceived by super tasters, those who can taste food more intensely than others. Since the tie to the culinary arts is often associated with olfactory arts, I often call Ida a super smeller. How does this fit in with DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN?

    Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: While I didn’t set out to create a specifically ‘umami’ floral or to tie in the culinary arts in any direct way, I think that DSH Perfumes DON’T EXPLAIN does explore some very nuanced concepts that are mostly perceived through taste (or even a sense of “mouth feel”) like saltiness, meatiness, fleshy-ness, and foods like mushroom and cheese. As someone with synesthesia, I love creating with multi-sensory impressions in mind. I’m so glad that you feel this crossover, too!

    Notes: Ambergris, Australian Sandalwood, Blue Cheese Nuance (accord), Butter co2, Castoreum, Civet, Gardenia, Grandiflorum Jasmine, Leafy Green (accord), Leather, Musk, Orange Flower Absolute – Spain, Sambac Jasmine, Tiare Absolute, Tobacco Absolute, Tuberose Absolute, and White Button Mushroom (accord). I wasn’t familiar with the taste receptor so that was fascinating. Intrigued by the notes and this is a house that I have got no experience with. I was bot familiar with Billie Holiday and that Ida shared the same birthday. Ida tastes abd and reviews are exquisite. I have liked CaFleureBon Profiles behind the bottle Facebook page. Thanks a million from the United Kingdom

  • Notes: Ambergris, Australian Sandalwood, Blue Cheese Nuance (accord), Butter co2, Castoreum, Civet, Gardenia, Grandiflorum Jasmine, Leafy Green (accord), Leather, Musk, Orange Flower Absolute – Spain, Sambac Jasmine, Tiare Absolute, Tobacco Absolute, Tuberose Absolute, and White Button Mushroom (accord). I know about Billie Holiday an immensely talented American singer who had a tough and tragic life. I am really fascinated by the notes especially about Ida’s strong sense of taste and smell. Ida is an inspiration in terms of fragrances and generally as a human being simply the best. Thanks a lot from the UK

  • What a thrilling and heartfelt surprise for Ida! It sounds amazing – I like my florals heavy with emotion and this one sounds like it has it in spades – such a thoughtful thing to do – my heart is full reading this

  • Love the article.

    I’ve been a fan of Billie since I first heard God Bless the child as a kid when I didn’t even understand it, and loved how it progressively changed to me as I changed. I’m interested because I love the note breakdown and even more exciting to see what Dawn interprets this into.

  • BostonScentGuy says:

    Nuances of mushroom and blue cheese are definitely my favorite facets of gardenia, so this scent truly sounds wonderful! I love the pairing of tobacco with gardenia as well (Une Voix Noire), and I’m a huge fan of Dawn’s overall body of work. Definitely familiar with Billie Holiday and thank you, Ida, for doing this artistic collaboration–I love it when perfumery becomes a collaborative art! Thanks so much for this draw. I’m in the US (Boulder, Colorado).

  • Umami gardenia? What a great description! Add Billie Holiday into the mix, and it just gets better. I’m excited to try this fragrance. In Louisiana USA.

  • Oh my. Such a fascinating article. Dawn’s creations are SO magical. AND Billie Holiday is an absolute favorite singer of mine.
    Here’s my favorite part.
    I was looking to express both blue cheese and a mushroom nuance in the perfume (two of Ida’s wishes), along side a kind of ‘post-sexual’ saltiness (to tell the story of Billie’s husband’s philandering and her own tears). The combination of these notes with the fleshy-floralcy creates an unusual feeling that the gardenia has an ‘umami’ vibe. I completely love this idea. To achieve the blue cheese nuance I utilized some aroma molecules in the ketone family (these are often employed with gardenia notes….
    Cannot wait to smell this, thanks for the very generous giveaway! I live in the USA & have liked the Cafleurebon behind the bottle.

  • I saw “The US vs Billie Holiday” recently and that poor woman went through so much turmoil, most of it not of her own making. I highly recommend the film. Her talent was as enormous as her suffering and her signature gardenia seems to be ably represented here. An unami gardenia sounds right for the scent of the natural flower. There’s so much going on that is never appropriately captured in synthetic gardenia fragrances. I would love to win this. I’m in MD, USA.

  • I read a biography of Billie Holiday once and was deeply affected. Been having dreams about it for years. This composition sounds daring and fabulous. Congratulations to all on getting this made! What a beautiful ‘fume-related friendship. (USA)

  • Castoreum and Civet … Meaty.. Umami… wow.

    I’m not sure what to think here! I am not very familiar with Billie Holiday. DON’T EXPLAIN seems to be … an enigma to me.

    Thank you from Canada.

  • What a great interview…I love this type of review…so informative and you really get a feel for the inspiration and process of developing a fragrance. I love to smell them but would have no idea how to go about creating a perfume. When I saw ambergris and civet, I knew this would be my kind of fragrance. I am in the US. Thank you for the chance and a glimpse into the process.

  • wandering_nose says:

    What a treat for the soul, this read! And I am sure the fragrance is one for an adventurous nose. I have not had the chance to try any of the DSH Perfumes creations but I have a strong feeling at least some of them would get me outside of my comfort zone which, as an amateur of challenges, I would totally love. Meaty, fleshy, umami gardenia sounds fascinating. I have been aware of the phenomenon of Billie Holiday though never knew about her life in detail. So here I am, reading up on her and listening to “Don’t Explain”. My message to Ida: You are a never-ending inspiration, absolutely one of a kind, I admire you so much. I live in Ireland, EU

  • What a crazy beautiful fragrance. I love the story, the comparison between these two ladies, one form the past and one from our present and the different traits that they share.

    Gardenis is such a beautiful flower and seeing how Dawn has created this raw sensual scent with ‘umami’ notes is a pretty cool idea.

    I have heard Billie Holiday music in the past.

    Cheers from WI, USA

  • Lovely interview Michelyn! What appeals to me about DSH DON’T EXPLAIN is the idea of a gardenia fragrance with some unconventional “debauched” notes – like blue cheese and mushroomy nuances. I tend not to like gardenia fragrances because they often end up very soft and subdued florals, but I looove funky blue cheese, animalic, and earthy notes, so the idea of DON’T EXPLAIN really intrigues me. I also love that Dawn included a ‘post-sexual’ saltiness to embody the story of Billie’s cheating husband’s philandering – how interesting and haunting.

    I am familiar with Billie Holiday, particularly her haunting rendition of Strange Fruit. I would like to say to Ida that she is brilliant for coming up with the idea of a blue cheese gardenia, and it’s so interesting that she has the same birthday as the inestimable Billie Holiday!

    I live in the US and I have liked CaFleureBon Behind the Bottle on Facebook.

  • I love the Women’s Artist Series and DSH in general. She’s one of those who can do no wrong to my nose! Ms. Meister is also clearly a woman of many talents. This one is going on my Christmas list. I really enjoyed the interview and getting a peek into the process of creating this. I’m so intrigued!
    I love Billie Holiday. I especially enjoy her later recordings, when her voice was a little rougher and world-weary.

  • Thank you so very much for this amazing interview, it is always extremely fascinating to know the genesis of a fragrance, how the idea started and what the perfumer had in mind when starting to work on a project. It always amazes me to know how long it can take to create a fragrance, and the fact that this one is dedicated to 2 amazing women makes it even more special. Greetings from Italy