Going green!!!! Vert pour Madame (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz: Parfums des Beaux Arts

I won a dram bottle of DSH's newest (limited edition) scent Vert pour Madame. It's green. It's a chypre. It's stunningly gorgeous!

Galbanum opens the show but hyacinth steps in too. The rest of the florals are, to my nose, well-blended to the point that I can't distinguish each note. Not that I'm trying yet; I'm still enjoying our introduction.

Lower and later: sandalwood, moss. Fresh, earthy and natural. Surprise late-game players are musk and civet which add a lovely nuance to the drydown. This earthy muskiness brings Vert pour Madame into my skin, melting.
 
Vert pour Madame is as striking as most green chypres I've tried, but she's a bit more sexy. Her galbanum is never shrill or pushy, even when at it's peak. Nor is it icy, bitter, or terribly grassy.

This madame may have started the night in an elegant and formal LBD, but by the end of the evening she's shaken out her chignon, ditched the heels, and slipped into something a little more comfortable. She's a natural beauty made all the more gorgeous by being oblivious to her own power.


Inspired by the utterly chic and sophisticated style of the late 1970's and early 1980's classic green floral chypre, Vert pour Madame has power but more than that, she has depth. She's achieved it. As well, Vert pour Madame is the perfect harbinger of Spring with notes of hyacinth, jonquil and lily of the valley sewn into the earth with cedarwood, patchouli and moss.

Are you a fan of green chypres? DSH? I am (of both) so this prize has made me a happy girl. Which are your favorite chypres? Green scents? DSH scents? What would you like to see next from DSH?
  

PS: A special thank you to DSH, not only for the contest and great perfume, but also for the sweet handwritten card, a few samples, and the replacement sample of The Afternoon (definitely getting a bigger size of this sweet, happy, casual floral with the amazing mimosa note!).

14 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your win! I've been eying this one ;)

    I am not necessarily a fan of green chypres, unless you count Ma Griffe (but it's a floral chypre and it's pretty floral to me), but I am a huge fan of DSH. My favorite from her is Mahjoun, boy, that's a GOURMAND! It pretty much closed the niche for me, it is THE gourmand I need. I even turned down PG Un Crime Exotique for that.

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  2. I love greens and chypres so Vert pour Madame sounds like a sure thing for me! Will have to order a sample. My favorite DSH fragrance is Parfum de Luxe. After going through 3 decants I really should just break down and order a FB already!

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  3. Congratulations on the win. I haven't tried a lot of green chypres yet, partly because most greens smell nasty on me for some reason (possibly the galbanum?) and I've gotten a bit leary - I just tried Private Collection yesterday and it was horrible - 'orrible, I say! So I'm still on a quest for a green that works on my skin.

    My favorite DSH has to be Piment et Chocolat, which I won in a previous giveaway she hosted.

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  4. I haven't tried yet a single perfume from that line but I will eventually.

    Favorite green chypre... I think, Diorella. But recently I think I found a new favorite - Eau du Soir by Sisley.

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  5. Hooray for you Jen, you won!!! :)

    The marketing materials for Memoir claim it's a chypre, but I can't say if this is true (but it does have a 'greenish' cast, and I LOVE it!). I love me some green, but the verdict is out on oakmoss in any quantity... so I'm not sure how I feel about green chypres! I haven't tried this DSH. As a few people have mentioned, the catalogue of fragrances is a little overwhelming----I did try Cardamom and Kyphi (I think it was) over the holidays and liked it just fine, but it didn't ring my bell the way the SSS fragrances seem to. I'm rambling. Sorry. Time for bed!

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  6. Warum, I love the idea of "a closed niche"! I wonder if I will do that? Lol. I sorta thought I wouldn't care about another amber (after Ambre Fetiche) but ended up sampling the Hermessence one and now I know I must sample ALL ambers! My plan backfired. :(
    *jen

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  7. Cymbaline, I just did a quickie search on Parfum Deluxe and now I'm mad because it looks STUNNING and I must try it!!! :). Buy the darn bottle already, by the way. Three decants is proof of love! ;)
    *jen

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  8. Dionne, first things first: condolances on the galbanum-averse skin. It's one of those notes I love! But I'm sure some amazing notes sing on your skin and fall flat on mine (tobacco? apple? pear?). I haven't triedthe DSH you mentioned, though I know a lot of people mention it. I have to admit, I don't love chocolate in perfumes too much, so they usually drop to the bottom of the to-try list.
    *jen

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  9. Undina, I just read the review of the Sisley perfume on Now Smell This - it sounds amazing but the review mentioned a mint phase. Do you get that? I'm not a fan of mint at all. The review placed Eau du Soir in league with one of my favorites, Niki de St Phalle (which also has a mint note, but I don't smell it). That's good company to keep!
    *jen

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  10. Dee, the DSH catalog IS big and convoluted. I keep getting lost in it! Worse: the shopping cart times out and empties, so I can't use it as a holding box like I do on other sites. She's streamlining the site, btw, so maybe you'll be able to pick some samples mofe easily off of the new site?
    I am quickly becoming a DSH fangirl. Some of her scents are not my thing but every one I have tried is well-done. I haven't tried SSS at all. What do you recommend? (though we may be evil scent twins because I could wear oakmoss straight-up forever and be satisfied!)
    *jen

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  11. *jen, sorry for the delay, I wanted to double check. The list of notes that I have do not include mint and I cannot smell it from the perfume. Though since I drink a lot of mint tea it might be that my perception of this note is different so please try it yourself. But I think it's beautiful and seriously considering adding it to the "to buy" list.

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  12. Jen, Champagne de Bois is my favorite SSS scent, but I also love Tabac Aurea, Rose Musc (one of the world's best roses), and Winter Woods. Jour Ensolielle (sp?) is a tuberose, and I don't much care for tuberose, but I appreciate and wear it--it's a very happy scent! I whole-heartedly recommend the sample set; you won't regret it! :)

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  13. I also like SSS's Rose Musk more than her (and many other's) other roses.

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  14. I think I'm going to be green too. :)

    Congratulations on your win!

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