Hi there crew. Many of you are already familiar with Dawn Spencer Hurwitz and her DSH Perfumes. Did you know though that she now has the coolest HEIRLOOM ELIXIR Limited Editions :: Subscription Service? Yep. It’s fabulous. You can order 1, 3 or 6 sets that come with 3ml of the bi-monthly heirloom release and samples of other interesting DSH smellables. I want to tell you about my personal favourite from my subscription. Don’t get excited it’s now discontinued. There will be more fabulously amazing things coming in the future though, never fear.
Giardini Segreti arrived last year, I sniffed it, loved it and put it into the To Be Reviewed Immediately box. Where it sat for a year or more! DAMN IT!
Giardini Segreti, Heirloom Elixir Limited Edition by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
WHOA! Straight out of the gate a thick, rich, buried my head in a fully flowering bush of gardenia standing right next to a hedge of flowering jasmine and under a blooming tree of Murraya paniculata at about 9pm. Intoxicating and rich but not an overpowering circus show. Here we have all the fragrance but after the first minute it’s muted and floats effortlessly alongside and around you like a sheer white floral nimbus. As we hit the heart I’m tantalised by a thick, creamy butter and a very slightly feral honeyed sweetness. This stuff is seriously gorgeous.
Even two to three hours later I’m still getting lovely wafts of sensual white flowers and I think it might be sandalwood. So good.
Giardini Segreti or Secret Garden is devoted to those spring bursts of flowering and scented miracles abuzz with bees.
I particularly love that this OTT scent is not a room stinker. I am beautifully fragrant but it stays close. Giardini Segreti is just for me, and those I allow close.
I’m thinking this might be a terrific gift for any perfumista in your life. $27 for a set is very reasonable. What a fun surprise they’d get.
Portia xx
Undina's Looking Glass 
Thanks for posting about this! I just signed up for the subscription. Can’t wait to try these.
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You’re so welcome RR. Dawn is wonderful, her perfumes so interesting. I do hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
Portia xx
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Hey Portia
I remember Dawn was so excited to meet you at the fragrance awards in London.
Fun idea.
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Yes, wasn’t that a hilarious night Tara! It was TOTALLY mutual. isn’t she a dish! I loved meeting her and putting a human to the fragrances.
I remember running away from the perfume world and going off to get roaring drunk with Michael.
Portia xx
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I like Dawn as a person (we’re not familiar in RL but had some communications over the years, and I kind of follow her online), and there are 3 perfumes from her that I love (own 1, plan to get another 2 once done with the samples) and another 4-5 that I like. Everything else that I tried was OK but not an immediate love. So, I’m not sure if I want to spend that much money on a single sample. And 2 months is usually not enough for me to decide on a purchase. But, in general, it’s a much more interesting subscription service than many other I know of.
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Ah! It probably wouldn’t work for the way you perfume, true Undina. So intrigued as to the one you own and the two on your list.
Portia xx
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I have a sample of that perfume from back when it wasn’t discontinued. I must give it another sniff, if it hasn’t turned. It was definitely a heady number, but I liked it. I associate the line with some of my early – and most interesting – discoveries in the course of this hobby. And Cimabue is one of my favourite scents of all.
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Hey Vanessa!
OMG! Cimabue is terrific. I have a small bottle, maybe 8ml, so good. Nearly gone.
Dawn was also a early mind blowing perfumer for me too. Her work still manages to thrill me in ways many others now fail to do.
Portia xx
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