P.S.

A clear vision of India - Kashmiri saffron, frangipani, gardenia, yellow lotus attar and damask rose with fine sandalwood and vetiver from Sri Lanka

A visit to a traditional perfume shop in India is a step back in time. Ornamentally cut crystal bottles contain jewel-like colored liquids, attar, ambergris, choyas, and ruhs. You are invited to take a seat while a salesperson produces the bottles one by one and smooths the oils directly from the glass stopper onto your skin. They are usually crammed together in the bustling markets of crowded cities. The contrast is a reminder that beauty is all around us and can be found everywhere. Traditional Indian perfumery should be considered a whole genre. Unique extraction methods and indigenous botanicals are its hallmarks. Flowers, ambergris, sandalwood, Himalayan herbs, southern spices—the diversity of plant life in India is staggering. To name just a few of the most fragrant - tuberose, saffron, frangipani, kewda, ylang, gardenia, rose, cardamom, deodar, khus, mogra, motia.

The oils can come from small farms that have been cultivating, gathering, and distilling plants for a long time. Small-scale operations for jasmine and other oils have spawned entire villages. Attars are of particular interest to me. An attar is made by distilling one or more plants together with sandalwood in giant stills. This is like creating a blended fragrance during extraction—rather than blending separate oils together after extraction. Something alchemical happens when all the plants—gathered from hillsides and jungles—are all boiled together. They smell like perfume from another age. The recipes are passed down through generations, and many are unique to certain regions.

For 'DS' I wanted to create the impression of an attar by cooking together accords of yellow lotus, gardenia (from a plant I own), rose, jasmine, saffron and vetiver, all infused in pure, genuine Holyfield sandalwood oil from Sri Lanka (one of the finest in the world, as Mysore has been over-harvested).

'DS' features the finest materials and can only be produced in small batches.

- DS

The fragrance playlist is available here!