I think a lot of us are thinking about Christmas’ past without the aid of one of Scrooge’s ghosts. If we can’t be with our loved ones, we can cast back through memory to find happiness. As someone who writes about perfume the ability of scent to trigger memories is powerful. Independent perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has seemingly had a private line to some of my deepest. Much of her work this year has taken me back to a good memory. It seems only natural that her 2020 Holiday perfume DSH Perfumes Couverture d’Hiver completes the year doing the same.
When I moved to Connecticut for my first job the Florida boy was terrified of what the snow would be like. Driving on it. Dealing with it. I had no frame of reference. The first large snowfall came in January just after the New Year. I was a nervous wreck. I headed to the grocery store and hardware store to get what I was told I would need. As the weatherman on tv was telling me 6-8 inches I was hearing feet.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
I was living in a townhouse complex and I had become friendly with my neighbors. A recently married couple, Alex and Brenda. I was bombarding them with questions. Alex said to just sit back turn on the Christmas tree lights and eat chocolate snow. I asked what that was. He told me you take some Nestles Quik, instant coffee, vanilla, milk, and sugar. Whisk them all together and pour them over some fresh snow. Voila! It turned out to be more effective than a tranquilizer as I sat munching my bowl of frozen goodness next to the Christmas tree. This is where Couverture d’Hiver takes me back to.
This is the twentieth Holiday release from Ms. Hurwitz and she wanted to combine the scent of a snowy walk in the Rockies over a chocolate gourmand accord. Her visual is a bit more prosaic than mine but we end up in the same place of fir, snow, and chocolate.
The wintry fir and snow accord come out of the interaction of pine needle absolute and cedar for the trees. The crunchy snow is formed of ozonic notes, petrichor, and orris. Adjacent to that is a chocolate accord which tilts towards milk chocolate to me. Once it is all in place the smell of chocolate snow and fir trees take me back to my first apartment.
Couverture d’Hiver has 10-12 hour longevity and moderate sillage.
This is a perfume of comfort right at the end of a year we could use some. You can imagine yourself on a hike in the mountain woods with a hot cocoa in hand. Or you can join me watching the first snowfall with a bowl of chocolate snow next to the Christmas tree. You can’t choose poorly.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample supplied by DSH Perfumes.
–Mark Behnke
