Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - Sandalo Inspiritu

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - Sandalo Inspiritu is a resinous-woody scent with a lot of subtle yet, distinctive developments. a spray (each) on wrist left a oily layer on skin (not as oily as a profumum though). The overall mood of Sandalo inspiritu is (mildly) spicy, (majorly)woody, (to a great extent)earthy, and animalic with the heart of rose+incense over a earthy base of amber & patchouli. Opening accords are pretty blunt and spicy and, to an extent, herbal.. There is a (persistant) wax like accord which gives the opening blast of spices and citrus elements a very smooth, rounded texture, I would like to say civet, coz it feels quite stuffy and creates a (dirty) fur like sensation and taste in upper throat/nose (like Ungaro II). Further up (30-45 mins), the way this scent wafts up in air is almost magical; with those dusty, earthy accords melting into rose, along with dense woody notes of (sandal+rose)wood with spices sprinkled gently over it...all this on a resinous base of Incense, patchouli oil and amber. Patchouli literally breathes in this one and it's presence is only felt alongside it’s wonderful ambery drydown. Rose plays a very important part and essentially forms the heart of this scent giving the sandalwood lot of character(rose never takes the center stage, but is present as a strong note complimenting rosewood and sandalwood)...it also adds to the animalic nature in a broader perspective after couple of hours... the overall wax like accord is omnipresent..But then, that adds to the charm of SI's sillage.

At a certain level, there is a slight resemblance with Parfumerie generale’s L'Ombre Fauve, Ungaro I, II & Tauer's Incense Rose. This scent would remind one of some or the other aspect of those 4 scents. i recall users commenting on this scent being linear, short lived, close to skin, I must respectfully disagree. Close to skin, it smells quite crowded & dense but, away from skin, it's sillage is mesmerizing, it creates a halo of aroma around you. I’d like to refer these kinda sillage as the “aura”..other scents with “aura type” sillage would be Dior Homme, Issey Bleue, Guerlain L’Instant et al.

It's now 8+ hours and this scent is still going strong and has settled to a lovely base of amber and woods. i would now look forward to sample it's parfum extrait, if avaialble...must be some sniff . at $70 for a 30 ml (EdP), it's not cheap..matter of fact, is very close to a lutens or a profumum. the good news is, it's available in 30ml format, therefore, is much easier to procure. DSH also offers .25oz bottles at a very competitive price. Though the quality of ingredients doesnt comes across as a Profumum or a Mazzolari still, this one holds it's place in offering something unique in terms of it's theme, which is very bold and it's ingredients, which comes across as natural and very, very, well blended. some talent this lady.