Monsoon

MONSOON: the season during which the southwest monsoon blows, commonly marked by heavy rains; rainy season. If you have ever lived in the southwest desert in the US, you will be very familiar with monsoon season. The clouds will suddenly cover the entire sky and atmosphere in darkness. Sudden tempest will gush throughout. Torrential rains will pound. Smell of the fresh rain cooling the entire earth that has been burning from the scorching sun. The monsoon is a powerful storm and tremendous in all its glory. This perfume is all that and more. Its the scent of the desert after being cooled by the rains. The wet creosote bush in all its earthy beauty after the storm. DAME Monsoon is a masterpiece and quietly beautiful. My skin blooms (my favorite) iris flower and orris root. It is brightened with water lily and the signature pretty jasmine used in other DAME perfumes. There is a soft gentle drydown of cedar with just enough creosote smell to keep it earthy and natural. If you enjoy Prada Infusion D'iris and Chanel No 19 Poudré, I highly recommend this beauty. To me DAME Monsoon is more gorgeous and wearable. Easily loved by a woman and superb for a man comfortable in his own skin. DAME Earth Mother has been my signature scent. But I will honestly say that Monsoon might just become my Spring/Summer signature perfume. I look forward to hopefully one day soon owning the larger size bottle. The artwork is immaculate and fits in perfectly with the other DAME artist collection bottles.

Dame flexes his artistic muscles a little bit with this release. This fragrance goes through three distinct phases: dusty/earthy (orris), powdery floral (iris), and watery/floral (lily). While these three notes aren't the only things detectable, they definite the distinct phases of this scent. Monsoon is also full of juxtapositions: wet and dry, earthy and clean, warm and cool, masculine and feminine, real and ethereal. And yet, Jeffery manages all of this in a very accessible, well priced fragrance. However, as with anything as dynamic and unique as this, it certainly isn't for everyone. When I first smelled this, it was in the middle phase, it reminded me of Prada Infusion d'Iris Cedre, but more beautiful and relaxed. If it smelled like that the entire time I would wear it all the time. In the dry down, the lily really comes out. It certainly smells beautiful, but it isn't something that I really want to smell like. I could also see some people having a little difficulty with the opening, but I enjoy it. This is a true work of art from a wonderful perfumer (with great customer service), and I think this is one that everyone should test. It's interesting and beautiful, just not for everyone.

I love how I can smell the desert in Dame Perfumery's Monsoon! I got to visit Arizona when I was young―one of the best weeks of my life. I did not get to experience a monsoon, but one day the air was heavy with the threat of a thunderstorm. The dust in the air that day is accurately (though somewhat stylistically) represented in this beautiful perfume. The water lily and lily of the valley lend a salty and wet mood, though it retains a dry and dusty character. I love the creosote/orris/iris combination, too. Very unique and evocative. In addition to my family's vacation, this nostalgic perfume also smells identical to an old wooden desk my grandma had. As strange as it may sound, the first whiff I ever had of this perfume shot me straight back to memories of smelling that desk and the rubber bands she stored in its top drawer.

I maintain that dame is the best indie House in North America. The guy just does it right. He has well planned marketing strategy to back up very nice smelling products. I received a sample of monsoon in the mail yesterday - and in many ways, it’s a perfect fragrance. Monsoon is a great name for this - as it reminds you of the rampant growth you’d find after a period of heavy rain. The orris and iris play a major role in this earthy composition. While I thoroughly enjoy the smell, it does strike me as feminine. Mainly because it smells just like my girlfriend’s condo. At any rate - if you haven’t tried dame perfumery and you live within the United States, you’re really selling yourself short. Great work as usual! 7/10

Sometime in my ancient history (1978ish?), I visited Tucson, Arizona during the monsoon season. The trip was life changing, but what really stayed with me was the smell of the foot hills after a rain storm had swept through. The scent was exotic and holy - it reminded me of church after high holy days combined with a trip to a Pier One Imports store (eucalyptus maybe?). I've been doing research about this smell, and I have learned that it is the creosote that is the main note. Hmph! Try to find that note anywhere! You won't, but Jeffrey Dame has made it happen. Hats off to a master perfumer!

This Monsoon review is for the perfume oil and body cream. Monsoon is a clean sheet of white paper, an icy stream, a cool breeze blowing through the window, water running over smooth rocks, a hint of fresh-cut wood. Elegant, transparent, and spacious. I love this scent in the perfume oil and body cream! If you like Molecule 01, M01 + Iris, or Eau de Cartier, check out Monsoon. I did also get the EDP, but it had to macerate a long while before it was ready and true to scent -- your mileage may vary.

I got my bottle today. It is very soft, wearable anywhere, and reminds me of a more unisex Guerlain Apres L'Ondee. Sometimes on the forums, people ask for a melancholy perfume. I think this one might qualify -- but if you're NOT into melancholy (understandable!), don't let what I just wrote deter you from trying this beautiful, and I would add sexy, fragrance.

Monsoon is a floral thunderstorm in the desert. The grey, humid atmospheric tone is the backdrop for a blooming fantasy creosote bush in the Arizona Desert. Unique, fresh, and the modern floral heart is just stunning. The waterlilly and jasmine is so beautiful together. Sillage moderate, Longjevity very good.

I got about 12 petrichor perfumes in a pack. For me this smells 4/5, exactly like far north QLD Australia wet season. It smells more tropical than Demeter's Petrichor. All these types of scents are not very wearable as a daily perfume, even in the heat i fell like this might flopso 2/5 for wearability

Monsoon is a very interesting and unique fragrance and, as much as I like/love Dame's straight forward and fresher type offerings, I am so glad to see them offering an oriental...and I would love to see their releasing more masculine woody, spicy and, dare I say, oudy scents. Having said the aforementioned, Monsoon is collection of some of my least favorite notes used in perfume. Thus, I am not surprised that I do not like it. Interesting, unique, unusual, artistic, out-of-the-box and risque are terms I would use to describe this fragrance. Sadly, batshit-crazy is something that also creept into my thoughts. Not surprising, I do get the association with Monsoon since I have been caught in my fair share of storms while station in the Far East. But it's not a storm I care to be stranded in for long before coming out of the rain. Performance in moderate in that last is lasts 8-hours (good) but sits very close to my skin. I give Dame an A for effort, and I did enjoy the opportunity to sample it, but it's not something that fits my personality. Anyway, I still love this house (ethical business practice should serve as a model for niche and indie brands) and my scent of the day is Leather Man.

Unique and interesting. Monsoon appears on my skin as predominantly creosote and orris root with a hint of cedar, with the florals hiding mainly in the background but very softly peeking out in the drydown, and when they do they are lovely. The fragrance overall has an ozonic feel to me, like an atmosphere of quiet contemplation on a humid rainy day. The sillage is soft but long lasting on my skin. At first try it was extremely light, but after several testings I've gradually been able to smell it better. Maybe I'll find out how creosote bushes smell after a rainstorm someday. Monsoon reminds me of the smell of the San Antonio Riverwalk on a certain cloudy and pleasant day I spent walking there, and I like it the better for that.

First thing I notice is warm, rubbery iris root. Nearly leathery, hardly any powder at all, just the smell of irises. Kind of green but not crisp like other vegetation. Kind of reminds me of plant matter on the ground, but with no dirt. There is also a very slight asphalt tone, like the road baking in hot sun, but there's still rain on the pavement. While I experience these other smells, there's still that orris holding strong, and it's so lovely. It took a few hours to finally get the water lily and muget, delicate dewy flowers among those slightly damp tones, in addition to the smell of a firefly when it lands on one's hand. A very interesting nature scent.

i get mostly creosote, iris and orris root from this. it's almost softly leathery from the combination of notes. then a hint of florals peek through the smoky woods-probably lily of the valley. it's the most interesting combination of notes, i haven't smelled anything quite like it, but it's kind of like smelling the inside of a freshly made leather purse with spilled perfume, yet it's got more of that orris/creosote to make it a little bolder and smokier. so glad i got to test this one, it's a keeper.

Got a larger sample of this along with my order (Love the New Musk) did a little dab on my skin, immediately it reminded of something only I couldn't place it..the more it developed it hit me I get a faint reminiscence of Mercedes Benz I don't know why it just reminds me of it, only this is a lot nicer, don't think I like it enough to get a full bottle, but I am s fan of Iris based perfumes so I think it be a nice one to break out every once in a while..

Very interesting perfume, smells clean and liquid. I've never smelled Apre s l'ondee but I picture it to smell a bit like this. I mostly get iris and orris and crystal water ( must be the water lily).No discernable cedar. Not powdery at all. This is the first scent I've tried from the Dame line will have to try some others. I like that it smells very natural.

it doesn't smell like a barn... the opening smells like herbal medicine, orris, soft and powdery feeling, cold and slightly menthol, and a hint of leather. settles into something similar to a lush face mask, a little fruity. i have no idea what note this would be. drydown is an arid, slightly soapy white floral.

It starts off almost like an electrical fire smell (the lightening from a monsoon?), then settles into something more mellow and nostalgic, like hanging out on grandma's porch on a summer evening. I really like it but the weak projection is not for me. It is close to a skin scent and lovely

This beautiful perfume manages to be both earthy and fresh, and those two sides of the composition remain separate; such an interesting effect. Very much like the freshness of rain and the desert plants coming alive. It's like nothing else; I love it!

dry creosote, iris, water lily and cedar

Oh no. A beautiful, cold and nostalgic dry down but it smells like a barn on opening. Yeah, I grew up next to some and that reminds me how you smell coming back from there. Why ? And that animalic scent sticks around ... For more than 30 minutes. I agree with some of the comments below. Overall I'm still trying to understand that one. The dry down is quite weird. I smell cold irises and some sort of soil/vegetation that has been damped by rain. It's quite austere. I'd say after 1-2 hours the "barn" is gone and this is a beautiful scent. Damp soil, slightly aquatic, a bit dirty, floral. Probably one of the weirdest perfume I ever tried and based on the typical notes that's quite surprising. I'll see if I can finally "like" this one after more testing.

I also live in the desert where the creosote monsoon smell dominates, and I love that. Unfortunately this fragrance is very weak on me and I can use a ton of it with very little effect. It seems very diluted to me, or at least its low projection is very hard on my interpretation of it. I would like to have an opinion on the fragrance but it is tiring to try to pick notes out of something that I can hardly detect. One of my local friends made a balm out of creosote and its smell was heady and strong... I think it's not the ingredients at fault for the low projection and low strength.

I generally love everything from Dame Perfumery, but Monsoon was a bit of a miss for me. It starts out quite animalic; I'm instantly reminded of that barnyard/farm smell from when I used to ride horses. After a few minutes, this scent thankfully fades and I get more of a light floral with a hint of smoke and leather. Not unpleasant at this stage - very light actually, maybe even too light. I was hoping for more of a powdery, woody floral based on the accords listed here, so this is a pass for me. Maybe I'll revisit it again in the future and see if anything changes.

This is somehow light and fresh while also being inky and dark. The scent is light, but it makes you think of inky darkness - concrete and cold plastic. To me, it does not smell like creosote at all, which is highly disappointing. I live in the desert, where we can smell the rain coming, and the smell comes from the creosote. The creosote smell that I'm familiar with is more earthy, herbal, and spicy. This smells more like a scent I'd expect to find in a factory that works with a lot of plastic.

I love most Dame creations, however on this one does not work on my skin, the dirty jasmine and LotV make a huge appearance on me which I cannot get passed. However it smells beautiful on my sweater as it smells more subdued. Another well done fragrance just not for me.

I love Dame fragrances in general, but I cannot get past the barnyard aspect of this particular scent, and it dominates. I don't mind a little animal here or there in a perfume, but this is straight-up barn.

I wanted to like this. I can almost smell that after-the-storm desert aroma, but what I end up smelling is plant-based urine.

Nope, I don't like this and in my opinion it should be labeled for woman and not unisex

I haven't tried that many perfumes, but this is the strongest and stickiest one I've ever encountered. It spilled into a plastic bag and even just handling the plastic bag with no leaks got the smell all over my hands and I couldn't wash it off. The scent-- powerful white floral scent, I could detect no woodiness on its own, but there is something slightly darker under the florals. To me it smells like someone with fragranced shampoo getting their hair wet again. That's all I smell, soapy and clean, cold and unsensual florals, with a hint of something natural or darker that sets it in place. It doesn't smell like lilies but it reminds me of how lilies affect an indoor space. Like I said, the scent is sticky and eternal, I was unable to wash it off, even trying oil, glycerin, soaps, and alcohol. Even after it had worn off my skin I woke up smelling it, like it's stuck in my brain or nose. I find this scent to be kind of creepy because of how sad and funereal it smells, combined with the way it clings to everything it encounters. It doesn't smell bad, it's a nice clean smell, but it's not a very friendly or approachable smell. Personally I can't imagine a situation where I'd want to have this scent in my life. Not a safe full bottle buy without testing.

Very animalic at first, drys down to an experimental scent. A reviewer below said it smelled like "fresh bandages," another said "leather" and both are accurate.

Huh, I'm looking at the note pyramid after wearing this and struggling to connect these notes with what I smelled. On me, it was almost an iris soliflore. I could easily see this being sold as the iris version of his single note floral line. But it also smelled uncannily like rain. Not rain in the desert like it actually smells but kind of a neon abstraction of that, if that makes sense. I got no note evolution whatsoever. It smelled the same when I woke up as when I put it on the night before. I kept expecting it to fall into some laundry musk dry down hell but it just kept on smelling like fresh rain in a way that was amazing and eventually a little unsettling. And this brings me to my hesitation about this fragrance despite loving Iris and the smell of rain in the desert. It is so long lasting persistent and fresh that it kind of freaks me out. This is not something that you would ever get in nature. Some scents are only meant to happen in brief bursts or whiffs in passing. When they go on steadily for hours it can cause a kind of unease in the part of the brain that senses danger just because it's so unnatural. In sum, I found this to be a really pretty, well put together Iris soliflore that smells like rain in the desert just as advertised but strange and unsettling too.

A very conceptual and artistic fragrance. My olfactive senses, pick up cedar which reminds me of the ambroxan molecule or chemical found in "Homebrew 01". Hints of florals and water caress my nose. This parfum paints a sort of gloomy/gray picture in my head...it transports me to a rainy area with big dark rocks, flowers, overcast drizzling weather... & if that's what the perfumer wanted to convey then great artistic transmission. A skin scent that will have you grasping for more. The bottle design is minimalistic in nature as well as the juice within. Easy to wear for discrete purposes, close combat kinda vibe. A delicate, woodsy scent vibe it emanates due to the florals blending with the cedar. Slightly synthetic but bearable; moreover, attractive. The only place I don't see this performing well is at the night club where everything is loud as this is softly spoken; however it performs great lingering making it's presence felt. Personally the approach I love; furthermore, the aroma it self is one I dig. Edit: Looking at the cover of the bottle with detail, I see painted almost exactly what I had envisioned while/upon smelling it. The power of the senses and fragrance being the object of desire is quite astonishing. Go figure.

From a 3 mL sprayer I have tested this latest offering from Jeffrey Dame a few times. Although I admit that the mix of notes initially sounded odd to me... boy was I wrong. monsoon is interesting to say the least. It is like midnight in Paris without the sweetness plus a touch of wet pavement thrown in. It is floral but not too floral, powdery but not too powdery, dirty but not too dirty. As odd as it sounds, the blend is smooth and very wearable. This scent is addictive... trying to resist repeatedly sniffing your own wrist is futile. I can see it working for almost any occasion including work, date night, casual... anything really other than clubbing, as well as for every season. Good performance, catching whiffs of it all day. Wish it came in a 50 mL bottle but I might break down and buy a fb before long anyway.

With all due respect (and some fan girl crushiness), I MUST urge people to try before you buy this scent. Dame offers a wonderful and generous sample program, which has been fortunate for me, as I have discovered loves that I would not have considered until I tested them. For me, unfortunately, this one is an olfactory tooth infection. I appreciate the art... I think the overall picture is vivid and true-to-life, but it's simply not something I accept as pleasant. It reminds me too much of a combination of a grimy window screen + road tar + a touch of smelly, wet dog. The watery floral that peeks out much later is pretty, but for me it's too little, too late. Frankly, I'd sooner wear Secretions Manifique. Definitely a pass from me, but your mileage may vary.

Dame Perfumery's latest release in Monsoon is fresh and interesting, a mix primarily of the lily of the valley, iris, and cedar. It's easy to wear but admittedly slightly feminine--as a man, I'd gravitate toward Citrus Man or New Musk Man alternatively as a warm-weather option. Iris is simply a difficult note to keep light to my nose, and its presence either makes it feminine or weighs it down. Generally speaking, though, this is overall a unisex a fragrance. It's decent-performing, relatively soft on the skin but pretty long-lasting. Definitely a good approximation of what I might like as a neutral, unisex warm-weather scent but it's not quite for me. 6 out of 10

Supposedly a mix of orris, creosote, cedar, and jasmine/lily that simulates rain on the earth. The concept is better than the execution here. Really no orris to speak of. The creosote is dominant but the jasmine/musky support makes it sweet rather than smokey and thus the effect is one of fresh bandages and adhesive rather than the intended earth, rain, and fire. Not unpleasant but not that interesting either.

Monsoon...this is probably the most luxurious "fresh linen" scent I have ever smelled! It is very clean, very crisp, and develops as a well-done perfume should once applied to your skin. I like it, but I wouldn't purchase a full bottle of it just because fresh linen isn't really a fragrance on my wishlist right now. But if you favor that type of scent, I highly recommend! This one is nicely made, for sure!

This one made me feel so melancholy all day. Like I was actually standing in the rain, my clothes soaked. I felt sad, really. It was so realistic of walking in a storm. Drenched hoodie and sneakers hitting the wet asphalt of the highway for miles and miles.

It is interesting and atmospheric. I think it would be good in the fall, around Halloween. Floral, powdery and the creosote gives it edgy tar and dirt notes.