1,000 Lilies

A thousand lilies is exactly right. It smells like lilies and nothing but lilies. For a real lily lover, this would be a nice and slightly soapy lily soliflore. For those seeking multiple facets and depth, you should look elsewhere.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is a talented painter and one of the most talented natural perfumers ever. Her Beaux Arts line is a nod to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, one of the most prestigious art schools in the world. The few perfumes I've tried from the line are like wearing the olfactory equivalent of little masterpieces. They are all sumptuous but also restrained and elegant. 1,000 Lillies has a very strong cardamom note. I love cardamom and this is one of the few perfumes I've ever worn that perfectly captures the sweetness and pungency of cardamom accurately. Placing cardamom next to a Casablanca lily and over a base of ylang-ylang/sandalwood/and a touch of honey is genius. It makes the fleshy meaty quality of the lily come forward. Most perfumes give you a soft, pastel vision of a lily. 1,000 Lillies gives you the entire plant with the minute details enlarged. You wear the petals, the stamen, and the sticky pollen-filled anthers at once. The lily is in full bloom to the point where the scent fills the room, yet this perfume manages not to be cloying but surprisingly understated. In my mind, this is the absolute most perfect bridal perfume because it's so opulent and elegant, and not at all flashy or gaudy. I've been to weddings where the bride looks like she's drenched in gobs of sequins and crystals; where everything is over done and over the top. This is not that perfume. This is Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's wedding to John Kennedy Jr. in that slinky elegant simple gown.

A strikingly unique scent. I'm not sure I love it, I like it, but I don't think I love it... Lilies, cardamom and cinnamon, sandal lotus smoothness. But there's something dry about this, it's a little unsettling. Touches of 'aquamarine freshness' surface here and there, but by and large, this is odd. Odd as in not like anything I have tried. Anyway, I'm not sure what I think about this...