Ancient Air

Ok, I like this stuff, and the fact that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz actually put it into production, probably knowing it wouldn't be hugely popular. Truly, it is not a date night scent. You won't even pick up a meditator wearing this stuff. So now that all those people who wear patchouli scents primarily to stand out in a crowd have now crept away disappointed, even though they should have been warned off by the name, it's just you and me and 10 other people, or maybe a few more, who are gathered here because we read Dawn's description: "A sensual patchouli accord based on the true meaning of “Per Fumum” (through smoke). It is reminiscent of a time when the air was laden with incense smoke that carried prayers and sacrifice to the Gods." Pretty fanciful; rosequeen isn't sacrificing anything to the gods here. But the following list is a sampling of the notes, called categories in the DSH website: "Ambery, Dark and Mysterious, East Indian Patchouli, Frankincense (Olibanum), Himalayan Cedar, Incense, Myrrh Gum, Oriental, Sandalwood, Siam Benzoin, Woody" And I think we get that here. It's all about dark and mysterious. I don't smell any mold or mildew. It's temples in the Far East, not oldtime Catholicism. Of course most of us are more used to oldtime Catholicism. Most of us have never been in temples in the Far East, especially not Tibet, or if we were we were accompanied by 30 other people on a bus tour. But Ancient Air is all about the romanticism induced by one's imagination. Good stuff, but probably not something anyone would wear every day.

The smell of a mildew ridden Catholic Church

Admittedly, I don't know the smell of rising damp from personal experience, so no challenge here. BUT: black mould - no. Rotting wood - decidedly not. Stagnant air - no, indeed. Maybe it does have a touch of the Gothic about it, a soupcon of old-cathedral-interior. Definitely a hint of fog and mysterious shadows. That's probably also what one expects, when buying a scent that has notes of patchouli, incense and resins. Want happy? Stick to Chanel, Armani, Lancome et al. Want different? Choose DSH or similar.

Rising damp, black mould, rotting wood, wet carpet, stagnant air. DSH nailed it!