Mahjoun

I did not expect to like this scent. When I smelled it on paper, I said, "wow, this is a cake." Dawn confirmed that in fact it was inspired by some dessert. I tried it on my skin in a spirit of experiment, and was captivated. It wasn't smelling like cake on my skin, instead I felt around me a cloud of spices in a sweet aura. I got a sample of it and wore it next day for a night on the town, and I felt irresistible. A little bit goes a long way, but I will be looking for a bottle after finishing my sample.

DSH Perfumes Mahjoun is a fragrance of Dawn’s that I’ve wanted to try for some time, given its intriguing, gourmand-leaning list of notes and positive reception. The actual smell on skin is very interesting, as well, a complex mix of dried fruits, resins, and spices, primarily, to my nose. It opens quite sweet with the honey and dates taking center stage, and actually dries down a little more powdery on my skin. It’s a pretty loud performer and remains so on my skin for some hours, particularly since it transforms from being a bit sweeter and gourmand-heavy to being a bit sharper, perhaps due to the emergence of nuts, and woodier in the dry down. It’s a curious evolution, contrary to the formula that I’m more accustomed to, but I kind of like that it unpredictably picks up some bite over time. This is quite nice, somewhat indulgent but over-the-top sweet or dessert-like. Rather, it conjures the mood of being among various interesting ingredients as opposed to imminently eating the lot of them, Priced at a roughly-standard $145 for 60ml in Voile de Parfum concentration (the same concentration as EDP except not based in alcohol), also at $80 for 30ml VDP or EDP, and in various other forms of fragrance and beauty products, Dawn’s pricing is very reasonable and I’d certainly recommend checking this one out. It’s a great performer, overall, and the cost is quite fair. I don’t love it as much as Café Noir, which is a bit more my speed in terms of darkness, and, of course, coffee, but Mahjoun is a fun, robust exploration of familiar marketplace smells in the form of an overall very satisfying fragrance, one of her many nods to gourmand lovers. 7 out of 10

This could be the gourmand edition of L'Elephant, and yes it too reminds me of shopping in Cost Plus World Market. Chewy sweet dates, honey, all warm spices & almond dust. "Granola perfume"s a good description. Mahjoun definitely has that characteristic smoky headshop vibe after the drydown and these little smoke tendrils back up the potpourri in the best way. Like a potpourri, though, all of them do have the same noticeable 'mishmash' smell even when the flavors are different. I find this to be the case with many natural perfumes, and I'm ok with that. Also it does not become maple/pancake syrup on me, so yay for that! Rather it stays warm spices and honey and almond, and the myrrh and olibanum jump in to add a touch of incense smoke. I'm enjoying it very much on these 1st cool fall days in North Carolina with all the windows open in my house and a cool breeze drifting in. Mmm, cozy. Thanks Jitterbug for sending this adorable mini my way! (DSH's dram sizes are so cute in their official-looking but tiny bottles.) [10.7.14]

A yummy oriental, is how I'd describe DSH Mahjoun. This perfume is quite a powerhouse of intense essences, and one of my favorites, bitter almond, is in full evidence. Upon application, I was immediately reminded of some of the complex concoctions from the house of Serge Lutens. However, this combination works better for me than certain members of "the curry series", as I've come to refer to creations such as Arabie. The scents here are blended quite harmoniously and I find this combination most appealing. No curry powder or cumin here, but lots of other wonderful stuff... All in all, a fine wintertime creation with lots of spices and woods. I'd list Mahjoun as unisex, and I do recommend it people who enjoy the oriental perfumes of Serge Lutens.

My first impression is of a “granola” perfume - one that is all-natural, contains a high percentage of absolutes and has an insipid “brown sticky” aura to it, sort of like a used tea bag or dying flower petals. Given the list of notes here and elsewhere, this should smell better and stronger than it does. How can you go wrong with powerful natural scents like lavender, rose, spices and sandalwood? I can only think that the amount of these materials used must have been vanishingly small, so what is left is mostly bland fruit tinctures and hazlenut absolute. The scent is nice, but too delicate for my taste.

I like this scent because it smells like dried fruit drizzled with honey and nuts on a woody lightly spicy cinnamon bark base. The only thing that bothers me is that it's a little too powdery which leads to it smelling a bit like a clean diaper. Reminds me of babysitting in my teenage years, so I'm going to pass on this one for personal reasons. Otherwise this a lovely fragrance that I had some expectations of enjoying. -

Reminds me of my friend Kelly's old style wooden house growing up. A weird, dated, thick brown syrupy smell that just kind of lingered. Pretty, but unfortunately not something I want in a fragrance.

I could smell some spices in this at first, but the immediate - and long lasting - drydown on this was pure pancake syrup. It made me feel a bit nauseous!

It is an overly date honey blend with that sour theme that accompanies the blend. I can sense some caramel as well with a slight almonds and hazelnuts somehow as these nutty mix is rising slowly as it calms down. I can sense cardamom, nutmeg, and more of amber, and big doses of cinnamon as it tends to turn a bit balsamic as well but more of nutty blend it went. It is quite a delicious blend as these days i tend to lean over the sweet factor (mostly dates, and honey), but it leans more to the nutty side (not as Ava Lux's "Loukhoum" of course) with more dates, honey, and sticky sweet side (not cloying of course), but i personally would love it more if it remained dates and honey dominant. Good balanced blend.