Prophecy

Prophecy is a dark amber and incense scent. The DSH site lists the notes, in no particular order, as Amber, Bergamot, Himalayan Cedar, Incense, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vanilla Absolute. I'd say yes, they're all there. There is nothing sweet or sensational about this stuff. It's not trying to compete with Tom Ford or really anyone. It's just a good dark rich woodsy scent. Another reviewer asked how this is different from DSH's Cathedral. I don't have Cathedral, and because it was one of Dawn's earlier scents, she doesn't have a lengthy list of notes listed on the site. It just says it's a church incense scent. So I'd say it must be more of a midnight mass at a Catholic church scent, whereas the incense used in Prophecy is more Oriental. Oh rosequeen, be specific; I was a technical writer but I'm coming up short here. So many of us have negative associations with oriental incense. It's not hippie incense (in its myriad varieties), massage parlor incense, Indian meditation incense, Hari Krishna incense (horrors!), or Chinese incense. Or Tibetan incense either, and I usually like that stuff. For all I know there may not be any actual incense in it; the heavy dark amber and the patchouli and Himalayan Cedar may produce the incense effect themselves. And totally unlike Prince Matchabelli's Prophecy too, if that's your frame of reference when discovering DSH's Prophecy.

My immediate reaction of Prophecy: "this is an incense for the GIRLIES." Not austere or monastic or churchy or smoky-sacred; this is more of a "burn this stuff in the background of your IG reels while Hozier sings something brooding about desire and divinity and you arrange rose quartz crystals on your nightstand" vibe. Pastel tarot deck spirituality. De-saturated dragon's blood. A dreaming without a dreamer, that ethereal mystical atmosphere floating free, no deep spiritual practice required. An outer light reflected or an inner light unveiled, either way it's been retouched for social media, aesthetic enlightenment run through a vintage Lightroom filter. Creamy, almost fruity, almost floral incense—except not quite incense; aureate suffusion that smells like how luxe body cream feels. Whipped honey vibe; you could take a juicy bite of this tawny chunk of resin. Baby's first incense, but I can see how it becomes A Whole Vibe, build an entire aesthetic around it. The DSH site notes that it's a bestseller, which makes perfect sense...it works well enough for what it's trying to be, but it's too sweet, too fluffy for me. My prophecies need a bit more doom and gloom.

This CAN'T be only incense! This has coconut powder, white floral in a slight fruitti frame. I can smell plums, violets, powder, white floral, & fruit vanilla candy. This is a bit in a mess to be honest as it whiffs between woods, incense, floral, & candy. The name of the fragrance gives the hype that it will be out of the world & groundbreaking but turned to be unbalanced. Edit (22nd Nov 2020) This smells like plastic! like sweet plastic! and mostly it's the smell of Barbie doll! that moist plastic dolls! it's weird indeed but it is pleasant! and i still sense coconut powder, plastic. Nice.

I do not understand why incense is the only note listed, here. On my skin this is a creamy, sweet, amber. The bergamot gives it lightness, and there is almost a fruit/tobacco feel to this scent. The sweetness is almost caramel like. The incense is very under the radar, and not church-like at all. It is very pleasing, a great comfort scent.

This smells like the incense wafting out of gift shops at the asian market, however this is a sweeter vanilla and not as woody/floral.

Anyone know how this differs from Cathedral?