Dawn

The opening is instantly captivating, just like the dawn sunrise it is meant to represent. The first sniff I took made every muscle in my upper body tense up as a smile went straight across my face and my eyes went wide - just like I would looking at gorgeous sunrise. This is an oud+leather+amber perfume, specifically, but it's mostly the oud and leather featured throughout the active life of the fragrance. Carlos Benaim does not make these accords sit and wait for a dry-down. They are apparent from the first second of this fragrance hitting your skin, and the combination of those with rose and fruity pepper top notes is just divine. Unfortunately, just like the sun peaking up over the horizon, the beauty doesn't last long; I wish this opening went longer... a lot longer. It's so good. Once these dry down to the heart notes, the leather and oud gain power and you are also greeted by frankincense and amber notes. If at this point you are thinking "so far the way you've described this perfume makes it sound like old news - we've had this perfume from many houses before," yes, you are correct. But, what makes The Dawn stand out is just how silky smooth and elegant it is. How ever Benaim did this, or what materials he used, is particularly noteworthy because the frankincense, leather, oud, and amber are fully present in all of their smokey, resinous, fruity, funky, animalic, woody, slightly-fetid characteristics but none of these characteristics are the least bit challenging like they are in most other perfumes of similar styles. I cannot say it any other way except plainly and simply: this is one of the prettiest Arabian leather oud ambers I have ever smelled, maybe the prettiest. It captures a sunrise so perfectly: smooth, colorful, powerful yet gentle, seamless, and cool like a dawn sunrise is supposed to be and slowly growing in warmth (not instantly hot like most Arabian leathers and/or ouds). Final dry down going to a skin scent is a fantastic combination of oud and amber. Just like a fully risen sun, these final accords are golden and warm. In the class of Arabian perfumes - leather oud, oud, oud amber, etc. - The Dawn is summa cum laude. Totally stunning. There's one issue with it, and it's an enormous issue...: its enormous price tag. As of the day this review is being posted, 100mL costs $1,990.... I don't care how good a perfume is, that's simply ridiculous.

The Perfect Incense Dawn is a beautiful introspective journey starting with a pink pepper opening some delicate roses and frankincense reminiscent of mosques and churches. It has touches of amber / labdanum a hint of vetiver and moss in the base a delicate but noticeable oud and woody ambers in a sandalwood / frankincense direction. It’s introspective and a bit cerebral with all the balancing going on into the later dry down. Great for solitude, a cup of tea and a good book. Thoroughly enjoy this and it’s quite a treat to wear as you can truly appreciate the art here it’s not much less of a technical marvel than The Night maybe this is actually better? That’s a hard question to answer as I do love them both. The trifecta of rose, frankincense and labdanum is just pitch perfect. It is the most elegant of the desert gems IMO, it’s also by far the most subtle option. The price for years for me was a point of contention but at discounters you can get this for $550 - $700. At that price the argument changes how many of us blind buy a $300 fragrance nowadays or how many $200 fragrances do you have that you never reach for? I’d rather splurge for a best in category such as Dawn for an incense than a sample set from an artisanal brand (recently paid $165 for a sample set with shipping total disappointment) or a blind buy from some hyped up niche. There we have summed this up a phenomenal incense fragrance for an astronomical price. A true indulgence for the connoisseur.

This was really tricky for me on first wearing, as it's a bone dry blend of faintly animalic oud and glinting unburnt frankincense. As more of a myrrh fan, I initially found this to be a little bit too graphite-like for my liking, but I do still somehow feel this fits its name and theme very well. There's a stalwart serenity to Dawn which, despite its inclusion of the much feared pink pepper and saffron, doesn't come off spicy but does use its very austere incense note to create an image of light filtering through a window with dust floating in the air. Even now I'm a little shocked at the pairing of frankincense with oud (which I shouldn't be as oud has often been burned as incense throughout history) but the dryness of the former and animalic quality of the latter produce a sensation of something that started to decay but was then fossilised in a state of suspended animation. It is of course evocative of stone buildings and tiled plazas... sun, dust and silence. Bringing up the rear is a fairly nondescript woodiness which takes over after about 8 hours. Perhaps it's sacrilege to say, but I wouldn't have minded if the rose got a little bump in this... Incense milled into a mountain of dust.

Al-Fajr (Dawn) is Olibanum perfection. This one and Sultan Pasha's Ame Sombre are the best compositions that explore the Frankincense accord, at least to me. This one is more on the Orthodox church, cold olibanum smell, backed up by some earthy soft oud in the base, dry vetiver, and moss. I don't get a strong Oud as in Al Layl(The Night), nor the same Hindi fermented type, here it's more of an earthy variety, that is cleverly blended with vetiver and oakmoss. I also don't pick up the rose in here. It very much sings a perfect song about Olibanum, and it also has that oily almost texture to it like you'd burn the resin and pour the oil on yourself. This does absolutely not justify its price tag, but I love it and it does for me. Sometimes is better to let your nose and senses decide rather than the rational part of your brain. Because it's not as animalic nor loud as Al Layl, or Al Waad, this can be worn more easily without offending innocent bystanders.

This is the most realistic incense I have ever smelled in my life. It smells IDENTICAL like when you enter to a church. Dusty, woody, dirty incense. It is there from the beginning and it will stay with you until the end. It is amazing that incense will remain the same all the time while other notes will come and go. The opening is not animalic as The Night, but you can immediately feel the rose, smoke, oud and pepper. Pepper definitely softens the animal opening so it’s lighter than The Night and The Moon initially. Dry down is a smoky, incensy labdanum. And through the labdanum you can feel the oud incense. It's a cold fragrance. A bit dusty from vetiver. It stays on the skin for 12+ hours, and it stays on the clothes until you wash it. Dawn will be around you, but it's not too strong so it can be worn at slightly higher temperatures without bothering anyone. I am very happy to have this masterpiece and to finally have a full Desert Gems collection.

Dear friends - please don’t be fooled into thinking the lovely and subtle Dawn resembles Swiss Arabian’s bargain bin oud approximation Dehn al Oud Malaki, which is a one dimensional ape of a soaked and fermented hindi oud. Dawn’s oud note is a fantastically ‘tuned’ cheese oud that transitions with elegant smoothness into a realistic high-quality frankincense. I use the tuning metaphor as it feels like a flawless mix of notes, like moving the fader on an audio mixer from one audio source to another harmonized audio source forming a chord then fading completely to the second note. Rose, moss and vetiver create a quiet ambient backdrop to this masterpiece. The value here lies in the combination of high quality ingredients and truly masterful blending. I’ve yet to find this lovely oud note in another fragrance or oud oil, and you won’t find anything remotely similar in a 90 dollar mass produced oud.

Ladies and gentlemen I would love to share with you my new milestone and hereby announce that I completed my DESERT GEMS collection Now that my celebration is over let’s get to the scent and I would address them as facts 1. It has the most realistic olibanum in the market 2. Longevity is definitely eternal 3. The oud used here is the same as the night 4. Projection is moderate (unfortunately) 5 .in the opening it’s olibanum is king in the dry down the oud takes on the show 6 .It’s definitely overpriced 7 .my second best from the collection following promise 8 .it’s incredible in all surfaces (skin-clothes-paper) 9 .5 sprays are for almost half a day 10 sprays will last you until tomorrow 10 . This scent is the proof that Carlos Benaim is the greatest living American perfumer in the world I believe I did my part yours is to try it out

A rough impression: At the beginning the frankincense/incense note is prominent, you can also sense flash of new-woody-furniture-like pink pepper. Soon the perfume transitions to an ambiguously leathery oud phase; it turns even more rounded, softer later; after a long time into the body/base, the oud accord becomes dryer or woody-er(vetiver, maybe?), (when I’m drunk) there is also a nutty edge. I didn’t get much rose notes on paper, perhaps it’s only here to play the mellow background music. Though on skin I did catch a glimpse of rose at some point. Overall, a well-crafted concoction. Really “wearable”, if that’s your concern. I wouldn’t put it in the same line as the Night.

My absolute favorite among the Frederic Malle ́s Desert Gems, with a clear oud and amber /labdanum combination that is just beautiful. It ́s strange that amber is not a note one can rate in the updated Fragrantice user experience. I struggle to understand that some reviewers claim there is no oud in this, and strongly disagree. I get very little rose, which for me is what sets this one apart from The Night after a few hours. Love the smoky drydown ni the first few hours after applying. Considering the price I ́ve sprayed rather sparingly however I think at this price point one should expect a bit better longevity than I get on my skin.

This is indeed all about frankincense. I thought this would be more in the vein of The Night, but the very pleasant initial oud, pink pepper and rose opening is a transient affair, giving way to about a half hour's unenjoyable sourness. This, however, like the dawn slowly breaking eventually gives way to a beautiful churchy incense. A little unfairly set within the confines of The Night's price bracket; I would happily buy this otherwise. I received a bottle for my birthday. Crazy longevity and very regal smelling. Very happy indeed.

I think this is my favorite from the collection. It is so cold, stark and mysterious. The dry coldness makes me think of a dark winter night. But I would be doing this masterpiece an injustice if i did not bring up the opening of oud and rose. The oud is not a skanky oud and the rose is jammy and leads beautifully into the cold heart. This is where the true warmth of the blend lives and it is the only warmth you will notice but it takes you by the hand and walks you into the base. This is truly a masterpiece and worth the price.

Beautiful aromatic woody scent showcasing a lovely olibanum and a nice Cambodian oud. The scent opens with notes of pink pepper and slight rose and transitions to the incense laden heart. The perfume settles on a powdery bed of the oud, with additional vetiver, labdanum and oakmoss. The masculine leaning scent has moderate to strong sillage and very good longevity. The scent is very spiritual because of the beautiful olibanum resin and quite reverent, but you have to be able to afford this extravagance first. Enjoy!

Beautiful scent! It starts out with the quickest hint of fecal oud, maybe for a minute or two. That smell quickly fades away, and what I’m left with is just the most beautiful olibanum scent ever. It’s not churchy to me, but it is cold-ish and so intoxicating. The rose is not a player in this one, which is a little disappointing to me, but I can make an exception in this one. I love this so much for what it is, an incense fragrance. In the desert gems collection this ranks at number 2 for me, right after the moon.

Yes this has filigree, nuances, sparks of brilliance and all the rest of it but then, when my night of aroused excitement is over, in the cold light of dawn, this is, basically, just a strong realistic smell of frankincense. I may just accost the priest on his ceremonial run down the nave, relieve him of his bejewelled golden incense thurible, crack it open and smother the contents all over my body. The priest could be consoled that I had at least not committed the sin of spending £950 for the pleasure.

Yeah, I love Dawn. It's one of my all time favorites. It reminds me of falling leaves. The sum of the parts come together to make a pretty convincing ambergris accord. It wears like a golden aura. My favorite of the desert gems collection from frederic malle, the only one that feels like it's close to worth the money to me.

It was way too over price, can't really smell must nuances of reall oud, to me the smell was quite synthetic . The structure was also quite simple and nothing special. It was smooth and left a skin scent in the base. €1100/100ml is a daylight rubbery. With €1100, I will invest in Guerlain 190 ans Absolute.

A cold, rather austere olibanum centric fragrance warmed by a very natural oud and Turkish rose. Dawn transports you to a far away place, sitting in complete silence the cool darkness of the night is broken by the warmth of the rising Sun. There is something deeply spiritual about this.

Yesterday I got a full bottle of this juice...well, fantastic! The mix between incense and Oud is incredible and at the end you can feel also the vetiver. Compliment Mr. Benaim, this is a Masterpiece

Definitely the dawn to the night. $1500? Nah...maybe if you can find it for half price if you don't already have the night. Ester lauder prices me thinks. Same with shishedo and SL add infinitum

Such a masterpiece but why so expensive :( the drydown is soooooo good. From opening to the very last whiff it's such an unreal experience. One of the few oud fragrances that I love.