Earth Mother
Dame Perfumery (2017)

I am beginning to wonder about Dame. So many of his fragrances are popularized, smoothed out riffs on perfumes he himself has composed for other brands (for example, Dark Horse is a note-by-note copy of his Gaiac for M/ Micallef, only a little rougher around the edges) or abbreviated takes on the perennial favorites of people who only have one foot in, one foot out of the wider perfume world to begin with (for example, his chocolate fragrances are all nice but pretty one-note and perfume-oil-y, kind of similar to the super popular Choco Musk by Rehab).

Earth Mother belongs in the latter group. It is extremely pretty – fruit and chocolate patch whipped into clean, buttery-oily scads of white musk – but also an almost exact copy of Narciso Rodriguez Musk for Her EDT (the black bottle) and SJP Lovely. You get used to the copycat-ism of certain tropes in perfumery if you’ve smelled your way around a block or two. It’s just a shame that Dame Perfumery engages in it too, because everyone seems to adore Jeffrey Dame himself, who comes across as a kind, charming man. My advice, though, is to steer clear of anything that gets clear ‘smells like’ ratings on Fragrantica and to invest instead in his incredible range of soliflores, all of which are true renditions of their source material and well worth seeking out.

This mother is a woman first and foremost. The sage, galbanum, and patchouli keep her grounded and spiritual. The musk, sandalwood and jasmine keeps her sensuality alive. The caramal, amber, and vanilla are all about her warmth and comfort.

Odd top notes. Sour & sweet. Dirty jasmine in the heart. Moderate galbanum note. It's an outdoorsy scent so far. It's like a bag of herbs a medicine man might wear around his neck. The lemon appears in the heart - not in the top note array. Lily of the valley takes over, stomping over the galbanum, making a slightly brighter floral in the middle.

Sandalwood stands out in the base. Patchouli lumbers in later. EM remains outdoorsy, earthy, and herbal throughout. Three stars.