2020 has been a difficult year, one which I’m sure most would say they would rather put behind them.  I thought about doing a year end list of recommendations for Christmas earlier this month, but I just wasn’t feeling the spirit of the holidays.   So instead, I decided to look ahead to 2021 and the promise of a new year.  And thankfully, Frassaï has just released a trio of perfumes as part of their new El Sur collection.  All three perfumes in the collection, El Descanso, Cuir Pampas and Rosa Sacra are wonderful in their own respective ways and I will be reviewing all three in the upcoming weeks.  But today, I thought I would start off with probably the most unique perfume in the collection, El Descanso.

WHAT I SMELL:  El Descanso opens with a breath of lemony green and a warm and dry ambrette that is soon met with a lightly nuttied grain.  Right from the first spritz, the perfume feels earthy without the dirt and soil, but in the abundance that the earth can bring in grains and grass.  The perfume begins to grow in volume, but it remains in the grassy field as starts to warm in a late afternoon sun.  After some time, a layer of puttied mimosa hovers over the wheat like grass which makes the perfume more rounded.  The addition of the mimosa is ever so slight and it adds just the right amount of sweetness to the natural splendor of the grass.  As the perfume continues to slowly develop, a spice is added along with an ambery sandalwood.  Still natural in the grass, the perfume now is deeper in its warmth and radiation with just a tinge of green.  El Descanso is a perfume that can bring the golden warmth to the day no matter what the weather is like outside.