Keiko Mecheri Bespoke- Canyon Dreams

The first time I sniffed Canyon Dreams from Keiko Mecheri's Bespoke range I got hints and glimpses of three other favorite perfumes: Shalimar Eau Legre (the very discontinued one), Tauer L'Air du Desert Marocain and Keiko Mecheri's own Loukhoum. It was a superficial observation, perhaps, but it should point  you in the right direction, as this is a woody incensy oriental, somewhat dry and peppery with a generous heart and base.

Canyon Dreams from Keiko Mecheri's Bespoke range is a fantasy about blue skies, desert air and crumbling sun-bleached wood. Of course,  I highly doubt anything in the Grand Canyon area smells as good as Keiko Mecheri's creation (I'd be far more outdoorsy if that was the case). The opening is a lungful of bright and sunny citrus, with enough creamy sweetness peeking behind to remind one of the aforementioned  Eau Legre. Facets of this much beloved spawn of Shalimar keep popping for me here and there throughout Canyon Dreams' development, though Keiko Mecheri's creation is milder and airier. Eau Legre is straightforward sexy in that typical Guerlain way. Canyon Dreams is, well... dreamier.

Like the other perfumes in Keiko Mecheri Bespoke collection, Canyon Dreams has a tactile quality that only manifests on skin. It's too elusive if you only smell it on a blotter, and the delicate threads woven into this fabric can go undetected. I didn't notice the faint incense (or more accurately: air infused with really expensive incense) until I spent some time wearing Canyon Dreams. I think that the sweet powdery rose (almost like Turkish delight) swallowed part of it, and the lightly spiced wood covers the rest, but it's there and its the incense dryness that gives the fragrance its sophistication and elegance.

Notes: bergamot, sandalwood, rose, oud and patchouli.

Keiko Mecheri Bespoke- Canyon Dreams ($225, 50ml EDP) is available from MiN NY and Luckyscent.  The samples used for this review were supplied by MiN.

Photo: Grand Canyon Sky by Dan Elkins