Gracing the Dawn is the second chypre to be released by Roxana Villa. The first was Green Witch, which emerged this past spring and was heralded by us perfume bloggers as a gorgeous “marine chypre” due to its sea side aromas. Gracing the Dawn is similar in that it possesses classic chypre notes like oakmoss and galbanum, but it differs from Green Witch of course, even from the opening. It feels more like a vintage perfume as a multitude of complex notes intertwine effortlessly so no essence is distinct, yet the fragrance as a whole is quite distinctive.
To me, Green Witch is a softer chypre with a floral heart that resembles a neroli kissed honeysuckle. By contrast, Gracing the Dawn with its rich abundance of rose, jasmine and mimosa bring to mind vintage chypres like Magie Noir and as Donna from Perfume Smellin Things mentioned, Jolie Madame. Adding to the opulence of the aforementioned flowers is a tincture of violets from Roxana’s mother’s garden that grace the floral heart making it even more rounded and voluminous.
Powdery, violet laden woods appear in the drydown which is enhanced by a minuscule amount of Africa Stone, otherwise known as the fossilized poop of the hyrax. A tincture of Africa Stone provides an ambergris-like dimension that continues the vintage perfume likeness. Unlike Roxana’s other purely botanical fragrances, she has labeled this one natural since Africa Stone is clearly not of the botanical nature. But it is ethically harvested and of course, not synthesized in a lab.
Please visit the other participating sites for more impressions of Gracing the Dawn:
Roxana herself at Illuminated Perfume Journal
Beth at Cleveland Fragrance Examiner
Lucy at Indie Perfumes
Elena at Perfume Shrine
Gracing the Dawn is available at Roxana’s etsy shop, $27 for a 1gm vial.
Posted by ~Trish
Disclosure: A sample was sent to me for consideration by Roxana Villa. The opinions in this review are my own. I was not financially compensated for this review or any other.
thefloraesthetic.com 
Trish, I think we reviewers can all agree that no matter what our personal impressions of Gracing The Dawn are, we all think it’s wonderful! A worthy addition to the chypre genre for sure.
Donna,
I think Roxana has found a fabulous brew with her chypre accords. Green Witch and Gracing the Dawn have pulled into first place as my faves from her.
~T
oooh sounds wonderful..thank you for the review!
i love the picture of the Violet tincture..so pretty
I love that picture and how it helps us visualize the tender love and care Roxana puts into her creations.
Thanks for reading!
Trish
Sounds gorgeous! I have not tried any of Roxana’s liquid perfumes yet, just the lovely solids. I’m on a chypre kick right now, so Gracing the Dawn and GreenWitch are being added to my wish list!
You’ve got to quench that chypre kick with one of Roxana’s! You won’t be disappointed 🙂
Thoughtful and beautifully written — a beautiful perfume concept too
Thank you so much Lucy. Roxana’s perfumes are always very inspiring 🙂
~T
Oooh! Green Witch and Gracing the Dawn! I’m reading Wicked right now so all of this is so very appropriate! Something ghoulishly grand to ask for my Halloween pumpkin or yuletide stocking. Ahh. Missing you T-byrd. Let’s catch up soon! xoxo
Miss you too duV! Wish we could go on a sniffing jaunt together along Abbot Kinney again. Maybe next summer?? 😀
Hugs and fragrant smooches headed your way,
T