BYREDO
Desert Dawn

2024

cardamom
rose

carrot seed
Cedarwood
sandalwood

papyrus
vetiver
musk

‘A celebration of nature’s creative juxtapositions, Desert Dawn is a universal take on the woody olfactive family. Finding balance in the freshness of something new, this scent opens with the inviting sweet spices of Cardamom, before giving way to the enveloping warmth of Sandalwood and Cedarwood at the heart. An enticing finish of Vetiver and Silk Musk is then enlivened by the crisp, clean scent of Papyrus, invoking the dry heat of the desert and the warmness of the first rays of dawn, symbolizing a fragrance that is both dry and enveloping.’ – Neiman Marcus

Desert Dawn is a fragrance that I quite like, but I do feel like it’s missing something to make it complete.

Straight away, you get a strong dose of cardamom here and it’s flanked by dry woods. Woody and something almost suede-like.

I don’t really get the carrot scent here, but the overall fragrance has a rooty, vegetal (leather) quality to it. From memory, I found this fragrance quite similar to their 2022’s De Los Santos and 2016’s Super Cedar. Making it somewhat redundant and I think Byredo could’ve easily skipped either this or De Los Santos.

Desert Dawn gets rather lactonic; it has that milky green sandalwood feeling in the back, hence I’ve seen some comparisons to Santal 33, but I don’t think this scent overall is anything like Santal 33; it’s much warmer and sweeter to me. There is an allusion to rose, which I feel brings a lot to this fragrance, but I wish it had more of it.

The cardamom-suede vibe reminds me a tiny bit of Ex Nihilo Chandigarh Express and as with that fragrance, I feel like Desert Dawn is too minimal. It’s something I often feel with these mostly woody (and spicy) scent profiles. I like the scent, especially the hint of sweetness (which I would perceive as ambroxan), but something more fresh in the opening or more pronounced floral down the line, would really elevate it for me.

Still, this is a solid fragrance and I think that based on what I remember, I’d pick Desert Dawn over De Los Santos or Super Cedar (and definitely over Chandigarh Express).