Desert Rouge
American Perfumer (2020)

Maria McElroy of aroma M & House of Cherry Bomb: 

“How fragile we are under the sheltering sky. Behind the sheltering sky is a vast dark universe, and we're just so small?”

These lines by Paul Bowles felt prescient as I found myself completing Desert Rouge in New York City during the pandemic. The Sheltering Sky, a novel I first read in my 20’s and brought with me on my first visit to Morocco, reminded me of both the poignant beauty and perils in life.

There is an element of nostalgia in both Desert Flower and Desert Rouge. My earliest recollection of fragrance is that of the tantalizing aroma of Greek pastries that would cover the linen tablecloths in my childhood home. These are delicacies doused in honey syrup and nuts delicately spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and crushed almonds. Moroccan sweets, with an element of French pâtisserie I discovered, are reminiscent of those delectable Greek pastries. The dry down in Desert Rouge are these notes of joy. 

Desert Rouge is my ode to life past, present and future.