Not a thing in the world wrong with this scent but it's certainly not what I'd want to go around smelling like. It smells of The Cracker Barrel store just before Christmas. Or, you'd bathed, dressed and applied a nice fragrance and then spent too much time in the kitchen over warm sweet spices. Too foody to be floral and too floral to be foody. I suppose I'm being redundant. One sentence does it for me: It' smells of The Cracker Barrel store just before Christmas.

I agree w/the adjectives that others have used to describe this...creamy, comforting, addicting. It did take a few tries for me to fall for it & I'm glad I didn't write it off too quickly which I've been known to do. Others have described the notes so I won't go into that but I must say that while this is warm and a bit spicy, I don't think it's a fall/winter only scent. It's just perfectly balanced, not at all heavy or strong. continued >>

I ordered this as a sample size. It smells like a spicy, gourmand autumn candle. It's too strong for me to wear on my skin though.

Lovely! Cimabue begins on a complex citrus note, immediately warmed by spice. Rich florals emerge, blending with the citrus spice in a very complex symphony. The clove and carnation add so much here, and the jasmine and rose bring a classical french feel. Then the sandalwood, vanilla and benzoin come in, making the drydown very warm and sweet. The drydowns of DSH fragrances always agree with me; they are never harsh or distracting. I would swear I caught a waft of myrrh, one of my favorite perfumery notes. The spice remains in play until the far drydown, very satisfying as I love these spices.

This makes me think of Coco by Chanel - not that it smells like Coco, it does not- it just has a similar way of being a unified entity unto itself, a very complex and beautiful oriental, yet warm and easy to wear. I can't pick out individual notes here once it dries, as they blend together into an entirely new and unique scent.

I would wear this well, but my love affair with the pronounced spices and simpler drydown in Ceylon consumes the same part of my fragrance wardrobe Cimabue would fulfill. Note: I am grateful for the pronounciation tip on the DSH website; I had been pronouncing this as Sim-ah-boo! The correct pronounciation is Chim-ah-boo-way.

This fragrance is an explosion of beauty on me. I loved it even more when I layered it over Oeillets des Rouges (sp?) so that the carnation fragrance was more pronounced but there was still so much complex beautify filling the air.

This certain is a "busy" scent! The opening notes of bergamot and neroli are harsh on my skin and just too orangey for me. Apparently there is rose and tuberose somewhere - but I can't smell either of them as the spices are so overpowering - clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. After a couple of hours Cimabue becomes gentler and it's only then that I can smell some saffron mixed with vanilla and soft woods. Basically, although I love the drydown, Cimabue is slightly too sharp and spicy for too long for me to consider wearing it regularly.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dawn in her Boulder studio this summer, and it was one of the most pleasurable experiences of my lifetime. I love Cimabue, even though I don't usually go for spicy fragrances. The spices are muted and balanced by the other notes. This will be my fall fragrance, perhaps for life. I wanted to comment about the staying power of her perfumes. She shared something with me during our visit that rang exquisitely true: applying fragrance is part of the experience, which makes reapplying a pleasure. She also noted that when a fragrance lasts too long it gets to be like background noise, getting in the way of one's thoughts. I couldn't agree more, and I have no qualms with the staying power of Cimabue or any other of her perfumes. I will gladly decant and respray as necessary.

Don't get my wrong cimabue very easily could gain 4 or 5 lippies but i'll stick to 3 for two reasons.The staying power is the one (2 hrs max).The second is that this perfume is rather busy(VERY BUSY)Still i think it's great that is very different from SAFFRAN TROUBLANT.With this creation became clear that Dawn from time to time looks at her craft with a playful children's mind and heart .Indeed. this is not a bad think but i strongly suspect that while creating CIMABUE she tried more to have fun and create something to please before everything herself and maybe she lost her way in so many notes and ingredients.although cimabue is very pleasing it good be better with less.from time to time things pop out hit my nose and gone in 30 secs.some other time while i'm inhaling somethin soft and sensuous a spicy element destroys the harmony just for a sec, and then again it takes me off my track.Anyway cimabue on my skin starts with a citrusy note light smooth soft and a bit dry ,tangerine like.this is very fleeting and the perfume follows in mildy spicy floral carnation with hints of greener florals and the saffron fights with them in a composition of love and hate.in my opinion the saffron loses,but the middle of the perfume is nevertheless interesting.As i mention before some comets come and go but that's inevitable.As we come to the last hr the perfume erase some of the greenery of the middle as it passes to a rich honeyed and rather rosy resinous phase.this is the most erotic part and it's really refined, mildly spiced and balsamic.my boyfriend goes crazy when smells this part.it's a love potion.the 30 last min the vanilla rounds the allready warm scent into luxurious oblivion...how sorry i'am.

Too spicy for me. I'm discovering I particularly dislike saffron as a fragrance note. It belongs in rice.

Top notes: Bergamot, Bitter Orange, Cardamom Seed, Clementine, Italian Neroli, Lemon, Nutmeg.
Middle notes: Carnation Absolute, Cinnamon Bark, Clove Bud, Egyptian Rose Geranium, Grandiflorum Jasmine, Honey Beeswax, Moroccan Rose Absolute, Mysore Sandalwood, Saffron absolute, Tuberose Absolute.
Base notes: Ciste Absolute, East Indian Sandalwood, Labdanum, Oppopanax, Siam Benzoin, Tahitian Vanilla, Tamil Nadu Sandalwood, Vanilla Absolute
This is freaking good. I had a love hate relationship with Safran Troublant as there were things about it I simply adored and other things I despised. Everything good about Safran Troublant is in Cimabue without any of the bad. It is at first a very gourmand citrus but within seconds of warming on the skin it becomes sweet, spicy, clovey, soft, ultimately with a dash of powder and perhaps even a smoldering of pipe tobacco. After a short while it dries down to the world's most delightful snuggleworthy CARNATION - like you are inhaling deep into the middle of a fresh soft luscious carnation. It really is that GOOOOOOOD though I must admit that $80 for an ounce and $4 for a sample is a tad steep :/ continued >>

On my skin, this is mostly the scent of astringent, bitter saffron mixed with rich, honeyed rice pudding, spices, and a handful of floral notes. It's not a dupe of L'Artisan's Safran Troublant, a perfume I once didn't care for but now find sweet, gentle, and completely FBW. I don't think it's better than ST. It's busier, for sure, but busier isn't always better. Actually, I find it frustrating to wear much of the time. There are some notes in it that I love but I find that I only enjoy them for a few moments at a time, as they always get smothered out by some pushy floral or spice note. It's also much too overpriced, but that's nothing new for DSH scents. I think I'll just get a full bottle of Safran Troublant when it becomes available.

What brought me to Dawn's creation of Cimabue was not only the raves from Fragrance Board people, but also my own search for something similar to a love of mine- L'Artisan Safran Troublant. Even though I don't think Cimabue measures up to Safran, I do think it comes close and has a little extra. It is a different perfume, not a dupe of Safran Troublant. Dawn is without a doubt a talented perfumer, and she used her own ideas to create Cimabue. Cimabue is a rich saffron scent, with spices and honeyed sweetness that melds and lingers enchantingly on my skin. I love the astringent/medicinal quality that saffron affords fragrances, and in Cimabue, it's gorgeously present. This is a long-lasting scent, sweet but not too sweet. It should please gourmand lovers and spice lovers alike. I'm still quite fond of Safran Troublant, and now that it's available in the regular L'Artisan collection, I doubt I will repurchase Cimabue, but not because I don't love it-- I just love Safran Troublant more since I find it lighter and sweeter. Cimabue is a lovely saffron scent that may be one of the best out there.

This scent is incredible. I recently purchased the perfume extrait -- and it's worth every penny. I don't know about the Indian rice pudding analogy - I just get warm, sweet (but not too sweet) spices, not too busy, not too simple but absolutely lovely. This is definitely going to be an HG winter scent for me.

I normally don't go for spicy scents. Sure I like them, but never seem to find one that is "me." However when I read the reviews comparing this to rice pudding I knew I had to try it and I'm very glad I did. At first sniff I thought this scent had a quality similar to Old Spice cologne. (Considering my dad wears that scent and I grew up around it I find this comforting.) But I think that's mainly because my nose isn't used to spice notes and discerning the differences in their aromas. This scent quickly morphs into a beautiful creamy creation with a subtle spice that I can't get enough of. To me this scent is very round. I only havea sample, which I'm using sparingly because I dread the day when it's gone and I have to actually buy a full bottle. (a little $$)

Who would have thought that I would learn to love a gourmand fragrance? I usually detest them with a rage uncharacteristic for me. You know, the Angels and Hanae Moris of the world. But this isn't sweet or in your face. As others have mentioned, it smells exactly like Indian rice pudding. Creamy, comforting milk and rice with softly spicy cardamon and cinnamon and nutmeg. Soooo yummy.
The initial spray is the best. The cinnamon really comes out but it doesn't smell harsh. It then mellows out to a comforting, but not overly unique, vanilla and sandalwood with a touch of spice. I have to be careful with spicy perfumes because I don't want to smell like a spice rack, but this is wonderful. And although there are many notes, it doesn't smell busy to me, or soapy.
My only complaints are the lasting power, because it does seem to fade on me, and the price of $80 for 1 oz. I may buy, but it's going to be a hard decision. Still, get your hands on a sample vial! This one is so unoffensive and beautiful, I can't imagine anyone not liking it at least a little. continued >>

Addictive. Delicious rice pudding with saffron, raisins, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla, and a hint of rose. The sandalwood makes a very demure showing towards the end, along with the opoponax. Oh my, this is good.
When I first got my hands on a sample vial (and they don't come cheap!) I could not stop smelling my wrist. It's terrifically foody, but not overly sweet or sugary, and in a strange way, there's something a bit soapy about it in the underlying notes. The composition is just beautiful. It's pricey for the amount that you get, but one spritz is all you need for the day to enjoy all of its wondrous stages. I've tried many DSH scents, and this is one of only a handful that I think are worth purchasing and owning. continued >>

I think maybe a tester vial does not do this fragrance justice, because I really did not care for this much at all. Greatly encouraged by the notes, (or the concept behind the name...more likely....) maybe I was setting myself up for a let down. Goes on nice enough, mildly spiced, then dries down to vanilla. Just plain old linear vanilla. I think there comes a point when concept and notes and name and wishful thinking combine to create an expectation that no earthly fragrance can satisfy. I know what the perfect scent "smells" like, sort of a Platonic ideal of scent - although I have never smelled it, and certain words seem to "remind" me that this might be it. Cimabue was like that - it should have been perfect, but it was just vanilla extract.

This is a very unique scent; there are few out there that even come close to it. I definitely get the saffron; I also detect cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg. I know there are many other notes in Cimabue, but those are the ones most easily detectable to me. The overall effect of Cimabue is a warm, exotic, close-to-the-skin scent. Usually, when I see a list of notes as long as the description on Dawn's website, I think "busy." My assumption is that such a scent will usually be loud and overly perfumey. That's not the case at all with Cimabue. It's understated and mysterious, and also very comforting. A perfect cool weather scent, but I'm wearing it now because I'm in Alabama and cool weather won't be here for 3-4 more months. This is great, one of Dawn's greatest works yet!
FYI--For days, I knew this was familiar, but couldn't put my finger on just what it reminded me of. Then it hit me--a scent by V'Tae that I hadn't sniffed in years--Sensuality, I believe. They're quite similar.

Opulent. Enigmatic. Beguiling. This is a journey of time and place, rather than a physical one. Cimabue was the artist to bridge the oplulence of Byzantium with the insight, knowledge and brilliance of the Renaissance. Cimabue, the fragrance, is as sensual as it is brilliant. Cimabue : pronounced : Chim - a - boo - way. This is my Saffron note étude.

It is important to remember that Cimabue (or Italian Journey No. 8) was simply inspired by L'Artisan's Safran Troublant -- it is not an exact duplicate in the slightest, nor even a close duplicate in the beginning. Safran Troublant is to me a lush, sensual, gourmand fragrance, luxurious and pure. Cimabue is sensual as well I suppose, but in contrast to the simplicity of the L'Artisan, it is a very *busy* scent. It starts off like a lemon lollipop, then quickly devolves into a melange of contrasting notes and accords. A quite earthy and dirty saffron emerges, due to the strong presence of both nutmeg and cardamom, and the fainter, but still apparent presence of cinnamon, sandalwood and clove. Meanwhile, the bitter orange, neroli and honey combine to create an accompanying high and almost sickly sweet accord. There's also a vaugely boozy note wafting about, like stewed prunes or figs that recalls fleeting associations to Frapin 1270. About an hour into it, faint chocolate and vanilla notes waft up from the skin. Occasionally, long into the dry down, I will catch momentary similarites to the original Safran Troublant, but these are truly only momentary, as the busy mixture of other notes quickly steps in and ambushes the nose once again. This really does smell like an Indian dessert -- perhaps gulab jamun or kulfi -- drizzled with honey, topped with cardamom and saffron, and finally festooned with a mixture of chocolate shavings, chopped pistachios and bits of candied lemon and orange rind. Cimabue is not bad or terrible by any means, just far too busy, earthy and rich for my tastes. Four to five hours later, it dries down into a luscious opoponax and benzoin scent, with little to no trace of its former notes. But if I wanted a nice opoponax scent, I would simply spritz on Carthusia's Ligea or Les Nereides Imperial Opoponax and save myself the long wait.

Composition

Top notes: Bergamot, Bitter Orange, Cardamom Seed, Clementine, Italian Neroli, Lemon, Nutmeg

Middle notes: Carnation Absolute, Cinnamon Bark, Clove Bud, Egyptian Rose Geranium, Grandiflorum Jasmine, Honey Beeswax, Moroccan Rose Absolute, Mysore Sandalwood, Saffron absolute, Tuberose Absolute

Base notes: Ciste Absolute, East Indian Sandalwood, Labdanum, Oppopanax, Siam Benzoin, Tahitian Vanilla, Tamil Nadu Sandalwood, Vanilla Absolute continued >>

Unbelievably beautiful. I want to take this to a chef and have it translated into a dessert. Creamy, luscious, spicy, honeyed perfection. I actually prefer it to L'Artisan's Safran Troublant. Cardamom, nutmeg and saffron are swirled into a delicious sweet mix of vanilla, honey, bitter orange and opoponax. Cozy, seductive, soft. The floral notes are very faint to my nose, emerging only slightly during the dry down. I can't stop sniffing my wrists. The first thing I plan on doing on the morning of August 1st when this is available is to turn on the computer and place an order.