I've been enjoying Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's version of Bat Sheba so much. It has a terrific honey note that keeps popping out from among the floral notes, and surprising me in the best possible way. I think the original was produced in the '80s, but I have never sniffed it, and can't remember ever having seen it. It doesn't seem to show up much on ebay.

Does anybody remember this scent?

There was a member on the old POL,sorry forget who, had a passion for Bat Sheba. I believe there was full range of body products to match. The only place I ever saw the real thing was in a health food store now long gone. They had no testers so no idea of how the fragrance smelt. The fact of where I spotted it always made me remember Bat Sheba. The POLer did manage to get a bottle but sorry I cannot remember the details, I do know she had to search high and low.

I know nothing about it, i `ve heard it first time here in POL.
The member Donna mentions is Batsheba....she choose her POl name after that,you see!!
I`ve seen her posting in the new forum occasionaly.

Now, I don't know if it's the same thing, but, in 1971 or so, my pediatrician took a trip to Israel, and brought back a gift for my mother: it was a keychain bearing an ornate fob/vial of what was labeled BAT SHEBA. The liquid was a deep amber color.



This has been years ago, of course, but I just remember it being a greenish-oriental.

Batsheba original looks like the photo attached. The bottle is hand-painted. I remember seeing it and smelling it a drugstore/chemist shop in the 70s, (and it looked like this one), along with another by Judith Muller - Shalom. (the nose, Sophia Grosjman). I also think the photo doesn't show all the colours in the bottle, it wasn't one colour, it was intertwined with colours painted in a special way.

It is a Floral/Mossy/Animalic Chypre.

Notes:
Top: Aldehydes, cardamon, bergamot, fruit note, rosewood.
Middle: Jasmine, assisted by rose, orris, ylang-ylang and carnation for a sultry floral effect.
Base: Patchoulli, assisted by vetiver, castoreum, amber, leather and moss for a warm sensual note.

The person who eventually got some Batsheba off ebay's ID is Batsheba. She drops in occasionally, but is very busy now and only calls in for a lurk every now and then.

This is a rare perfume smell that I have never forgotten. Remember, I only smelled it in a bottle, never purchased it, but haven't forgotten its smell. I was unaware Dawn had some of it out. That's interesting news, so thanks.

Jicky that is the bottle I saw.

I have both Bat Sheba and Shalom, in those swirly bottles. It's been some time since I sniffed and evaluated them, so I'll try to dig them out today and report back. Hope I can find the bottles in my stash, as I've been packing some stuff away. They are both deep, chypre Oriental types without the vanilla of most Orientals, IIRC. In my mind, they best suit someone according to the cliche of many deep chypre leathery perfumes - who has dark hair, olive skin, perhaps from the Mediterranean region the perfumes originate from. That said, one of them was glorious on the skin of this pale, blond, green/gold-eyed poster ;-)

Thanks so much everybody! Dave, I'm sure that scent you remember is the same Bat Sheba. "Greenish-oriental" is actually a good description, though there is a lot of floral character--what a memory you have!

I'm sorry to hear that it really does seem to be as scarce as I suspected it to be. The bottles are everywhere, but no juice. It's interesting that Jicky's notes make no mention of honey, which is prominent in DSH's version. I know Dawn tweaks her dupes to suit her own taste, and this might well be a case where her version is more to my liking than the original. There's a faint suggestion in the dupe of that overblown, powerhouse quality, which I don't care for. I wonder if the original is really more in that vein.

Well Donna, I'm sure that's the original vintage bottle that you saw



I agree, a very meditteranean scent

BG, sorry I didn't get to look for the box with the Judith Muller perfumes last night. Heard a crash as I was making dinner, and it seems Herbie is the prime suspect in knocking two boxes off my vanity, sneaky cat he is. One contained about 50 minis, the other cosmetics. They were stacked, and I guess he launched himself off them. The lids came off the little Salvadore Dalis, and my mini Chanel No. 19 Cologne shattered. The room reeks! I found several more bottles under my bureau and bed this morning after I moved all the furniture.

Sad story over! When I do find them, and I will soon, but I'm spending all my time rebuilding my website for launching the store (finally!) this week, so please allow me to send some samples of the Bat Sheba and Shalom to you when the box is unearthed.

Back to HTML and CSS, etc. etc.

Wow...you just sparked some memories w/ that photo.
I remember that bottle, and the jus, in the early '70's, but it was only available at an extraordinary store in Cambridge, Mass.
I recall it having a very earthy feel.
The bottle had an interesting texture, and the jus was a rich color...

I'm sure Herbie was just trying to help ;-) Sorry about the casualties. I would be thrilled to get a sniff of the real thing if/when it surfaces.

I am already thrilled that you're getting the store up! You'll be getting an email from me shortly.

I found the Bat Sheba, and can't imagine why I didn't put the Shalom in the same box! The Bat Sheba is a light colored juice, which reminds me it's the Shalom I like better. I already replied to your email, and I won't be looking for the Shalom today since the website is being rebuilt for relaunch, so I'm rather occupied. Well, maybe I'll dig around during mandatory stretch-and-move break times ;-)

Oh thank you so much!! I picked up a bottle of this last year when I went on a fun stroll through one of my favorite junk/thrift shops, because the flacon was just so pretty. Like mentioned, the glass has a very deep, texturally interesting coloring. And it was all of two bucks, so I bought it, not knowing what on earth it was. I certainly didn't know anything about the fragrance, or the maker, so this is wonderful to learn. Mine still has juice in it, so I must remember to pull it off the shelf and try it soon. How fun! Thank you to everyone!

It's been such a long time since I have posted on POL that I even forgot what my password was!!!
Thanks Jicky for letting me know about this thread on BatSheba. This was my long lost perfume which led me to POL in the first place.
I did manage to get a few bottles with the help of dear POL members and through eBay.
This perfume, unfortunately, was discontinued in the early 80's, as well as all other perfumes of Judith Muller.
Because of age, the vintage perfume does not smell the same as when it came out in the 70's, but bringsClick to view attachment back lovely memories. I have never been able to find a match.
Herewith a picture of my collection.

Hi, Batsheba! I have to thank you, since I would never have tried DSH's scent if the name had not become familiar from POL. It's interesting to hear that the vintage has not kept its character as well as some. All those gorgeous flowers are fragile, I guess.

Hope you'll find time to visit us a little more often.

Hi from me, too Bat Sheba, glad you're back.

BG, I found both my JM perfumes, so now I an tuck little vials of Shalom and Bat Sheba into the box that'll be winging its way to you later this week.