The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Ramón Béjar composed this extrait de parfum within his My Universe Privée Collection, a space where the Barcelona-based house explores fragrance as inquiry rather than accessory. The collection operates outside conventional perfume hierarchies, offering compositions that ask something of the wearer rather than simply pleasing. Within this framework, Dream Hashimi presents an unusual proposition: a fragrance built on tension and restraint rather than the expected warmth of oriental compositions. The birch and vetiver opening establishes a mineral-green character that most wearers won't immediately associate with luxury perfumery, yet the quality of these materials makes itself known through their precision.
What makes the structure interesting is how Béjar refuses to let any single material dominate. Birch gives the opening a mineral smokiness that reads cold rather than campfire-warm, a subtle distinction that separates this from many smoky orientals. Haitian vetiver carries the green-bitter earthiness that prevents the top from feeling purely industrial. The hibiscus is a whisper, there and gone. In the heart, tobacco absolute and violet occupy the same space without resolving, the dusty dryness of tobacco against the powdery cool of violet. That's an unusual pairing.
The evolution
The opening hits first with birch smoke and vetiver's mineral cool. Haitian vetiver at this stage reads almost saline, the smell of wet earth after rain. Birch adds the struck-match quality: smoke without warmth. The hibiscus appears for maybe twenty minutes, a faint floral hum beneath the smoke that most people won't consciously register but that stops the opening from feeling purely austere. The heart phase introduces tobacco absolute in full, dark, warm, slightly bitter like aged Cognac. Violet steps in here as a counterbalancing agent, the powdery coolness keeping the tobacco from becoming too heavy. Gurjum balsam adds a dense resinous quality beneath both. This is where the fragrance shifts from cold to warm, from mineral to organic. The base is where civet absolute announces itself. There's no hedging this material, Béjar uses it at concentration, and it reads as animalic heat, close skin warmth, something almost sweaty in the best possible way. Tonka bean absolute sweetens the edges.
Cultural impact
The My Universe Privée Collection occupies a distinctive space within contemporary niche perfumery, one that doesn't easily slot into familiar categories. Dream Hashimi represents a particular point of view: that animalic and woody materials can create something compelling when handled with restraint rather than abundance. Ramón Béjar's approach appeals to those who have grown interested in what happens when traditional oriental conventions are set aside in favor of something more layered and demanding.
