Effortlessly Cool Scents by D.S. & Durga – The Candy Perfume Boy

I do not think that for one single day in my 37 years of life I have been cool (0/13,745 is an impressively poor hit rate, let’s be real). I do not say this to fish for compliments or to garner sympathy, I say it as a stone cold fact: I am not cool. Cool people set trends and operate without really caring about what others think about them. I am not that kind of person. I barely follow trends, let alone set them, and I care far too much about what people think about me. So no, I’m not cool, but occasionally fragrance allows me to pretend that I am.

This is why I love fragrance so much. It’s smelly cosplay. I can spray on a scent and it will give a specific impression and convey to the world something I want to be and sometimes that thing I want to be is cool. I say all this because I think I have found a brand that has a collection of fragrances that feel like sprayable cool and that brand is D.S. & Durga.

Founded by husband and wife duo David and Kavi, D.S. & Durga’s mantra is “perfume is armchair travel” and I think that really resonates. Fragrance transports us, not just to places, but also to moments in time, emotions and feelings. Unlike me, D.S. & Durga doesn’t have to try to be cool, it just is. It has a simple visual aesthetic, with bold typeface, a quirky sense of humour that is attractive and, most importantly, fragrances that live up to the hype.

So, if you are in the market for a little bit of Eau de Cool or you’re just wanting a bit of an intro to the brand, I thought I’d share five scents from the collection that feel like highlights.

D.S. & Durga describe Cowboy Grass as a fragrance for “robbing banks on horseback” and immediately I am on board. The grass in the title is vetiver (you may not know this about me but I love a vetiver) and it brings an arid, dry, brush-like quality that really does evoke the expansive American west. A subtle rose note adds a little sweetness whilst ambergris brings an airiness, leading to the image of a sun bleached vetiver that really does give the impression of zooming around atop a mighty steed. In my head this is what Orville Peck smells like and I’m really into it in a big way.

I love a good concept in a fragrance. There’s nothing better than a scent that aims to capture a very specific moment in time or a place but there’s also nothing worse than the promise of such a concept failing to be delivered. Burning Barbershop is such a specific idea: the scent of a barbershop in Westlake NY that burned down in 1891 and that’s exactly what it smells like. This is the scent of all the barbershop products – the tonics, the lavender colognes, the pomades, shrouded in smoky ruins. The scent is essentially a big minty-lavender fougère masterfully blended with the woodsmoke of guaiac wood. Guaiac, which can smell a bit ham-like when overdosed (but not here), has a malted sweetness to it that works perfectly with the lavender. This masterfully creates the impression of a fougère on fire. Outstanding stuff.

As you would expect, Rose Atlantic is not your typical rose. This is not a chocolate or coffee rose, or a rose oud, a velvety fruity rose, or even a straightforward rose solfilore. No, this is a rose seen through a mist of sea spray. Pale pink rose petals, with facets of sparkling citrus and berry jam caught on an ocean breeze, with something malty and murky underneath, perhaps suggesting ancient mysteries. Or maybe it’s just a really beautiful, salty-citrus rose. Either way, it’s gorgeous.

I know what you’re thinking, two vetivers in one post?! OK, yes, I hear it, but just go with me for a second. St. Vetyvershows how versatile a brand D.S. & Durga is. Yes, this is another vetiver but it could not be more different than Cowboy Grass if it tried. St. Vetyver amplifies the nutty characteristics of vetiver, drawing them out through cereal notes and contrasting them with sugar cane, whilst beautifully rich rum note in the base adds a boozy dimension that feels dreamy and languid. It’s giving Season 1 of the White Lotus, just without the bodies.

Big Sur Eucalyptus feels like a big swing. Reading the description, I wasn’t particularly sure that I’d like to smell of eucalyptus and seeing as the fragrance is a reinterpretation of D.S. & Durga’s Big Sur After Rain candle, I also wasn’t sure I wanted to smell like a candle either. I needn’t have worried though because Big Sur Eucalyptus is a tremendously novel take on green scents. It’s juicy and green, evoking lush forests, and it boasts this bonkers eucalyptus note that is green, medicinal and menthol. Crisp greenery, marine air, aged woods and that amazingly vivid eucalyptus note. It’s bonkers but undeniably cool. A big swing but definitely not a miss.

What are your highlights from D.S. & Durga? What scents do you reach for to give you some sprayable cool?

Disclaimer

Samples via D.S. & Durga. Images are my own. This is not a sponsored post.