D.S. & Durga | The Scented Hound

March 21, 2022
by The Scented Hound 3 Comments

Jazmin Yucatan by D.S. & Durga

WHAT I SMELL: Jazmin Yucatan opens with an aquatic tinged passion flower that’s a bit chewy and which quickly explodes into a rounded aquatic infused jasmine. The perfume is big without being overwhelming and it’s clean and fresh with just a hint of jungle earthiness. You can almost feel the sun-kissed jasmine being tossed by the warm winds pushing northward across the Yucatan Peninsula. As the perfume slowly develops, an earthy vetiver creates a rattan like base for the jasmine to sit upon. In the end, Jazmin Yucatan settles into a cottony fresh linen. Jazmin Yucatan is quite linear, but that’s just fine, because it’s meant to be worn in the heat of the warm Mexican sun where it can lightly radiate its floral beauty.

From the D.S. & Durga website:

Jungle, humidity, snake plants, jazmín yucateco, crocodile by the cenote, shaded temple, limestone ruins.

Top notes: water, passion flower, bergamot

Heart notes: jazmin yucateco, sambac, clove

Base notes: snake plant, vetiver, copal

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Jasmine wafting amongst the Mayan temples dotting the landscape of the Yucatan Peninsula.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE JAZMIN YUCATAN: moistened, cottony, rounded

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JAZMIN YUCATAN: Colognoisseur, Notetaking

BOTTOM LINE: Jazmin Yucatan does capture the earthy floral environment of the Yucatan peninsula and takes the heady jasmine and tames it nicely. Groundbreaking, no. Lovely, yes.

Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral
Nose: David Moltz
Classification: Unisex
Expense: Starting at $175 for 50 ml eau de parfum

April 3, 2017
by The Scented Hound 15 Comments

New Release: Durga by D.S. & Durga

WHAT I SMELL: Oh how I love an opening that’s creamy, heady, full of smooth as silk orris butter and orange blossom and that’s big, big, big and incredibly intoxicating. Phew…it’s like diving into a tub filled with the most narcotic of jasmine, ylang, ylang and tuberose blossoms. With all of this going on, there’s a green melon note that lurks below the florals and a dried and distinctive chrysanthemum note that smells like pencil shavings. The perfume is pure heaven in that it’s exotic, beautiful, dreamy and incredibly rapturous. It’s also full of life…big life. The perfume continues to green as it wears, but the hypnotic florals seems to glide on, albeit a bit quieter. In the end, the beautiful florals thankfully don’t make way for a nondescript wood or musk. Instead, the perfume retains this lush green fruity floral persona that at times feels like bouquet of the flowers and at other times it has a strangely curious fruity gourmand feel that makes you want to lick the goodness off of your skin. Durga has clearly cast its spell on me.

From the D.S. & Durga website:

Palatial doses of the finest floral absolutes –
tuberose, orris butter, orange blossom, sambac jasmine,
chrysanthemum, and ylang. Unimaginably narcotic.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A jubilant floral explosion.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE DURGA: bountiful, voluminous, concentrated

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DURGA: None to be found.

BOTTOM LINE: I believe by now it’s clearly obvious that I love this perfume. And why not, it holds everything that I love, heady white florals, orris butter, and the most intoxicating tuberose. Some may question the price, but to me, this limited edition of floral heaven is worth every penny!

Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Floral Green
Nose: David Moltz
Classification: Feminine
Expense: $350 for 50 ml eau de parfum – limited edition

* Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary. Opinion my own.

March 4, 2015
by The Scented Hound 11 Comments

New Release: D.S. & Durga Debaser

WHAT I SMELL: Debaser opens with a luscious pear that is all too quickly replaced with a very milky and creamy fig over a crisp green note. The bergamot gives it a semi sparkling radiance, but that too moves quickly to the side to make way for a woody note that seems to strip the green out of the fragrance only to have it replaced with a drier more hefty wood. Thankfully, the fig does a nice job to help maintain the fragrance from airing completely out . There’s a real comfort here in that as big as the perfume is (trust me it radiates), there is nothing here that goes over the top nor does the fig and coconut become suffocating. After around 15 minutes, the tonka comes to the forefront and there is a rather incensed and smoky edge that helps to continue drying out the perfume. There’s also a bit of a petroleum aspect that seems to reveal itself which adds this unexpected but welcomed dimension which takes Debaser from really nice to really sexy. In the end you’re left with a really lovely mossy and woody concoction that is nicely accentuated with a lightly sugared fig. Just note however that a little goes a long way. I can’t wait to test this in the heat of the summer as it will likely bloom and really project from the heat making it all that more sexy!

Notes from the D.S. & Durga website:

Top notes: bergamot, green leaf, pear stem

Heart notes: fig, coconut milk, iris

Base notes: blond woods, tonka bean, moss

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: What I believe the dashing Mutiny on the Bounty Fletcher Christian would smell like. Any of the movie versions will do. Who’s your pick? Clark Gable, Marlon Brando or Mel Gibson?

Fletcher Christian ala Clark Gable

Fletcher Christian ala Marlon Brando

Fletcher Christian ala Mel Gibson

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE DEBASER: beefy, sexy, bold

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DEBASER: Colognoisseur

BOTTOM LINE: Debaser is based on the Pixie’s song of the same name inspired by the Luis Buneul and Salvador Dali surrealist film, Un Chien Andalou. To me this obscure and artful inspired perfume bypassed surreal and went to outright sexy to me. Hmmmm, surreal sexiness…have I just tapped into something?

For a video interpretation of the inspiration, click here.