Fragrance is having a real moment in the sun. You don’t have to look further than The Top Shelf for proof, where just a few years ago perfume only punctuated some interviews. Now, everyone’s got a signature scent, a layering routine, or a mysterious something they’d rather not name. (If that feels a little too anecdotal, The Washington Post has you covered with a full report on the category’s boom.) In the past year alone, Glossier jumped from one perfume to four (hello, Fleur), and suddenly scent is as serious a step as SPF.
DS & Durga is a recurring character in this new olfactory era. Brooklyn-based and cool with a wink, their fragrances are kind of everywhere, and in a lot of Top Shelves. Each one of their perfumes wears like a bit of poetry—which tacks on greater meaning when you learn that David Moltz, the brand’s cofounder and in-house nose, has synesthesia and can “see” scents, translating color into fragrance. That synesthetic magic yields the earthy ease of Sweet Do Nothing, the resinous crunch of Bowmakers, and the vegetal haze of Bistro Waters. In fact, there are so many really good DS & Durga fragrances that ITG wanted to give you a handy tool to figure out which one speaks to you. Presenting: our rankings. There are 26 DS & Durga scents in the core lineup (special editions not included), and we’ve got thoughts on every single one. There’s something here for everyone—which one is yours?
Notes: Red mandarin, orange, yellow elemi resin, green cedar, blue almond flour, indigo grass, violet, vetiver, vapors.
What it smells like to us: The first whiff you got when you woke up after a summer snooze as a child. You had the windows open all night and the filtered light through the blinds nudged you awake. The air is delicate, soft, and fresh with morning dew. A neighbor’s cutting grass in the distance. Later in life you’ll recall this scent memory when your nails smell faintly of your afternoon satsuma well into the evening. Or when you’re at the bar and the bartender is stirring an old fashioned at the other end.
Notes: Water, passion flower, bergamot, jazmín yucateco, sambac, clove, snake plant, vetiver, copal.
What it smells like to us: Humidity that’s light and fresh (instead of heavy or sticky). Imagine that you’ve been hiking in a tropical locale. After hours in the sun, you find reprieve from the heat in a cave’s shade. On the other side of the cave is a cenote surrounded by lush greens. You strip and take a dip. Floating, you think how nothing could feel better than this feeling right now.
Notes: green tuberose, melon, chrysanthemum, ylang ylang, orris butter, orange, blossom, tuberose absolute, sambac jasmine, fine musc.
What it smells like to us: A tuberose lover’s dream. A light skin scent that’s feminine and floral, but not overwhelmingly so. Do pleasantries have a scent? Because they might be bottled here. It’s as if you could spritz the meaning of lovely on your wrists. How wonderful.
Notes: Bergamot, green leaf, pear stem, fig, coconut milk, iris, blond woods, tonka bean, moss.
What it smells like to us: Crisp, smooth, and light. It rained the day before and the ground is damp and nourished. Peeking through the earth are some late summer sprouts, and a few fallen figs are peppered with wet dirt.
Notes: Coriander, pepper, juniper needle, geranium, clove stem, clary sage, musk, magnolia, mace.
What it smells like to us: Green and cool, like a breeze under the Bay Bridge. (We think? We’re New Yorkers.) Honestly, this one is a bit ineffable. It doesn’t really smell like anything else (in a great way!). If you want a conversation starter, here’s your chance. Someone will definitely ask what you’re wearing.
Notes: Pink pineapple, galbanum, black pepper, orris concrete, magenta dianthus, orange flower, black amber, balkan tobacco, sandalwood.
What it smells like to us: Just the right amount of fruit, grounded in tobacco. Carefree with an edge. The fleeting, momentary bliss of riding in the back of a car over the Manhattan Bridge after two Bees Knees. While you were hailing the cab, a busboy from the restaurant chain-smoked a few feet away. You smell like his cigarettes as your eyes start to glow from the light of the Brooklyn Bridge to your right.
Notes: Sour orange, pink pepper, sea grass, cane, clove leaf, toquilla straw, vetiver, breadnut, rum agricole.
What it smells like to us: A masculine scent that doesn’t hit you in the face. Imagine if a man was actually comforting! He’d smell like this. You’re sitting on the beach with him now, wearing a light knit sweater, and the autumn sun is starting to set. The vetiver, clove, and citrus really come through.
Notes: Bergamot, petals, lemon oil, linden, rose accord, dune grass, muscone, salt water, white moss.
What it smells like to us: Remember when you couldn’t stop wearing Chloé in high school? Or, at the very least, you made frequent trips to Sephora just to get a spritz? This is kind of like that. Feminine and young (although not just for the young). It’s a soft rose that isn’t powdery. A tinge of sea salt tickles your nose as you walk out in a proper English garden.
Notes: Radiant wood, copper, cedar, sandalwood, radiant iris, boronia, balsam fir absolute, coconut musk, ambergris.
What it smells like to us: Have we smelled this one before? Maybe… It’s fresh and woody-yet-soft. It’s a pleasant scent that doesn’t make a huge splash in any one direction—sometimes you need a steady hand perfume like that. Overall we’d call it a people-pleaser scent. No offense given here.
Notes: Pistachio, cardamom, roasted almond, patchouli, vanilla crème.
What it smells like to us: Incredibly sweet—like the body mists you loved in high school—but with a slight masculine twist. Like if you hugged your crush in the hallway, and your perfumes combined to create a new, unique scent.
Notes: Pressed lemon, chinotto, blood orange, green mandarin, violet leaf, incense, copaiba balsam, musk ambrette, oakmoss.
What it smells like to us: Bright, sunny, and beautiful. It’s the middle of July and you’ve just shampooed and conditioned your hair. Your whole head smells fresh and clean. The hot shower made your entire apartment even hotter so you turn up the A/C to the turbo setting. The sun’s on your face and you feel comfortable.
Notes: Frangipani, gardenia, saffron, yellow lotus, rose absolute, agarwood, sandalwood, vetiver, musk ambrette.
What it smells like to us: A woman sits besides you at the airport. You’re normally good at sizing people up but you don’t know what to make of her—she is wonderfully complicated. As she opens her handbag, you’re smacked with the scent of stiff new leather, which then blooms into a fragrance that’s both smoky and floral. You’re not quite sure how to process the scent but you love it. Is it bold and hardened or soft and green? It’s both and neither at once.
Notes: Neroli, green coyote chola, desert pepper, Texas everybearing fig, orange flower, incense, Texas cedar, water musk, creosote.
What it smells like to us: The expansiveness of The Great Plains. You’re somewhere in the midwest, far away from any of the major cities. The temperate climate makes it easy for you to lie in the grass as you watch the blades blow in the wind. You smell your body lotion mixed with the air. Neither cold nor warm but a bit familiar. And on top of that, figs.
Notes: Wet wood, pacific spray, eucalyptus globulous, cardamom, rosemary, magnolia, eucalyptus cone, cypress, dry leaves.
What it smells like to us: True to its name, you’re zipping down Highway 1 in Big Sur with the windows down. The weather’s overcast after a quick bout of rain. You catch a whiff of eucalyptus as you drive so you stop and get out the car to take it all in as the waves crash on the shore. You’re draped in a 3 gauge cashmere cardigan; arms crossed and contemplative. Oh no, are you Reese Witherspoon in Big Little Lies? At least you smell nice.
Notes: Spearmint, lime, hemlock spruce, lavender absolute, tuberose, Turkish rose, burnt oil, vanilla, hay.
What it smells like to us: A wizard casts a spell on the leading man in an old Western. No longer a cowhide-clad, rootin’ tootin’ fictional character with a perma five o’clock shadow on the silver screen, he is now a fragrance. Intense and masculine on a hyperbolic level, pockets of a powdery undercurrent occasionally peek through to your surprise. Think straw and oil and, what’s that? A tinge of rose. The tiniest soft spot. This capital M-A-N is the father of daughters, after all.
Notes: Violin varnish, mahogany, outdoors accord, amber pine rosin, maplewood, cypress, spiced tree resin, cedar, moss.
What it smells like to us: You’re back outside again and it’s a cool fall morning in the woods. The sun won’t rise for another 20 minutes, and the air is crisp and cool and hanging onto darkness by a thread. Sap from the maples inches down trunks. A few freshly snapped tree branches and fallen bark scent your surroundings. The wood smells honest and clean.
Notes: Cabreuva, orchid, pink pepper, vines, green vanilla leaves, cypress root, vanilla absolute, dark patchouli, hay.
What it smells like to us: A vanilla for vanilla haters. Imagine: the satisfying creaminess of a scoop of ice cream, minus the sweetness. Mixed with patchouli, it’s earthy and vanilla gone bohemian. Tasty but not saccharine, though still a win for gourmand lovers.
Notes: Lime flower water, coriander seed, pear, mandarin, bell pepper, pea flower, basil, nutmeg, moss water.
What it smells like to us: You’re cutting vegetables in a kitchen somewhere in the Mediterranean. There are baskets of produce sitting on the counters. Sunlight is peering in through the open windows. When the breeze blows, you catch a whiff of the garden: earthy and fresh. You take a deep breath. You’re not in a rush.
Notes: Pomelo skin, elm leaf, silver, hawthorn flower, tuberose, paradise, cork, grapefruit, animalic musk.
What it smells like to us: Understated elegance. You slept in after a late night at your favorite dimly-lit cocktail lounge. You’re sleepy, but you take a quick, warm shower and slip into your silk robe for breakfast. When you get to the kitchen table, you find half of a grapefruit on a silver platter waiting for you.
Notes: Acabia, dried cedrat, Queen Anne’s Lace, brown orchid, coffee flower, sambac jasmine, aged musk, roots, coffee.
What it smells like to us: Powdery and aged, with a whiff of citrus and flowers. You’ve come back to the house you grew up in to spend a long weekend with your folks. You learn that they’re in the middle of clearing out the attic and would really like you to do something, anything, with a box of your childhood things. An old potpourri sachet falls to the ground as you’re rifling through war-torn American Girl dolls and tattered Memphis design tees. It lost most of its potency long ago, but you catch the faintest whiff. It couldn’t possibly cover up the smell of old things, but it tries.
Notes: Japanese cedar, incense, sawara cypress, asahi zuru maple, patchouli, iris, hinoki, leather, tree moss.
What it smells like to us: You’re visiting your grandparents for the weekend and they invite you to their weekly pilgrimage to church. Your grandmother volunteers during the early service, so you’re one of the first to arrive. The pews are steeped in the thousands of services that came before: wood, incense and leather-bound gospels. The church is empty but feels warm. In the back room, syrup congeals on the trashed paper plates from the morning crew. It’s quiet and you belong.
Notes: Saffron, camphor, white galbanum, Indonesian oud, bulgar rose, lavender absolute, civet, cetalox, papyrus.
What it smells like to us: A classic oud. It’s as if you stuck your nose in an old book and took a swimmer’s breath. You visited the university library and toured the archives. You weren’t allowed to touch anything, so you did the next best thing—you inhaled and your nostrils filled with the scent of dried ink on parchment paper.
Notes: Butterscotch leather, cistus, cubeb, pale orris, cypriol, saffron, vegan castoreum, myrrh, cade.
What it smells like to us: Strong and sharp. Of course it smells like leather, but not the refined leather you might sniff from a handbag or loafer—no, this is raw, spicy leather. The kind of leather that’s been used as a saddle or a cowboy boot. It’s…seen some things.
Notes: Red cedar, aldehydes, frankincense, cypress root, black pine, cascarilla bark, incense, Spanish cade, birch tar.
What it smells like to us: Incredibly heavy on the nose—thick and medicinal, like burnt rubber or tar. It dries down to what feels like a strong drink. Maybe a little too strong. It is inescapably intoxicating.
Notes: Rosewood, wild thyme, bergamot, sagebrush, basil, rose otto, vetiver, grass, ambergris.
What it smells like to us: It’s the last 5 minutes of yoga class and you’re lying in shavasana pose, back to mat, as your instructor walks over and mists the air with essential oils. It smells young and eager and boyish. Leaning into its citrus notes, it reminds you of freshly cleaned hardwood floors. You’ll either love it or hate it, there’s no in between.
Notes: Bergamot essence, iso e super, vetiver acetate, civettone, frisano, ambrox super.
What it smells like to us: We don’t know! The scent you choose to enhance is up to you, but everyone will certainly say you have that je ne sais quois.
Photo via ITG