Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
02/26/2023
NosyCat
10 Reviews
NosyCat
2
Burning oil lamp and turpentine
My aunt is a painter. When I used to visit her as a child I always liked spending time in her atelier. It was quite a small room, but there were paintings and brushes and colours in tubes, in little jars, on paletts, and even on the cupboard. It was an almost sacred space. And what I recall very vividly, what I always associate with my childhood and those visits, is the smell. The smell of oil paints and varnish; of wood and turpentine. It is comforting and familiar, yet at the same time intriguing - like something one shouldn’t be smelling too much of, but it’s addictive and you just can’t stop.
This was my initial reaction to ‘Burning Barbershop’ by the American brand D.S. & Durga. At first I couldn’t put my finger on why exactly it got me hooked - but when the memories began to resurface, it all made sense.
Immediately the fragrance is balsamic, resinous. To me that’s the smell of turpentine - the liquid solvent painters use to mix with oil-based paints - and not at all in a bad sense: turpentine is derived from distilling tree resin and has this characteristic smell of tree sap. There is a zesty note in the opening - as so often in fougere perfumes - but it’s not dominating, it’s rather supporting and even emphasising the main chord of the fragrance, which is smoke. Now, smoke can have a variety of scents, depending on what material is burning. Here it smells to me like an old oil lamp has been switched on - and it is this oil smoke that gives the fragrance its unique characteristic. There is also spearmint in the opening, however for me it seems more prominent on clothes; less so on my skin.
As the fragrance develops, it turns into something softer and sweeter - lavender and Turkish rose apparently. I can’t really distinguish them in the mix, which isn’t to say they aren’t there. Perhaps it’s more to do with the fact how incredibly well blended this fragrance is - the different components work together so well that somehow a true unity is achieved. What I can distinguish however is the vanilla in the background - but never in a thick ‘gourmand’ way. The smoke becomes more pronounced throughout and creates a spicy, warm base, which yet still manages to keep a subtle grassy freshness.
‘Burning Barbershop’ has a good projection; you will definitely get noticed - and the scent lasts a decent time (about 8 hours for me). I would recommend it as a rather masculine smell and say that it’s best suited for colder time of the year.
The fragrance is multi-layered and complex - and yet it never strays far from the main idea. It manages to stay within that story that begins with its very name and continues developing every time you smell it. For me, once experienced, it is ever-present in my memory - and yet….and yet I keep wanting to smell it over and over to compare the actual fragrance to the way I remember it.
This was my initial reaction to ‘Burning Barbershop’ by the American brand D.S. & Durga. At first I couldn’t put my finger on why exactly it got me hooked - but when the memories began to resurface, it all made sense.
Immediately the fragrance is balsamic, resinous. To me that’s the smell of turpentine - the liquid solvent painters use to mix with oil-based paints - and not at all in a bad sense: turpentine is derived from distilling tree resin and has this characteristic smell of tree sap. There is a zesty note in the opening - as so often in fougere perfumes - but it’s not dominating, it’s rather supporting and even emphasising the main chord of the fragrance, which is smoke. Now, smoke can have a variety of scents, depending on what material is burning. Here it smells to me like an old oil lamp has been switched on - and it is this oil smoke that gives the fragrance its unique characteristic. There is also spearmint in the opening, however for me it seems more prominent on clothes; less so on my skin.
As the fragrance develops, it turns into something softer and sweeter - lavender and Turkish rose apparently. I can’t really distinguish them in the mix, which isn’t to say they aren’t there. Perhaps it’s more to do with the fact how incredibly well blended this fragrance is - the different components work together so well that somehow a true unity is achieved. What I can distinguish however is the vanilla in the background - but never in a thick ‘gourmand’ way. The smoke becomes more pronounced throughout and creates a spicy, warm base, which yet still manages to keep a subtle grassy freshness.
‘Burning Barbershop’ has a good projection; you will definitely get noticed - and the scent lasts a decent time (about 8 hours for me). I would recommend it as a rather masculine smell and say that it’s best suited for colder time of the year.
The fragrance is multi-layered and complex - and yet it never strays far from the main idea. It manages to stay within that story that begins with its very name and continues developing every time you smell it. For me, once experienced, it is ever-present in my memory - and yet….and yet I keep wanting to smell it over and over to compare the actual fragrance to the way I remember it.
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