Hylnds - Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake by D.S. & Durga

Bottle Design:
Kavi Moltz

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Hylnds - Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake D.S. & Durga 2013

7.9 / 10 66 Ratings

A popular perfume by D.S. & Durga for women and men, released in 2013. The scent is woody-green. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Woody

Green

Spicy

Fresh

Aquatic

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lichen

Water pepper Stone

Stone

Heart Notes

Heather

Beech wood

Berry blossom

Marsh violet

Base Notes

Purslane

Aquatic notes

Sea breeze

Perfumer

David Seth Moltz

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

7.966 Ratings

Longevity

6.954 Ratings

Sillage

6.355 Ratings

Bottle

7.253 Ratings

Submitted by Apicius, last update on 04/25/2025.

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Monocle Scent One: Hinoki

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/29/2016

9Scent 6Longevity 5Sillage

Silverfire
134 Reviews

Silverfire

Top Review 4

A Song of the Wilds

Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake is a song of the wilds. It smells of pepper, moss, woods, stryax, and something camphorous (lichen?). As the scent develops, it proceeds along the trail it promised, enveloping you in the outdoors, without allowing stryax to dominate. Towards the end, notes of citrus appear, giving it a softer finish; the only disappointment is its seven-hour longevity. This is not the smell of the explorer, but of the wildlands itself, and so it does not appeal to genders, but rather to those of kindred souls. Purchase-worthy.

02/28/2016

8Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

Meggi
1018 Reviews

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Meggi

Top Review 31

In the Right Place

Small Black Lake starts sharp and fresh with a hint of spiciness. For a brief moment, I am reminded of rubbing alcohol, but the impression of alcohol-driven medicinal oils quickly dissipates, revealing coniferous wood: airy-woody-ethereal. It also takes on a subtly herbal quality. Heather fits well, even if it’s just the idea of an expansive heath landscape. “Aquatic notes” or not - they can indeed be detected, but the scent is not aquatic. At most, it is slightly maritime from a distance. Like the air in a somewhat remote hinterland of the sea. This part would also suit an area towards the west coast. So much for the Highlands…

At noon, the fragrance directly on the skin resembles a bitter herbal tincture. Again, somewhat similar to rubbing alcohol, only more concentrated and less fleeting. A hint of sweetness is present, likely enhanced by a lab substitute for the wood impression. A suspicion that, I must say in advance, solidifies by late afternoon.

Throughout the afternoon, the coniferous components come to the forefront again. Thus, this is not a classic scent progression, but rather a back-and-forth wavering. Other test days confirm this impression. Only after twelve hours, towards the end with the aforementioned distinct artificial note, is Small Black Lake practically completely gone.

I do not know how water pepper and marsh violet smell. The strange descriptions and announcements of “damp stone” and “sea breeze” are hardly just banal hints at what it smells like or is supposed to smell like, but rather what sensations are meant to be evoked. The naming of the fragrance with a mood announcement dressed as a location indication adds to this.

RoMi58 has referred to Small Black Lake as a conceptual fragrance in his excellent introductory comment. I would have chosen the term mood fragrance, which perhaps aims to capture a scene in the sense of a snapshot of smell.

In such cases, one naturally thinks of comparative objects from Comme des Garçons. Small Black Lake is indeed not philosophically inclined, entirely unpretentious (and thus conceptually closer to Sugi than to Hinoki, to stick with CdG). As if the thinking at the mentioned place - and such a lake would undoubtedly be perfectly suited for it - were to settle for a while: In that non-wanting-to-act, rather wanting-to-be-affected, which idyllic, lonely places can evoke. To be one. To be part. In the right place.

And now I find myself landing on a philosopher: I suddenly think of a sentence from Immanuel Kant’s “Critique of Practical Reason.” A very un-philosophical sentence, in my opinion, with which the master thinker from Königsberg revealed much more about his heart than about his mind. A sentence that simultaneously reflects the feeling of being - without being the center - right in the midst of everything: “Two things fill the mind with…admiration and awe…: The starry sky above me, and the moral law within me. …I see them before me and immediately connect them with the consciousness of my existence.” The use of the word ‘mind’ shifts what is said from the head to the belly, far from all that could be cleverly theorized about Kant’s infamous moral law. That is not what this moment is about at all. We simply sit as part of a whole by the lake. In the right place.

Friends of Sugi or perhaps also Ormonde Man are warmly recommended to try Small Black Lake.

Many thanks to Puck1 for the sample.

07/31/2017

9Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

loewenherz
916 Reviews

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loewenherz

Top Review 23

The Beauty of Silence

Fenwick (pronounced: 'Fen-ick') - or rather its branch on Bond Street - stands somewhat neglected in the second row behind the venerable London department stores Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, and Liberty (all wonderful places to spend money). This may seem very unfair, as Fenwick does not need to hide at all (especially regarding perfume) compared to the aforementioned - and yet it is also great because here, no backpack-laden tourist crowds are photographing the displays to death, which can be somewhat disruptive, especially when trying perfumes - often in concentrated form. Fenwick has about the selection of a very large niche perfumery - it is definitely worth spending some time there.

The scents from D.S. & Durga have always appealed to me - name, packaging, sensuality. At Fenwick, you find them presented centrally in a sort of honor place - and I almost felt sorry that you can hardly test more than two or three in depth, coffee beans or not. The bottles are simple and well-made: cap off, two sprays on the wrists. Eyes closed. Let it come. And the loud Bond Street outside is gone, the luxury cars that park there day in and day out in the second row (diplomatic cars, who cares). Gone are the other customers, gone is the somewhat affected sales assistant in the black turtleneck. Instead, only freedom and wildness remain. Endless expanse. Swiftly moving clouds. Wuthering Heights.

Fragrance ingredients like those mentioned here - damp stone, water pepper, lichen - usually make me rather suspicious; I won't even start on 'sea breeze' and 'aquatic notes.' Here is the proof of how wonderful all these ingredients can be - how simple, how authentic, and how beautiful. Hylnds - Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake is a calm and austere scent of boggy coolness and strict seriousness, a very adult, decelerated fragrance. It is bitter and full of roughness, grounded and without any floral sweetness or patchouli heaviness. I perceive it as distinctly more masculine, but still: on a serious and not-girlish, perhaps slightly boyish woman, it must also be exciting.

Conclusion: an absolute gem to be discovered in the second row. The scent. And the department store too.

11/10/2015

9Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

RoMi58
29 Reviews

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RoMi58

Top Review 15

Lichen and Stone - Mineral and Life

Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake initially disappointed me. While I was immediately captivated by Spirit of the Glen from the HYLNDS series, which revealed itself right away, Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake remained cumbersome and pale. However, gradually the tide turns: While Spirit of the Glen becomes one-dimensional over time and loses its excitement, Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake continuously shimmers like an oil film, darkly colorful, shifting, and interesting. Again and again, my nose picks up the scent, I sniff at my wrist, trying to grasp and understand the fragrance, yet I find it hard to describe:

It's a pity that fragrances aren't "tasted" blind, without knowledge of the name! But even without that knowledge, I would probably assign this one the color "grey": A dark, woolly black-grey, stone-grey, occasionally shimmering with a hint of dark emerald moss green and dark violet blue, depending on the light. In an attempt at an unbiased scent perception by blocking out the provided scent description / fragrance pyramid, I associate: Mineral, metallic, earthy, Icelandic moss, woody bitter herbs, perhaps some bitter stomach herbs. A scree field. Dark heathland - sparsely blooming, a few honeybees.

A strange image for a perfume: I imagine a man's hand, the hand of a metalworker, carefully washed after work with an herbal soap - now it smells pleasantly of remnants of metal and machine oil, mixed with woody, mossy soap cleanliness and freshness.

An archaic scent. It evokes Fougère associations: No lavender, but instead "heath, marsh violet, berry blossom" - no oak moss, but "lichen" and "damp stone." I find it: a variant of a Fougère accord.

Is it beautiful then? For me: Yes, absolutely! Familiar, trustworthy, rough, clear, honest, exciting. Stone and lichen. Mineral and life.

Clearly: A conceptual fragrance! Not suitable for the young disco or clubgoer or for evening seduction. No brilliant elegance. To be worn, not to please or stand out, but because IT pleases. For me (admittedly no longer a young man) a highly valued companion for everyday life and leisure, interesting like a good friend and dialogue partner, herbal, unexcited, calm, grounding, healing. Like a warm, heavy stone that fits comfortably in the hand, made of granite with a natural, rough surface. I would have thought it more masculine, but there are feminine perfumes with wonderful, individual collections... they surely surround themselves beautifully with PGM, SBL ;-)

Sillage: reserved. Longevity: reserved, fading after 4 hours. Price: high (does not stand for longevity or sillage, but for the uniqueness and special nature of the fragrance). Bottle: Very aesthetically proportioned, heavy, perfectly fitting plastic cap.

02/08/2016

7.5Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

DaveGahan101
535 Reviews

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DaveGahan101

Top Review 13

Do Americans imagine Scotland like this?

I have already extensively discussed Durga itself and its polarizing but always fascinating fragrances. They haven't always fared well with me in terms of perfume quality. But today it's about one of my absolute favorite topics in fragrances, T H E most authentic, natural scent of lake, sea, or mountain stream. Since Durga has remained so strongly in my memory due to its authentic scent notes, I definitely wanted to test this fragrance, it was even worth an €8 sample to me.
PGMS primarily smells citrusy in the top notes, almost lime-like, which I didn't expect at all... but I don't need to squint at the notes above, they are just figments of imagination for me anyway... and Durga has a very vivid imagination;-)! I can also detect an algal-salty note, which is supposed to be the heart of the fragrance. However, images of the sea, lake, or a mountain stream just don't seem to form in my mind. Yes, it smells natural, and one would reflexively associate the salty note with the sea (due to lack of alternatives), but it doesn't quite hit the mark. Salt alone doesn't make a sea. I can also recognize a bit of (drift)wood, which rounds off the fragrance nicely at that point. The overall result still smells very pleasant and refreshing, but I wouldn't necessarily want to jump straight into this stream, even though moving water has a magical attraction for me. Somehow, it seems that the typical mineral aspect of living waters is missing here. Green Irish Tweed captured the stream more authentically, Silver Mountain Water captured the coolness of the water better, L'Eau Froide captured the metallic coldness and hardness of the water better, Salina captured the algal aspect, Acqua di Sale captured the spray and saltiness, Acqua Sextius captured the purity and refreshing quality... and yet, this is by no means a bad fragrance; my preferences for this specific topic just lie elsewhere, as I have other memories and scent experiences stored in my mind regarding this.
The longevity is quite okay at 5-6 hours, but it could be a bit more, and the sillage is mediocre but not close to the skin.

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