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I Don't Know What D.S. & Durga 2018

7.5 / 10 231 Ratings

A popular perfume by D.S. & Durga for women and men, released in 2018. The scent is synthetic-woody. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Synthetic

Woody

Fresh

Spicy

Citrus

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Bergamot

Heart Notes

ISO-E-Super

Vetiveryl acetate

Base Notes

Ambrox

Civettone

Firsantol®

Perfumer

David Seth Moltz

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

7.5231 Ratings

Longevity

8.0210 Ratings

Sillage

7.2208 Ratings

Bottle

7.5192 Ratings

Value for money

6.2129 Ratings

Submitted by Aquamonza, last update on 10/30/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Us

Genetic Bliss

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AnOther 13 Eau de Parfum

Wonderwood

Un Bois

Reviews

19 in-depth fragrance descriptions

06/18/2024

10Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

Nanaafromgha
154 Reviews

Nanaafromgha

Helpful Review 1

Master of Moleculars

I have smelled pretty much every molecular, your-skin-but-better, clean girl (or guy or whatever you identify as), scent, and none of them come close to I Don’t Know What. Not only is it the only molecular scent my nose can actually detect, but it also works as an amazing perfume enhancer when layered with other scents.

IDKW is sets itself apart by the use of civettone, which a synthetic molecular note derived from the commonly use civet. Civet is derived from the anal glands of civet cats, but now lab made due to its cruel and unusual methods of harvesting. The civettone gives the scent a slight animalic undertone that mixes really well with the natural oils/sweat on your skin. The bergamot up top gives it a fresh pop of brightness and stays around longer than expected. At its heart, it’s woody/ambery as these scents tend to be. I don’t know what about IDKW that works with my chemistry, but I’ve never had a molecular scent perform this well on my skin and have me this intoxicated by its sillage. I become totally feral and can’t ever get enough of it when I wear it.

This is most definitely slept on compared to its more popular cousins, Another 13, Molecule 01, etc., but I understand that it may not work for everyone (common with these types of scents). It’s perfectly unisex and can be worn whenever. I strongly urge anyone that likes these kinds of scents to fall in love with I Don’t Know What. This will be a permanent fixture in my collection.

08/02/2024

8Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

JewishJesus
65 Reviews

JewishJesus

1

My skin smell +

I've not yet gotten to try other perfumes in this category, mostly because it isn't really what I'm going for in a perfume (especially at this price tag...). I like perfume to transport me somewhere, to match my mood, to create a juxtaposition with my natural smells and make me smell like something different. This perfume is not that, but it is quite a bit more than a bland, synthetic smell.

Fresh, a bit woody, a bit synthetic. A really lovely smell that isn't likely to offend most people. It melds with your natural scent quite well, and I'd say it does what it sets out to do. Your smell, but better. Thus, it can layer well with other perfumes to help round them out. Sometimes the notes it brings out in other perfumes in surprising.

This would be an excellent option for business environments, and I'd absolutely consider a bottle at a cheaper price. For someone who just wants to smell good, I'd recommend this over other designer "fresh" fragrances, as it has this way of making you still smell like you. I Don't Know What it is, it's weird (in a good way).

12/28/2024

9Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Sarinotsorry
26 Reviews

Sarinotsorry

2

The best of its kind!

I am one of those people who unfortunately are kind of anosmic to Iso-E Super.
However, my nose is so sensitive against ambroxan!

I have tried Not a Perfume Eau de Parfum, Molecule 01, AnOther 13 Eau de Parfum, and Genetic Bliss. All of them are either too overwhelmingly screechy to me, or I barely could smell something something (which I'm not sure whether I actually did smell something or it's just from my hopeful imagination because the thought of being fully anosmic to something that other people find as really beautiful is just too depressing for me).

But this one!!! Wow! This here is the winner! It's so beautiful! I can smell some ambroxan in the base, but it's not overwhelming! I can also smell some bergamot, and something slightly musky.. which I guess is the Civettone? It's not animalic to me, but really smelling it makes me go RAWR lol I guess when people say this is animalic, it's more that this brings out the animalic side of people who smell this perfume!

Longevity and sillage are just *chef's kiss*! It's not too loud, moderate-to-strong projection. And it lasts for 8+ hours!

I highly recommend this to those of you who just can't get along with any of the 'your-skin-but-better' or molecular perfumes I mentioned above!

07/03/2025

7Scent 5Longevity 4Sillage

LavenderSalv
40 Reviews

LavenderSalv

1

It's Giving Museum Lobby

I don't know HOW, exactly, but they somehow managed to capture the exact scent of a science museum I remember visiting every summer as a small child. It's truly bizarre, because I never thought I'd actually get that smell anywhere else, but it's weirdly comforting for that reason. I tend to wear this by itself because DS and Durga's scents are on the Loud side of things, and I do not trust them with the idea that you can layer this over anything and not drown it out, but overall it smells nice and nostalgic in a very specific way.

12/29/2020

6Scent 5Longevity 6Sillage

Landshark321
742 Reviews

Landshark321

2

Slightly interesting albeit expensive

D.S. & Durga’s 2018 release, I Don’t Know What, is described as “a fragrance enhancer with a transparent radiance that gives any perfume a certain, as the French say, ‘I Don’t Know What.’” So while it may not seem ideal to try a fragrance enhancer on skin by itself, I nonetheless want to experience it that way and evaluate it on its own merits.

It’s a citrus/woody mix with a good amount of ISO E super and ambroxan, sharp and musky, understandably involving some of the chemicals that are known to boost performance. On its own, though, it is perfectly pleasant as it contains a fairly agreeable mix of notes, in this respect—after all, ISO E super and ambroxan do tend to blend in fairly well. It has a vague kick to it, perhaps a spiciness, that prevents it from being wholly fresh, and so it has a wee bit of character.

However, I do not feel that it is a fragrance that I would reach for on its own, which makes it all the more puzzling mimics most of the line, at $260 for 100ml EDP, $175 for 50ml EDP, and $72 for 10ml pocket perfume oil, and is sold through the house website, Luckyscent, Saks Fifth Avenue, among others, though it is much more affordable at FragranceNet, where it is $162/109 for 100/50ml.

It’s somewhat interesting, though.

6 out of 10

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