I Don't Know What is such a polarising fragrance, people seem to either love it or hate it. I think what it comes down to is its use of synthetic ingredients Iso E Super and Civettone. If you like Molecule 01 or JHAG Not A Perfume then you will likely appreciate IDKW. A bergamot accord announces freshness, vetiver acetate a thin amber, firsantol a lingering sandalwood, and iso e super a radiance. It is like a building with only structure – no interior. You can fill in the interior with an oil, a scent you like, even an old scent that has lost its way. IDKW is built to layer and enhance everything else it touches." For me, the scope of application is clearly to wear it as a stand-alone fragrance, I find it much too good to lay it down! Especially since he plays almost everything else he would be layered with against the wall with ease, I Don't Know What by D.S. & Durga is a perfume that undeniably stands out from the crowd. This is a perfume that neither sways too feminine nor too masculine, making it a great choice for those seeking something that defies the traditional gender-binary scents. Personally, I can’t understand why – or, at least, I can’t understand the demand behind that stance.

This should be obvious, but as someone who has always been lowkey embarrassed by their love of cutesy, teenage-y, sweet and fruity scents (i.e., ~gourmands~), I’ve forced myself to wear “grown-up” musks even when I really disliked them. So regardless of your tastes, own them and channel them into your fragrance. I’ve also seen other reviewers questioned for receiving a free sample (less than 2ml of perfume) – again, the assumption being that they lose credibility for accepting that sample. When will we admit that this line of questioning is almost paranoid?Listen, perfumes can be confusing, but as soon as you’ve got the facts, you’ll be able to easily navigate them online. In general, fragrances fall into one of two categories: eau de parfum (EDP) or eau de toilette (EDT). EDPs, aka parfums, are made with a higher concentration of perfume oils, and EDTs, aka toilettes, are made with less. Regardless of how seriously you take the art or craft of perfumery, there is undoubtedly an aspect of subjectivity about it, both from an art appreciation standpoint and a scientific one. I Don't Know What was created as fragrance enhancer with transparent radiance that gives any perfume a certain, as the French say, “Je ne sais quoi” (I don't know what). We love it for that but it's so much more, including one of the top selling perfumes in the DS & Durga collection. Worn alone or layered, this one is a hit. From the brand: Not so with this fragrance, at least for me. It's woody, warm, fresh, earthy, dark, tart yet soft, almost a bit pungent and minimally sweet. Maybe it’s just me but have you ever bought a designer labelled item (clothes, trainers, accessories etc) from a charity shop and known that it would have retailed for hundreds of pounds?

I think that instead of using word BIAS we should concentrate on GENUINE. How people get their frags for a review, i couldnt care less, but what irritates me is constant praise of an absolute sh!t of a fragrance, especially when its an ambroxan bomb or a chemical smelling mess. With all the advancements we make in industry we should be making perfumes that previous generations could only dream about, instead we take talented perfumers to create garbage and hype it on youtube. What a sad state of affairs. PS. Blind buying a perfume is always the buyers responsibility. No one else’s. If you don’t like it, that’s on you, and hopefully you learn from it. But, somehow, we’ve assigned perfume reviewers the reverential task of being completely “impartial,” as if anyone who talks about an art form can be!

Shopping bag

Alcohol denat., parfum (fragrance), aqua (water), alpha-isomethyl ionone, benzyl alcohol, benzl benzoate, benzyl salicylate, citral, citro- nellol, eugenol, farnesol, geraniol, isoeugenol, limonene, linalool

a wonderful tool for anyone who wants to play around with perfume. It can be worn as a modern wonderfully transparent aroma, but it can also be layered over anything. IDKW is a secret combination of materials that perfumers use to highlight and enhance notes in a perfume. It’s a little bit funny actually because I remember being quite overjoyed by seeing some YouTuber review a free spray sample. Why? Because one alternative of that is free full-sized bottle which almost always bring down the reviewer/influencer/salesperson’s credibility, personally. We have predetermined some of them to be “shills” if they talk about one house for too long; if they don’t reveal the precise nature of their interactions with a brand; if they don’t publicly sign-on to some reviewers’ code of ethics. I Don’t Know What is a wonderful tool for anyone who wants to play around with perfume. Of course it can be worn as a modern wonderfully transparent aroma, but it can also be layered over anything. Often when I leave the house, I will wear a touch of sandalwood, rose, jasmine, patchouli, oud, etc. These oils are lovely but can be muddy and they don’t last more than a few hours. IDKW sprayed over them makes the oil into a PERFUME. It does this because it is made with no notes! It is a secret combination of materials that perfumers use to highlight and enhance notes in a perfume. A Bergamot accord announces freshness, Vetiver Acetate a thin amber, Firsantol a lingering sandalwood, Iso E Super a radiance, and so on. It is like a building with only structure – no interior. You can fill in the interior with an oil, a scent you like, even an old scent that has lost its way. IDKW is built to layer and enhance everything else it touches. I also strongly believe that if a reviewer has been paid for a review, they should make that very clear. While I do think it’s possible for a reviewer to be upfront about their feelings surrounding a perfume even if they’ve been paid to talk about it, I can understand why an audience member would want to skip watching or reading what is essentially an advertisement.Anyone who has ever spent time on a piece of fragrance content will tell you that it is a labor of love, whether they were gifted 2, 10, 50, or 0 ml of perfume. Many of us have drawers of bottles we bought ourselves for every 5 ml of gifted perfume – never mind the vials we haven’t written/vlogged about and likely never will. jarroditshallbe - great point! I think part of the uproar about getting anything for free in perfume is that we as an audience are looking for a way to easily distinguish "content that is worth our time" from "content that isn't." I understand and empathize with that need because there is SO MUCH content about perfume out there to sift through. Whether or not I expressed it well in my article, I do think part of my motivation for writing was to say, "We all have to find ways to navigate the great wall of content that is available, and if you're a person who sees the act of receiving something for free as a method, that's ok -- but to me, I'm most concerned with the perceived quality of the review. Was I informed, entertained, or did I come away with something I didn't have before watching/reading?" A fragrance enhancer with transparent radiance that gives any perfume a certain, as the French say, “I don’t know what.”

This then also confirms the durability! At cold temperatures 8-10, when it is warm even more hours! Edit: To clarify, when you are presenting a review of a product and you were given the product *specifically with the understanding that you have an audience and you are going to review it*, that is when ethics require you to disclose that fact. So a little bit of honesty regarding their ties to the companies/perfumes they praise is needed. I think? maybe I am too naive? Polymathic - Just to be clear, I agree with disclosing in general as I said more than once in the article. I don't want to see any content creator (writer, videographer, whatever) intentionally mislead their audience. At the same time, I do feel that the community in general worries a little too much when we (the community) call out someone for not disclosing, say, a free sample. My point is that we sometimes treat that instance with the same relative degree of suspicion as we would a reviewer not disclosing they received money or multiple bottles or the like.While the perfume’s longevity is commendable, the sillage isn't as prominent. This makes it a great choice for those who prefer a more personal, intimate scent rather than one that announces their arrival from a distance. This might also be the reason why it's more appealing to a slightly older demographic, who often seek fragrances that aren't too loud. 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.