Bowmakers

Good idea, striking immediately with startingly terpenic, jangly brassy dry woods (surprised to not see reminders of Sahara Noir). I do think of CDG Hinoki when I smell this, and cedar oil with it's slicing griminess. But Hinoki radiates some other facets, and Sahara Noir is a powerhouse of different analogous accords harping ecstatically along tightly similar frequencies plus a good splash of Amber Absolute which is no meager bonus, imo. But Bowmakers is just a sketch of a moment, sharp and clear and lovely, the glint off the varnish of a violin in a workshop. But it's just a flash. Even the cheap-as-chips Encre Noire Extreme or Bentley Absolute bring on the turpentine, plus riches more. Burn me in hell for saying, but one could buy a big bottle of Demeter's Thunderstorm, split it across a few atomizers, add a drop of cedar oil and hinoki here, birch tar or cade there, coriander here, fig and cedar there -- and for a few bucks have a good chunk of the DS Durga range at your disposal. No basenotes or bells or whistles needed. Or, spend 150-250$CAD a pop. Evil. (This all being said: my partner, a realistic-wood-fragrance fiend, would die for a bottle of this to place proudly next to his Carbone and Sahara Noir knock-off. To each their own!)

No need to echo many reviews here but I will agree that as a signature scent this lands in the category of matching a perfume with a certain type of wearer...mostly because the varnish smell is so bold & specific, some people unfamiliar with the instrument/wood-work process may not understand or get the reference Opening is a natural spicy, smoky, faintly sweet wood with lots of varnish-turpentine the dry down is really nice too ... 2 sprays - the performance varies between moderate projection to skin scent i bought a travel size roll on and a full bottle for my spouse for christmas two years ago because he loved it so much ... some of his favorite perfumes are from the Comme des Garcons Olfactive Library & other artistic niche fragrances that may be challenging for some folks that being said, i actually really love it too & i don't think it's too far out for most people to enjoy, yes the varnish-turpentine notes are the uncommon notes here but the wood is so pure and gorgeous ... i actually get a little jealous sometimes that it's not my bottle of perfume! hehe :)

LOVE! I get the varnish, woods, and resins. It's slightly pine-like, but not too much. I don't feel like I'm in a pine forest. The resins provide a bit of (subtle) sweetness and roundness, therefore I don't find it as sharp and turpenic as Precious Woods by April Aromatics. At first I didn't notice any leather, but as it wore on my skin, I began to envision this scene...a foggy day in the 1800's, a dark little studio without electricity, a violin maker carving, shaving, sanding, varnishing and plucking strings in his workman's apron, sleeves rolled up, walking around on the creaky floor boards in his clunky, worn leather boots, the same ones he has worn for 20+ years as he hones his craft day after day, year after year. So it turns out that I absolutely smell leather. It's not chic black leather, but his old, brown leather boots. I think I have a crush on the violin maker. This scent is somehow sexy and addictive to me. Overall this perfume feels rugged and natural. Bowmakers is linear, which is fine by me. I get the varnish, woods, worn leather, and resins all the way through to the very end. It is not a powerful fragrance and gets fairly close to the skin after an hour, but it lasts many hours. Wish I could compare to the oil version. Update: Have a full bottle now, plus a backup bottle. The scent of turpentine and varnish is even more intense when sprayed from the bottle. Sillage and longevity are HUGE, very different from my experience with dabbing from a vial. Just one spray lasts more than 12 hours easily. My signature scent is the fragrance that I feel is the most "me", but if my signature were based on what I actually wear or reach for most often, it's Bowmakers. It's been years since I wore a fragrance this often. Update 5 years later! 3/14/23: This is still my most reached for perfume and still on my Top 5!

DS & Durga’s Bowmakers is lovely and weird and I want to bathe in it. Bowmakers is all cool, peculiar woods, maybe cypress and cedar, a fleeting leatheriness, and what feels to me like the synthetic woody cozy ambery muskiness of ISO E super. This is how I imagine the scent of a Scandinavian minimalist YouTube lifestyle vlogger’s cozy 400 square foot apartment in wintertime. Specifically chosen sandalwood candles in amber apothecary jars, a very aesthetically pleasing and strategically placed tube sweet almond and musk hand cream, hundred-year-old but well-cared aromatic hard-wood floors. A tiny capsule wardrobe displayed prominently on a coat rack, where a thrifted leather jacket in excellent condition hangs for guests to admire, the fragrance of which mingles with a chilled early morning breeze gusting from the open windows while they’re airing out their bedroom as part of their 5 AM morning routine that they are currently filming for their subscribers.

smokey and leathery and piney, really delightful and masculine. i usually layer this with a vanilla, its a little intense but still great on its own