Inside the Workshop: A Brooklyn Perfumer
At D.S. and Durga's studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, founder David Seth Moltz keeps a library of over three thousand raw materials, from Bulgarian rose otto to Texas cedarwood oil. Each fragrance begins as a concept rooted in a specific time, place, or atmosphere, and formulation involves hundreds of iterations before achieving the evocative precision Moltz demands.
The artisanal perfumery movement, emerging in the early 2000s as an alternative to multinational fragrance houses, has found a natural home in Brooklyn. Small-batch production allows perfumers to use natural ingredients at concentrations mass-market economics prohibit, creating fragrances of greater complexity.
Perfume composition follows structural logic described in musical terms. Top notes use volatile citrus and herbal materials that evaporate within fifteen minutes. Heart notes employ florals and spices lasting hours. Base notes, using woods, musks, and resins, persist on skin for a full day or longer.
The distinction between natural and synthetic ingredients is not straightforward. Many evocative materials are synthetic: Iso E Super creates woody warmth, while Hedione adds luminous jasmine quality. The best perfumers use naturals and synthetics as complementary tools, each offering effects the other cannot.
Moltz's process involves narrative sourcing: selecting materials that connect to each fragrance's story. His Bowmakers uses violin varnish accord, rosin, and maple wood to evoke a luthier's workshop. Radio Bombay combines copper, radiant wood, and coconut to suggest an Indian electronics market.
The economics of independent perfumery are challenging. A bottle may contain twenty dollars of raw materials versus two or three for mass-market scent. The customer base is devoted but small. Yet the creative freedom produces work pushing the boundaries of what fragrance can express.
Explore at https://www.dsanddurga.com. A well-chosen fragrance from an independent perfumer offers something no designer brand can match: the sense of wearing a scent composed by a specific person with a specific vision.
