Black Dog

let's get the scent description out of the way. it's dark. slightly soapy/clean as another reviewer has aptly noted, and it successfully evokes the softness and humidity of fur without the typical funk of animalic notes. the woody aspects are subtle, and the durian/black licorice combo add a deep and smooth dimension, complimenting each other together beautifully and totally avoiding sugar or brightness. it's very mature, not in terms of age or demographic, but in mood. the bittersweet wisdom that comes from a heavy experience. or maybe that's just because of my own relationship to this fragrance. almost 4 weeks ago, i buried my best friend, blossom. she was a small black dog, a little girl who held my world in her heart for 15 years. i'd never realized how little she was. her heart had gotten bigger since last year. it couldn't keep up with her body anymore. they wrapped her in a small red blanket. we held her. baruch dayan ha'emet. on her small white box, the vets wrote "Blossom." they'd drawn little flowers around her name and colored them in. they handed me two tiny pieces of paper. her nose and paw prints. her black curls. that next day, our arms were sore. we had dug a deep hole. i had carried a little girl. call it unorthodox, whatever - we sat shiva. all this to say, i could not wear fragrances or even take a hot shower for a week. my discovery set arrived here during this prohibitive stage. i had ordered it weeks before this loss. when i opened the box, just to look through, i saw that each scent had a miniature MTG-style card, listing their notes with a line of text relating to the scent. i flipped through them all, imagining what they'd each smell like when i was eventually allowed to try them out. the last fragrance in the box, and the last card in the pile, was Black Dog. it read: "i had a black dog and i am learning to color each day with positive strokes." for sh'loshim (post-shiva days of grief in which i'm allowed to wear perfumes again), this is the scent that has grounded me -- and guided me back to reality, with her. she is still here, everywhere, to me. i still can hear her paws on the floor, feel her head in my hands, the smell of her fur. my life, my whole being, is a continuation of blossom. her memory is such a blessing. james (miju) nguyen, thank you for this scent.

I got this scent to challenge myself, complete blind buy. I just bought (and returned) the worst scent I have ever smelled, and figured these notes were picked because they would be a bit taboo in perfumery so why not a challenge? This is LOVELY. Ive grown accustomed to the animalic tang of some of d grayi’s other offerings and out of the rest of my “safe” order, I fell full head over heels for this one. It opens almost like hospital soap, disinfectant but not overwhelming. My mom worked in hospitals all my life so I tend to enjoy the scent. But the tuberose opens it up and just really irons it out and give it freshness. It reminds me a bit of the bitterness of Ca Phe By Night with a small hit of spices and menthol(?) Going to test run it a full day tomorrow. D Grayi’s least appealing sounding scents have proven to be time and again truly beautiful.

First impressions: Very dark, spicy and subtly sweet woods. The spices here are deeply evoking of Vietnam and traditional dishes, and at times this comes close to smelling a tad salty because of that association, although that in no way is a negative thing. The animalic funk is also quite pronounced to my nose and fittingly so, as the fragrance’s name becomes appropriate due to this. The durian is surprisingly one of the hardest notes to pick up for me, which is admittedly a slight disappointment as it was my main reason behind purchasing the fragrance (with durian being my favorite fruit in both smell and taste). Upon close analysis, I do detect a ripe creaminess in the fragrance that adds depth to the woods and spices, which I do believe comes from the durian, so it most definitely is present, but I wish there was more. Sillage and lasting power are both great and I will be finishing up my sample before deciding on whether a full bottle purchase is the move.

Love how I just wore this again today, and someone claims racism? This is James least favorite of his whole selection, I guess I know that because I'm racist? (Glad to see that comment was erased. Baseless and void minds.) ANYWHO, the opening is very hard to stand. Durian is present through the whole thing.. tuberose, oud/licorice combo that absolutely CAPTIVATES, some musky musky civet, durian, woods, in that order. This scent DOES smell different on clothes. A BIT more floral, and almost a cleaner scent. On skin the slight stank comes out. Smells like a hard working man, still sweating.. maybe not everyone's cup of tea. But to me, this is almost perfect. Oh and to speak on performance, its BEAST mode for 2 hours. Slows down a bit and still becomes a lingering trail. It really is HAUNTINGLY good on dry down, on skin... chefs kiss.

Revisiting. Yes this is still rough for 2 minutes, followed by a sickly sweet, tar oud combo. Hauntingly attractive. It doesn't wear floral notes, but they are there. The dark, sweet woods are insane. I actually REALLY appreciate this one. I think this would have done very well in the late 90s as well, and changed the direction of fragrance. Even as of 2024 this is a unique scent. Strange, attractive, dark, sweet, tar licorice. I'm bumping it to a 9/10 here. Performance is solid enough, strong for an hour, radiates for another 4.