Cowboy Grass

To set the scene, I first smelled this in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at one of those bougie “mercantiles” that sell clean beauty products, $40 CBD gummies, and tasteful linen trousers in the hundreds of dollars. I was immediately swept away by Cowboy Grass and a few months later received it as a birthday present from my sweet Mama. For further context, I’m someone who typically wears floral or sugary scent bombs. Kilian Love Don’t Be Shy is my signature. But Cowboy Grass scratches a particular itch in my brain. I wear this and feel like the Marlboro Man and both Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden’s characters in Johnny Guitar. Not to mention Barbara Stanwyck in The Furies and Forty Guns. “Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” comes to mind. If you’re fascinated by the American Southwest and have unironically have considered getting into Western novels (me) Cowboy Grass is for you. Aside from all these aesthetic associations, this scent is also just really fucking sexy. I’ve never been one to find any fragrance erotic even in an abstract sense, but this one is a major exception. It’s stanky, untamed. No suaveness but just raw eroticism. My dream lover either wears no fragrance or this. If your dream lover hasn’t materialized in your reality yet, might as well wear the fragrance they would. In this case, well I’ll just be the cowboy myself!

This is a strong one. I did this bold thing to buy this blindly, without testing it first. Luckily, I like it. Mostly because of strong vetiver. This scent seems to be one that is neither for men nor women, so not even unisex! It's out of these categories, something grassy, although the implication is, of course, that it is unisex then (interesting paradox). It is a very strong and bold scent to wear. I imagine this could be worn by men in suits perhaps, but lightly then. I like that the strong part of it is mostly coming from vetiver. At least I recognise it as such; the information actually says this is primarily clary sage. When I first tried it I felt like it was changing a lot over time, I got three different phases, but now it smells more linear. In my first try I even felt that it is leathery (which I don't like in general) but now, few times of uses later, even if it's there, I don't really recognise it as such. The cowboy connection had to come from the leathery part. Who wants even stronger tangy smash on the nose should try Theodoros Kalotinis's 1989 which is outrageous and double over the limit of normality of that kind of smell, at least how it starts with the top notes (possibly some people call it cat piss but I'm not entirely sure).

It's near high noon. The ranger and the bandit stand across from one another as they ready to draw. The town is silent as they watch the two men, eager to see who will make the first move. A slight breeze carries the smell of the scrubs, sage bushes, and the dust of the old dirt road. It all happens in a flash, the chime of the bell tower, the ring of a singular bullet, the thud of a body falling, and the crunching of a tumbleweed as it floats across the prairie. As for who won... that's a story for another day. This is a sage lovers wet dream. It's classic, clean, green, outdoorsy, and slightly medicinal sage supported by herbal thyme and earthy and dusty vetiver. If you do not like sage typically, I'd stay away. It's bright and clean, without smelling like another basic citrus/shower gel freshie. This is intoxicating for me. While "El Cosmico" tells a story of the American southwest, this is the story of a lone wanderer in the northwest. I have almost worn through my entire sample and will probably pick this up for the summer. Perfect for casual or formal wear, and while it has a nice projection, it is never overpowering. 10/10 Masterpiece. PS listen to "House of the Rising Sun" when you first smell this :), thank me later.

Pacific coastal scrubland is an endangered habitat in the west - drought tolerant plants like manzanita, California sage, coyote scrub, etc, make up the coast from SF all the way down to Baja. This smells like that! Instantly you’re driving down through Elfin Forest, the light dappled under pepper trees and California oaks reaching their limbs across the road (the vibe is Stephen King but western). The sage is medicinal and kinda camphorous and smoky, but if you grew up with this scent in your nose it’s pure heaven. I get baked eucalyptus, too, shaggy bark with a fibrous bloody core. The thyme sweetens it, I didn’t know thyme could be sweet, it’s almost like the pollen. Years ago we had a huge pile of fresh eucalyptus mulch sitting in the driveway after a 40-footer fell down (they’re prone to rot and have shallow roots, catastrophic crashes are common). A day or two later I noticed a trail of smoke coming out of the pile, so I dug through the mountain of shredded bark until I found the source: the core of the big pile was pure ash! They are so acidic and oily that it had spontaneously combusted in the early morning sun! Wild! This smells like that burn! I love it!!!

This is a nice laid back fragrance - citric, herbaceous and earthy. A good fit for someone turned off by more traditional fresh fragrances. Cowboy Grass is all rustic charm, as though it were cobbled together with ingredients found in the prairie landscapes it evokes. This was one of their first releases and there is the slight feeling it’s missing something...however, paired with “I Don’t Know What”, their fragrance enhancer, it really sings. “I Don’t Know What” punches up the citrus and fills in the blanks with soft woods that help to tone down the sharpness of the herbs (particularly the thyme). The two blend together perfectly, like two halves of a whole. This is an expensive proposition you are right to bawk at, but both can be found for very fair prices on discounters right now. If you happen to have both give it a try! Alone it’s a like, but together it’s love. Still, I’m rating it alone.

This is so well named. Cowboy Grass is very fresh and uplifting. But not fresh like a young guy hitting clubs or kicking butt at the office. This is outdoors all the way. Casual but also at home in a fancier place. Consider a person rough around the edges who "cleans up real good!" I'm female and I love this for me but it would be gangbusters on men for sure. Very herbal. Very confident. Try it if you want a break from anything fruity, flowery, ambery, tobacco-y, etc. I think it's a love... My only hesitation is that I'm reviewing after wearing only a short time (I know, shouldn't do that, but eager to share...)-- I can't speak about longevity really. But my sample was free--I'll keep hitting it up if need be... I suspect I'll be buying 5 ml from Scent Split in the near future. Oooh--almost forgot. This reminds me of Tam Dao somewhat. It is fresh in the same quiet but addictive way.

This is definitely unisex let me tell you my daughter wears it and it is one of her fave frags and she’s only 7. Then again from being around way to many niche fragrances it makes sense she has a a sophisticated nose. I’d def say it’s linear but when something smells really good like this does I don’t mind it. I think that this is definitely a very interesting fragrance and listen everyone’s nose is different so I don’t judge. I just think a lot of the flack this catches is that we’re living in a gourmand bomb era. Edibles in notes ok sure but does everyone really need to smell like marshmallows and cake ? Or does every one else need to smell like leather and or a barbershop ? I say to everyone give it a few wears and if you like different smelling fragrances this is for you.

It has similarities to Encre Noire, but more gentle, rounder, soapier. Where Encre Noire evokes visions of a smoldering fire in a deep dark wet and cold forest this places me squarely in a vast sun swathed rolling grass prairie with a warm breeze blowing causing the grasses to dance. It makes me feel things that are distant but dear to me as if gifted to me by God himself. A sunset. Deer on a hill top peering into the yonder. Memories of a beautiful girl in a flowing sundress, long hair glowing. A babbling brook. Soft white clouds. A close friend. Proud and handy workmanship. A quaint tidy house. A dog that was truly a best friend. A garden filled with herbs and vegetables. A well broken horse and fresh venison. Maybe not a cowboy life, but something akin.

One of my favorite fragrances. The scent Cowboy Grass gives off is akin to a hike in dry season anywhere in the southwest. You get the smell of the dry brush, stepped on sage, and loose powdery dirt. The sillage is moderate to good and longevity is great, I'll often still smell it on my shirt the next day, even if its on the floor. This scent is best during dry season, which in Southern California, is ~10 month out of the year. Besides the memories that this scent makes me recall, the best aspect is its versatility. You can layer this up with a citrus fragrance for a dressier scent, mint/herbal fragrances for a garden scent, or Baie 19 for a petrichor bomb. To me this is a 10/10 fragrance.

The opening to Cowboy Grass is extremely underwhelming I get only the faintest hint of sage. But you don't have to be patient for the mid to hit, and that's where this fragrance finds its character. As the mid begins the vetiver rears its head, accented by Prarie Grass, with just a hint of thyme to balance it out. On a side note, I'm originally from Oklahoma which is in the American southwest. This fragrance perfectly captures the smell of home. The vetiver adds just a hint of peppering to the prariegrass, and along with the sage and thyme blend to a truly photorealistic representation of a hay field midsummer. I'll cherish this for the rest of my life as a reminder of home. 10/10 IMHO

If I had to choose a scent that gets sort of low ratings that a lot of people bag on that I actually love it would be Cowboy Grass. This scent evokes a southern wind blown grass prairie in the heat of summer with all its trimmings (wild deer frolicking in the distance, clear water babbling brook, small cabin on a hill top, horses grazing, etc.) Lovely scent. I love wearing it in the summer and it takes me to the above place that’s only ever existed in some old western movie that my mind has concocted out of the ether. Very transportive for me. The only other scent that I own that is this transportive is Cape Heartache by Imaginary Authors. That one takes me to the Pacific Northwest.

This dry, herbal/grassy scent is a great distillation of the prickly/quirky D.S. and Durga house style, while being extremely wearable. Cowboy grass is among a handful of perfumes that I wear once or twice per week (at least in the colder months, which in the Upper Midwest, US, is a lot of them). It's bright and unique without being "too much". It's great year 'round, although I personally start reaching for fruitier/more floral offerings in the summer. Due to its evocation of Southwestern deserts and the Great Plains, I tend to wear it when I'm in a chambray shirt and boots sort of mood, but really you can pull it off almost as well with technical pants and sneakers.

This one really took me places. I’m not sure I would say this is overpowered, but it’s definitely strong. Applied appropriately, a bottle of this will last a really long time. It’s a simple fragrance of vetiver, sage and other herbs. It is a bit linear on me, but I’m not bothered one bit because I really loved it. It’s very nice and unusual - I don’t think I’ve smelled anything like it. It brings back memories of my childhood visiting any of a number of western boot and clothing stores - that dry, leathery semi-spicy or herby scent that is very distinct from any other shoe or clothing store that you’re likely familiar with. Well done!

Raw, dirty and dry, in a very good way. All associations made thus far by previous reviews are on point; (dry) grassy, hay, herbaceous, etc. You can alternate picturing yourself between sitting on a breezy grassy hill and being in a rustic italian kitchen with dried thyme and sage hanging over the window with each sniff. It has a TdH vibe without the citrus to my nose but more natural. Very linear. As it mellows out deeper into the dry down, just gets better and better. Not blind buy safe but definitely try this one out. Spring and fall scent. Always been a huge fan of this house, and this type of scent is exactly why.

I love the simplistic boldness of this scent so I bought a bottle at full price. Sadly, it seems that I go noseblind to it very quickly. I mean VERY quickly. After 5 minutes I have to sniff my skin directly/wipe my hand where I sprayed it and smell that directly, and it is turns into a smoky-grassy skin scent. I think it sticks a bit better to clothes, and I like the idea of my workwear jackets smelling like this a bit. Overall, it's hard for me to say if I'll buy another bottle when this one is out -- leaning towards yes simply because I love it but I will need to ask others whether it is even detectable on me.

I bought a decant of this hoping just to give myself more experience with different scents. But I was wrong. Because now I have completely fallen in love with this scent. Cowboy Grass to me smells like bitter herbs, dry grass, pepper, tobacco, and leather-bound books. It sticks close to the skin from what I've observed so far. It is definitely a divisive scent (I had some family members smell it on me and it got mixed reactions). As a female wearing this scent, it is immensely empowering. I feel like a mysterious badass. If you lean towards moody-er scents, I definitely recommend this for you.

Cowboy Grass fits the best flannel t-shirt and jeans. Kind of cliche but also really comfy fragrance. It's spicy, dry aromatic combination of natural herbs. Really on point with performance (lasts for about a week on the flannel shirt). To people who really like vegetal, natural, crispy scents. Personally, I love it and the combination of vetiver/sage/thyme and wild less known American Artemisia with woody/ambery base makes it really relaxing, yet having enough sharpness and being very masculine! One of my favourites for a casual day, great for outdoor activity.

This opens with a strong blast of warm hay in the sun—there's something a bit salty and tingly to it, a little musty and animalic, just a bit of smoke in the background as if the grasses were drying out. As it settles in, the clary sage and a little citrus brighten things. It stays with you for quite a while, flowering thyme and sage lingering on, keeping it a bit herbal but not quite green. This is the perfect fall fragrance for me. It's a warm scent, strong but not off-putting, though definitely a little odd. One of my favorites from DS & Durga.

Cowboy grass was an immediate favorite for me. I purchased the 1ml from Scent Split to try it because I loved the notes. And immediately went to order a larger size again. I can’t quite afford the full bottle yet, but it will be my next buy. It’s unisex leaning toward masculine but it dries down softly. It has a lovely sweet freshly cut grassy scent. It’s decadently earthy. If your loved one just came in from doing yard work type scent. I do wish it had a bit more longevity. But I’ll look past it because it smells so wonderful.

i love this! it really smells like sweet, fresh cut hay! like rows of baled hay in a sunbaked pasture at the end of summer (without the livestock). The projection/sillage was surprisingly strong, beyond arm's length. the sweetness outlasts the grass & thyme notes but becomes a skin scent fairly quick. wish it lasted longer, it's such an earthy fresh scent, but love it nonetheless. would be great to wear in hot weather outdoors. if i could afford a bottle, i wouldn't mind over-spraying to sustain longevity.

I got a DS&Durga sample set and this was my favorite. I think it is unique but subtle enough for everyday wear. I like masculine/unisex smells and I think this is a great smells if you are looking for something unique and not sweet. Smells like grass/hayish, duh! Perfect if you are in the dead of winter but wanting a southwest smell. Closest thing to El Cosmico without the Creosote.

Wow, this is fantastic. Very well done with the wild aromatic grasses, hay notes, Vetiver, and sagebrush; definitely ushers me back to times spent in the Great Plains, - this truly captures that area of wild prairie culture. I find it very masculine and comforting, and yet high end as well; will be adding this to my favs for sure——impressive.

It's a pretty comforting masculine scent, could be seen as paternalistic to the point where I as a 18 year old feel almost unworthy to wear it, but I see it as more youthful imho. It smells like grass but not like "old lawn clippings" as some here would say. More like a well loved football field. It's worth a shot.

I know many say this is a masculine scent but I love wearing this as a female, especially in the Autumn. The vetiver in here is gorgeous and smells woody, early and almost like sweet hay and tobacco even though those notes are not listed. It's an addicting smell and I kept putting my nose to my wrists all day!

The more I wear it the more I like it. First hits the grassy accord with thyme and veriver, then sets to smoky and sweeter sage. I do get the medicinal vibe which I don't mind! Very personal scent, not too intrusive but still persistent. It's definitely an everyday scent, more for summer or fall. Intriguing!

I grew up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and this is such a powerfully evocative scent. The effect on my skin is dust and sage and sun tea with lemon. I don’t get much of a smoky or burning effect- I think that’s what I’m picking up as smelling like dust. Surprisingly wearable, given the notes. Love.

I love this so much. It smells like shrubbery, grasses, it reminds me a little of the sage cough drops we have in Germany, a beautiful herbal smell. I just wish it didn't sit quite so close to the skin. I'm wearing like 8 sprays right now and I can't smell it unless I smush my wrist into my nose.

Love the smell. Truly smells like grass on the plains blowing in the country air. However, it is soft and doesn’t seem to last long. Granted I’ve only tested it twice from a decant during the summer so it’s hard to say for sure. If the price was quite a bit lower I would get a bottle for sure.

So this is Earl Grey straight up. I opened up my tea leaves tin and compared the two. Cowboy Grass is a little more citrusy wet and green, but otherwise, almost the same. I don't get a dryness at all. I also get the rose otto a fair bit. Like Earl Grey steeped in rose water.

Ok I’m back again already to say this juice went with me all day long. I did use quite a bit in the first few minutes because when I first applied it I was wishing for more projection. I agree with others that it is on the shy side but I got good staying power.

Completely lovely and will need a bottle. A country song. Dust. Sage. Great Vetiver. Not dirty but has nice depth and a bit of pungency. Really nice. Great performer. A tack room without the leather. Dirt, sweat, hay and sage.

A scent for a high plains drifter. Accessorize with a poncho and cigarillo. It's heavy on the vetiver note, but sweetened with other notes like sage and thyme. The combination transports me to the Western plains.

I love this fragrance, it’s smoky, with an undercurrent of sweet hay that makes it feel very fresh. Great day time scent. Fades from the skin pretty quickly but lasts forever (like multiple washes) on clothes.

Dry hay and sage. It creates a nice scent bubble, like catching a natural scent on the breeze. I do not find it sharply herbaceous, bitter, or damp. So evocative of the plains, beautiful.

My favoritt scent at the moment. Creamy and dry at the same time. Fresh and a little sweet herbal. Perfect for summer. But would not blind buy i you are new to fragrances.

What a fantastic scent! This is not just vetiver, the mentioned herbs (above), are there. It's as if they pressed those herbs freshly. Very nice, cool name for it too.

Lots of vetiver, some hay smell, almost a slight weed note. The name is very accurate. Light smell. Doesn’t really project. But not supposed to. I like it a lot.

Totally unique. Outdoorsy without being what I’d call fresh. Casual. Great scent for hiking or biking or being in a meditative mood. Sample first. It’s quirky.

Very comforting and natural smell of the prairies. Even not listed I read the sweet grass braids smell Indigenous people bring to summer pow wow.

It smells like Vicks vapor rub in a very pleasant way. It is comforting and also a very masculine smell. This might be my new signature scent.

On my skin, a smooth, spicy vetiver and more woody than fresh. It is a delight; you feel close to the earth wearing this. Brilliant.

You’ve gotta overspray this one. When you do, a sweet, woody smell seeps out (palo santo maybe?). Smells amazing with the vetiver.

Smells like a tumbleweed that went through a car wash. Really lovely, dry, simple scent. I need to get a full bottle of this ASAP.

seconding everyone saying soapy vetiver. just dark clean woody aromatic goodness.

"Cowboy" is a descriptor while "Grass" is the star of the show.

musky but clear, a perfect mix of roots and wildflowers <3

Herbaceous Verges on medicinal but doesn't cross the line

sometimes smells awesome sometimes sucks

The full notes list is: Rosewood, wild thyme, bergamot, sagebrush, basil, rose otto, vetiver, grass, ambergris. I don't know why Fragrantica only displays four of these, because many of the excluded notes are very prominent. This starts with a strong hit of rosewood and herbal notes, especially sage and thyme. Very dry, rooty vetiver quickly takes center stage, intermittently grassy, but overpowered by linalool for a while. It's fairly linear, so after an hour or two the scent is mostly the same. Clean, dry, woody, herbal, and increasingly salty, mostly vetiver, thyme, and semi-dry grasses. A slight impression of dry bergamot. It smells quite minimalistic. And when I say "salty," I mean the saltiness becomes so dominant that by 6 hours I kind of feel like a walking salt lick. If I sniff deeply I taste salt at the back of my tongue. It's somewhat off-putting, but interesting. I'll be testing it in summer because I suspect it could give an impression then of salt-encrusted driftwood and grasses by the sea. For an outside perspective, my mom says it's peppery but also smells like I "bathed in Earl Grey and then rolled around in the grass." She gives it a thumbs up. Ultimately, not the vetiver scent I was hoping for - too clean, too salty, not earthy enough, not smoky enough - but it's nice enough as something straightforward and easy to wear (until the saltiness takes over), for when I want a very dry scent.

I like the aroma this scent. It's clean, but earthy and green-gold. Vetiver, sage are both very obvious, and the thyme stands out on me--though at first I thought it was dill! However, maybe it's something in my skin chemistry, maybe Cowboy Grass is what I smell like with no scent at all, maybe it's the way I applied it (with a sample applicator), but I get almost no longevity, and absolutely zero sillage with this scent. I will report back when I'm finished with the sample, but for now, my skin has let me down--I was expecting a couple hours at least! Edit: Finished with the sample. It's a delicious, medicinal, herbal scent, but it is too close to my own body smell that it dissappears completely after an hour at best. Chalk it up to skin chemistry, please, because you should get a smell of this; tarry and herbal, this reminds me faintly of home--the prairies in Texas. It's evocative, but unfortunately, it does nothing on my skin. What a pity. Update: Cowboy grass is really an excellent, well-constructed scent. I have to us a lot in order to get some longevity and sillage. Note that it is terrible on clothes. It is a little too herbal to be a summer fragrance, and not balsamic enough to be a winter, so that puts it squarely, to me, in spring and fall. There is something a little musky underneath this for me. Probably not going to get a bottle, but with a little acquaintance, my opinion of it improved.