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Bowmakers Eau de Parfum by D.S. and Durga

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Femme

Unisex

Masc

Bowmakers

Eau de Parfum

by D.S. and Durga

Perfumer
David Moltz

Released
2013

Country
United States

Ratings
13 REVIEWS

The Scoop

If you can imagine a workshop, lit by oil lamps and a brace of flickering candles, wax dripping to the floor. Everywhere is wood, maple, mahogany, chips of darkest ebony, floor littered in fragrant curled shavings, the air filled with lacquered dust and the aromatics of a thousand sweet pencils. A man bends over an oak bench, tending to the curved form of a violin, the body warm and golden in the soft light, its neck, pegs and tailpiece scattered under his nimble fingers. Puffs of pine resin drift as he works, smoothing, gluing and attending to the preparation of varnishes and oils to give ornate lustre to grain and line. This is D.S & Durga's Bowmakers, an astonishing time capsule evocation of violin and bow making workshops in 18th century American pioneer towns. Each workshop concocted their own secret recipe for the decorative shellacs and lacquers. These might contain elemi, benzoin, saffron, mastic, sandalwood and turpentine for color, preservation, finish, tone and beauty. D.S.& Durga have brought this polished, resinous portrait of craftsmen to life in an affecting and vibrantly glowing scent.

Bowmakers Fragrance Notes

Violin varnish, mahogany, outdoors accord, amber pine resin, maplewood, cypress, spiced tree resin, cedar, and moss.

Bowmakers Sizes Available:

50ml

$210

0.7ml sample $4

If you like Bowmakers Eau de Parfum, we recommend you try:

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Mississippi Medicine by D.S. and Durga

Italian Citrus by D.S. and Durga

Bois d'Ascese by Naomi Goodsir

Arso by Profumum

Here's what other people are saying about Bowmakers...

The greatest woody frag of all time. It’s complex, not sweet at all, very piney and sharp, lots of varnish. Ugh! I can’t get enough. For evergreen forest lovers. Smells like it contains a lot of natural ingredients. Been wearing it for years and it’s a rare one that I had to buy a backup bottle for. Sometimes I even wear it to bed. It’s so soothing, like aromatherapy. So, so good!!!

By Antonette - Broker from SF on 4/13/2024

For lovers of dry woods only!!!! This is an absolutely delicious wood with a bit of sweetness from the resins that gives it a warmer, rosy tinge. Dry, dusty, and pretty much linear scent.

By worm - bookworm from Phoenix on 4/22/2023

While I personally couldn't pull this off, this fragrance earns an 8.410 for artistic value- extremely woodyvarnishy, it reminds me of my old job refurbishing wooden furniture. A middle-aged, confident man can definitely wear this.

By Sam Koenig - Self-employed from New Jersey on 1/15/2023

Worth a sample since some seemed to love it, but on me it was interesting for 5 minutes then rubbery rubbery rubber.

By Anonisme - Business from Boston on 10/22/2020

I absolutely love it! I haven't been enticed by a smell in years. This perfume smells like human caring warmth, so comfortable yet disturbing at the same time. Like safe and welcome adventure by campfire. My man just said ' oh yeah'

By Irina - Doesn't matter from San Antonio on 10/21/2020

Nothing like a luthier's studio. Cypress, cedar, and mahogany have no place. If the attempt was to represent the 'American Pioneer' workshop of any type, one would be hard-pressed to find cedar in America during that time period; mahogany grows in Southern Florida but primarily Mexico down to Brazil; and cypress is native to part of Southern America to California, but would not be a common wood to use on the pioneer front. Bowmakers does have some redeeming qualities as the wood notes are true to form and the rosin note is close enough. I don't dislike it, but completely disappointed in the selling point.

By Rachel - Office Manager from Williamsburg on 1/1/2020

A mysterious and evocative woody scent that invites you to a stroll in a sunlit forest. This subtle beauty combines central notes of different woods (mahogany, maple, cypress), violin varnish, moss, and amber pine resin with a light leather to evoke the workshops of wood craftsmen in the 1800s Northeastern United States. This is a deceptively beautiful composition, which will take an adventurous sort of perfume lover to appreciate. The beauty is in a natural simplicity and how beautifully it captures a certain ambience. Moderate in sillage, it mostly stays close to the skin and unisex (slight masculine leading). A subtle scent that glows on your skin. Enjoy!

By Rajesh Balkrishnan - Professor and Perfumer from Charlottesville on 3/27/2019

Love this line and I actually switch off - one day Bowmakers, the next Mississippi Medicine, then Burning Barbershop, Cowboy Grass, etc. Bowmakers is my favorite (but not by far) because of the resin/moss /wood notes. These are relatively unique to the market and offer a nice change from citrus, florals and oud.

By Joyce - Attorney from New York on 2/22/2019

Dang it. I really wanted to love this, because every part of the description sounds tailor-made for me. And of course as a cellist I was excited about the concept. However, on me it smelled like I hoped it would for the first 5 minutes, and then transformed into a vinyl, plasticky, industrial paint-like aroma that I had no interest in smelling. Make sure to try this one in person because there is some weird chemistry going on.

By Laurel - Flaneuse from Boston on 6/9/2018

Wearing Bowmakers and simultaneously transported to two distinct place/times in my life. The first is my first time picking up the bow resin for my violin and smelling it as I ran it across the strings. The smell and stickiness stayed on my hands for hours, and I used to sit and smell the resin while I studied its texture and properties, The other is the sound of classical music in rooms lined with mirrors, bars, and pine floors covered in resin. As we walked into the room, we stopped at a small cardboard box full of crushed resin, and ground the bottoms and points of our toe shoes into it, generating both the scent and the sensation of grinding resin beneath our feat. It's beautiful and realistic.

By Leslie - Student from Nashville on 12/28/2017

Bowmakers smells like the inside of an instrument case, and for me, that is one evocative, nostalgic scent. I only wish this had better staying power-- it was almost imperceptible after 3 hours of wear.

By Adrianne - Dilettante from Grand Rapids on 4/15/2016

A brilliant evocation of place and an absolutely gorgeous wood-and-resin study. I don't recall any more nuanced study in woods, and that lovely amber is a deft way of keeping us from looking for that (currently cliched) smokiness that woody scents tend to reference. (And that varnish note must be experienced to be believed.) Bowmakers is one of those scents that will cause folks to ask not "what's that fragrance?" but "ooh, where have *you* been today?"

By Angela - editor from Seattle on 2/20/2016

I love resinous scents and this one is fabulous. What I love about it most is its warmth. The varnish and pine resin is rounded out by the amber... and the woods in this are deep. The dry down on me, leaves something like a patchouli, not a dirty patchouli but that warmth that is in the center of many earthy scents. If you love CD&G perfumes, you will really love D.S. & Durga, I find all their scents brilliantly composed yet wild. They push the limits of what we traditionally think perfumes to be. This one is my new signature scent.

By maria mercedes aka pistachio pony - Developer from Brooklyn on 3/25/2015

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