Eau de Parfum

Femme

Unisex

Masc

Mississippi Medicine Eau de Parfum by D.S. and Durga

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Femme

Unisex

Masc

Mississippi Medicine

Eau de Parfum

by D.S. and Durga

Perfumer
David Moltz

Released
2011

Country
United States

Ratings
13 REVIEWS

The Scoop

Tribal pyres burning in the forests, with smoke from pine, holly, cypress, laurel, and cedar rising upwards to the gods. D.S.& Durga looked to the funerary rituals of the early Mississippian Death Cult, the loosely connected network of tribes in America's regions around the 1200 AD, as the inspirations for the haunting yet comfortingly earthy Mississippi Medicine.

Mississippi Medicine opens with herbal, woody top notes of freshly gathered juniper branches, twigs, lichen-clad bark, and sweet grassy violet - damp, cool, and dense with a stunning realism. Birch tar emerges like smoke mingling up through the wood and herbs of the pyre before it is consumed in flames. As the birch smoke floats above the skin in wafts of muted, spectral, gray in the scent's unfolding, the base of dry cedar and frankincense grows stronger. And in the final dry down all that remains is that incense and the woody embers, like the ash that was left after the pyres died down; after the smoke had reached the gods above and only the cinders remain to be covered and buried back into the soil.

Mississippi Medicine Fragrance Notes

Red cedar, aldehydes, frankincense distillate, cypress root, black pine, cascarilla bark, incense, spanish cade, and birch tar.

Mississippi Medicine Sizes Available:

50ml

$210

0.7ml sample

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If you like Mississippi Medicine Eau de Parfum, we recommend you try:

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Here's what other people are saying about Mississippi Medicine...

The other reviews make me wonder if the sample I got was off or something, but I get literally one note from this and it's church incense. This smells like Catholic mass and nothing else. Literally no other notes. This is the exact smell of the priest walking around waving that big incense ball back and forth. And it's powerful. Eye watering. I don't know what kind of scent memories this would unlock for non-Catholics, but as someone dragged to church every weekend as a child, I can't get anything from this but swinging incense ball. If you like that, they've nailed it. If you are expecting some magical earthy Oh Brother Where Art Thou deep south spiritual experience, at least if you have ever been to Catholic mass, you won't find it.

By Ash - Designer from Los Angeles on 7/8/2022

It delivers exactly what it promises, and that's part of the problem: very incense-y. I'd love this smell in a temple, but don't care for it on me. That being said, if this is your vibe, it's perfect.

By YN - Writer from Chicago on 1/7/2022

Mmm…no! Strong astringent pine sap. Like playing under a pine tree and smelling the needles exactly. The opening is sharp and made me turn my nose away. Maybe a slight pine sol vibe which I conotate to very bad memories. Hard pass!

By Susan - Alchemist from Ofallon on 9/25/2021

This may be one of the only scents I have come into which unleashes a real WOODSY smell. It has a nice strong flavor to it which lasts for the entire day. D.S. and Durga holds a nice candle above the the eau de parfumes.

By Andrew - President from Mpls on 4/29/2019

A gorgeous incense-based masculine and earthy fragrance, this mysterious beauty combines the incense with birch, spruce, cypress, and violet to evoke a nice realistic feeling of the Mississipi delta and proto-Mississippian voodoo cults. Very masculine, mysterious, earthy and unique, with moderate sillage and projection, this one is a beautiful composition.

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

One of my favorites from DS & Durga. I don't find it nearly as smoky as some do, and I really hate smoky fragrances, so this one worried me. It does smell slightly "medicinal" in the beginning I guess...but really to me it smells like natural herbs, not necessarily like medicine (although medicine is often made from herbs). It feels outdoorsy and ritualistic, just a bit gloomy but not overly so. Had I read nothing about the "death cult" I would not have gone there with this scent, but I also can see it working with the inspirational backstory. Couldn't give it 5 stars because I wish sillage was bigger; at the same time if it means adding a ton of Iso E Super to make it more beastly, I will happily take it as it is, thank you!

By Antoinette - Mommy from San Francisco on 12/10/2018

I'm amending my earlier snarky review. After using up the decant, I found myself wanting more, much more, of MM. I ordered another decant, fell in love, bought a big big bottle, and wear it every day. It starts with a dark, bitter, fresh load of birch tar, which lasts a long time, and gradually melts into frankincense and other woody, incense-y things. Stronger, stranger, and lasts longer than Comme des Garcons Zagorsk, my other true love. Perfect for the sadder but wiser woman who no longer wants to smell like flowers, fruit, or food.

By Michal - Artist from Boston on 9/12/2018

I adore it, but I can save a lot of money by using frankincense essential oil on top of Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap.

By Michal - Artist from Boston on 4/3/2018

Honestly, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect with this, but I was way too intrigued not to try. It's incredible, and I don't know exactly how to decribe it. What I do know is that it is a magical, mythical medicine. It makes me feel good. It smells like nothing else I have tried. The wood, incense, frankincense, and birch tar are like some kind of voodoo elixer that is addictive and invigorating, despite the origin of the name. I have a bottle and I plan to use it for all its magic is worth. Btw - Bowmakers is wonderful too. Reminds me of resin on violin bowstrings and the box of resin we put out toeshoes in to glide on wood floors many years ago...

By Leslie - Student from Nashville on 12/23/2017

Tried this because of a recommendation from my favorite beauty writer. Not disappointed. Fascinated by the concept behind this fragrance. It opens up very mentholy, astringent, medicinal. Then it progresses to a woodsy, wet earth scent which is mysterious and enticing. I found myself smelling myself throughout the day.

By Cat - student from denver on 11/8/2017

Muddy, earthy, smoky, and amazing. DS & Durga's got a gift for smoke scents beyond the usual incense. This one is particularly well-executed, with juniper, cypress and a soil/water accord framing the progression from wood to tar to smoke to ash. (The perfumers resisted the gimmicky urge to drop a "fire" note there in the heart notes, and the fragrance is far better for that.) In some ways this is the conservatory version of the legendary Chypre Mousse; if you like the older scent's rain-soaked earth sensibility, definitely take a look in this direction.

By Angela - editor from Seattle on 2/13/2017

Trying a sample of this for the first time now. The 'medicine' is apt, I think, since the opening is such a cold, sharp woodsy accord that it approaches menthol- I was not entirely pleasantly surprised to find this starting out, on my skin, smelling like Vick's vapor rub with a bit of smoke lingering under it. Thankfully, that only lasts a minute or so before it warms up and it becomes much more complex. As far as woodsy fragrances go, this is one of the most well-done I've come across; I generally find them kind of boring, but this is an absolutely expert blend of woods, and the incense and smoke only accentuate it. The end result reminds me a bit of a good oud because it's deep and sharp at the same time.

By n/a - student from NY on 12/26/2016

The medicine comes first with astringent juniper, followed by the smoke, birch logs becoming birch tar, and cedar. Aromatic, and not choked with smoke - more like standing in the fresh, green out-of-doors near a raging fire. While the inspiration is more than a bit morbid, the fragrance really nails the atmosphere. Aromatic and straightforward, perhaps more masculine than feminine.

By Dizee - Whisperer from Northeast on 5/16/2015

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D.S. and Durga

Eau de Parfum

Mississippi Medicine

Eau de Parfum

by D.S. and Durga

Product Videos:

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