I Tried This New Perfume — & Received So Many Compliments

All of the things you know about New York City are true: it’s crowded, it’s fast-paced, it’s thrumming with energy. And it’s true of the residents who live there: they’re busy, they’re never not on-the-go, they’re unfailingly preoccupied with whatever they have going on in their lives. I take comfort in this great NYC paradox — to be surrounded by others, to experience this unsaid collective belonging even when you’re utterly alone. So, as someone who’s lived here for more than a decade, I know it takes a lot to break that barrier, broach a complete stranger, and burst the bubble in which we all separately exist.  

As it turns out, sometimes, it only takes one thing: DKNY’s newest 24/7 fragrance.

The first time it happened was during my morning commute to Industry City in Brooklyn (the site of R29’s newly minted headquarters). I had walked maybe five or so steps from the subway station when I heard an “Excuse me.” It was loud, it was from a man, and it disrupted the usual din of early a.m. transit. But I kept walking until there it was again — “Excuse me” — though this time, it was accompanied by a tap on my shoulder. I flinched and turned around, only to find a tall-ish guy who sheepishly inquired, “What perfume are you wearing?” He wanted to gift it to his girlfriend for her birthday. I watched as he carefully, deliberately typed it into his notes app on his phone, in awe at the immense power that a fragrance holds.

Or at least, this particular fragrance. I’ll be honest: I was genuinely very curious about this perfume. It was created by Frank Voelkl, principal perfumer at DSM Firmenich, to encapsulate the complexity, the vibrancy, the limitless possibilities of NYC and distill it into a singular scent.

Voelkl landed on a scent that boasts a “textural floral with a woody and musky background.” The fragrance is composed of top notes of pink pepper blended with rhubarb to capture the energy of the city. It evolves in the middle in a full, rich floral bouquet of rose centifolia, tuberose, and jasmine sambac. It ends with a warm trail made of upcycled cedarwood and sandalwood. 

I don’t normally wear fragrances, but that morning, I picked up the new DKNY 24/7 fragrance — I love the super-sleek chrome hourglass-shaped bottle (to connote the continuous flow of time) that's luxuriously hefty in weight — and spritzed it on both of my wrists. And then my neck. And then all over. It’s a captivating blend of contradictions: bold yet subtle, sweet yet spicy, sensual yet powerful.

The second time I was stopped was at the office. On my way out of a conference room, an editor from another team told me she couldn’t stop smelling me during the meeting. “Not to be a creep or anything,” she said before we both laughed. 

The third and fourth (and fifth and sixth) times happened in quick succession. I met up with a friend to attend a press preview of a pop-up installation in SoHo, where with every hi and every hug, I was given a compliment. There were a lot of “Oooh you smell nice,” “I love your perfume,” and “I’m looking for a new signature scent.”

The DKNY 24/7 scent lasted all day, but the fragrance I spritzed in the morning wasn’t the same as the one that lingered on my skin at night. By the time I arrived home, it had evolved into a quieter, “my skin but better” scent, with the base notes shining through: warm and sensual with a hint of spice. It had faded, yes, but it assumed a different, albeit still beautiful form. 

The beauty of a fragrance is its ability to forge an olfactory memory so powerful, it can transport you to a specific time or location. In this case, with DKNY 24/7, that place is New York City. And now, whenever I smell it, I’m reminded of my day-to-day life in the city I love, the city I call home.