I Tried a Perfume Inspired by the Stinkiest Plant on Earth—and It’s Shockingly Gorgeous

The Amorphophallus gigas is a little bit shy. The rare tropical plant only comes out from underground to bloom once every seven to 10 years. Once the gigas emerges, it does so in style, breaking through the dirt as a massive spike that eventually opens into large, plum-colored leafy foliage. It also makes an olfactory impression: Humans have given the plant the nickname "corpse flower" because it reeks of rotting flesh. So, naturally, David Moltz at D.S. & Durga decided to create a fragrance inspired by it.

Resurrected Corpse Flower is a limited-edition Studio Juice eau de parfum inspired by Moltz witnessing (and, therefore, smelling) an Amorphophallus gigas bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in January 2025. When I ask Moltz what about the experience made him think, "I could turn this into a great perfume," he says simply, "Everyone deserves a second chance!"

A big fan of freaky fragrances, I got my hands on a bottle of the stuff before launch.

A corpse flower at full bloom.Don Arnold – Getty Images

The press release for this Studio Juice described the fragrance family as "half swamp, half flower," which I think is exactly correct. The top notes are green olive, balm of Gilead, and grapefruit; the middle has freesia, Madonna lily, and tuberose; and the base is rounded out with green banana, bog cedar, and papyrus.

All of this comes together to create a damp scent, with a freshness that leans more light aquatic than breezy marine. On first spritz, it opens bright, green, and watery; the dry down stays impressively fresh, though a touch of sweetness from the green banana note comes out more the longer you wear it. There is thankfully zero hint of "corpse" anywhere to be found.

"This scent is really about inverting a stinky note into a beautiful one, like the rubber of rotten lily bulbs transformed into a gorgeous white lily," Moltz says. "It's the play of contrasted materials: Bog cedar that is wet, but cleaned. Green olive that is salty but fresh. Tuberose absolute, narcotic but chalky and earthy."

It's part of what I predict will be a big petrichor fragrance trend this fall; there are several perfumes inspired by that earthy dampness that have just launched (like Liis Forest Sounds) or are about to (like an EDP based on the scent of snowfall coming in November).

"I think petrichor scents surprise us with their realism," Moltz says. "Ozones (ocean, rain, air, and water) are familiar in the world but unexpected in perfumes." He's been a fan of using them for years "to make perfumes that take you right to a beach, mountain, or inside a rainbow."

Resurrected Corpse Flower has me completely rethinking my fall fragrance wardrobe. I often fall into the typical spicy, gourmand pattern once the weather gets colder, but this—which is not either of those things—quickly became one of my most-worn scents in September. The floral middle feels familiar, but the savory gourmand elements all make it quite unique.

There is also a whisper of sweetness—but sweet in the way a freshly picked pear is sweet, not a vanilla macaron. Fresh, green banana has become one of my favorite perfume notes; I love that it creates the comforting, familiar feeling gourmand notes are known for without going saccharine.

Since most of the notes are fresh or floral, it's not as long-lasting on me as some of my other DS & Durga favorites, like Deep Dark Vanilla or Black Magenta, but I don't mind: It's a pleasure to reapply at the end of the day if I have somewhere to be.

One word of warning, if this sounds like a perfume you'd like to get your hands on: Since it is one of the brand's special Studio Juice perfumes, it'll probably sell out quickly. "The Halloween Studio Juices typically sell out before Halloween," Moltz says. These limited-edition scents are meant to be the most abstract of the brand's fragrances, and I think this one nails the brief. "Anything can become perfume," Moltz says. With Resurrected Corpse Flower, he proves it.

Kara McGrath is a contributing beauty editor at Cosmopolitan. She's been a beauty journalist for over 15 years, with fragrance as one of her primary beats. She tests as many new perfume launches as possible and speaks with perfumers to understand the science behind how the scents come together.

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