The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Catnip is a memory trigger. The scent of it can pull you back to a specific moment, a specific feeling of ease. Nguyen built the composition around that warmth, layering in myrrh and frankincense for the kind of ancient, slightly medicinal depth that catnip needed to land on human skin. The two resins work together, their smoky, balsamic qualities giving the green catnip note something to settle into rather than simply float above. A light civettone touch keeps the whole thing intimate, enough to suggest warm skin without crossing into anything aggressive. The result is a fragrance that smells like a memory of being comfortable. Nostalgic without being sweet. Warm without being heavy.
Myrrh Cat's structure is built around contrast. The top layer, catnip, bergamot, and the herbal bite of betel leaf, opens sharp and bright, almost medicinal in the way catnip can be on skin. That bergamot keeps the green from getting too serious, adding a citrus lift that pulls the whole opening toward light rather than shadow. Then the heart: myrrh and frankincense arrive together, their warm resinous character softening the sharp edges of the opening and pulling the composition toward something deeper.
The evolution
The opening hits fast, catnip's green, herbal bite right there, bergamot's citrus cutting through. Betel leaf adds an unfamiliar aromatic twist, almost medicinal. The top doesn't linger. The myrrh and frankincense arrive as the initial sharpness begins to fade, warm and resinous, bringing a richness that the top notes only hinted at. The catnip doesn't disappear, it softens, becomes the green undertone beneath the amber warmth. What follows is a slow, steady drydown that belongs to a different kind of fragrance entirely. The base arrives gradually, vanilla softening the edges just enough, but civettone and ginseng and oakmoss pushing into something earthier, closer to skin than to air. The drydown is intimate and lasting, the kind of composition that stays with you.
Cultural impact
Among indie houses working with Vietnamese and Korean scent heritage, d.grayi stands apart for its willingness to use unconventional materials without irony. Myrrh Cat fits that pattern: it takes a note associated with something specific and domestic and translates it into a resinous, contemplative composition. The fragrance speaks to those who want scent to mean something beyond luxury.
