Two Houses, Two Cultures: d.grayi and KST SCENT

d.grayi and KST SCENT are two independent fragrance houses created under the same small studio in Los Angeles.

They share a perfumer, a workspace, and a life together, but the stories behind the two brands are very different.

d.grayi is the work of Vietnamese American perfumer James Nguyen, shaped by Vietnamese and Southeast Asian memories, materials, family, and his experience growing up between cultures.

KST SCENT comes from Korean immigrant creative director Kael Jeong, with fragrances created together with James. The brand looks at Korea through food, nightlife, convenience stores, humor, queer culture, and all the small everyday things that can suddenly feel nostalgic once you live far away from home.

We never started either brand with awards in mind.

Most of the ideas actually began with things that felt too personal, too specific, or sometimes too strange for traditional perfumery.

Over time, those ended up being the fragrances people responded to most.

d.grayi

d.grayi is James' way of telling stories through scent.

Vietnamese and Southeast Asian references appear throughout the collection, but not always in an obvious or traditional way. Ingredients like rice, pandan, durian, tea, herbs, tropical fruits, woods, and foods can become the starting point for something much more personal.

The goal was never to make a generic idea of an "Asian perfume."

It was simply to make fragrances from James' own point of view.

In 2023, Alter Oud became an Artisan Finalist at the Art and Olfaction Awards, one of the first major recognitions for the house.

Since then, d.grayi and James have continued to receive recognition from the independent fragrance community.

d.grayi Awards & Recognition

2023 — Art and Olfaction Awards
Artisan Finalist — Alter Oud

2025 — Golden Pineapple Awards
Perfumer of the Year — James Nguyen

2025 — Golden Pineapple Awards
House of the Year — d.grayi

2025 — Golden Pineapple Awards
Fragrance of the Year — Honey Bunny

2026 — Asia Perfume Awards
Honorable Mention — Emerging Perfume Brand

One of our favorite examples is Honey Bunny.

It was inspired by our life with our rabbit, with notes and textures that reference honey, chrysanthemum tea, carrot, hay, beeswax, florals, and soft fur.

It is not the kind of concept we ever expected to become an award-winning perfume.

But that is also what makes d.grayi feel like d.grayi.

The ideas usually start with something very close to home.

KST SCENT

If d.grayi is James' world, KST SCENT is Kael's.

KST SCENT looks at Korea from the perspective of someone who grew up there and later immigrated to the United States.

A lot of the inspiration comes from things that are not necessarily considered important when you are surrounded by them every day.

Hotteok on a cold winter night.

Banana milk from a convenience store.

Soju mixed with beer.

A late-night pocha.

Street food, internet jokes, dating culture, queer nightlife.

After moving away, those ordinary things started to feel much more meaningful.

That became the core of KST SCENT.

KST SCENT Awards & Recognition

2025 — AskMen Grooming Awards
Best Body Product — Gay Oppa

2026 — Art and Olfaction Awards
Artisan Finalist — Hotteok

2026 — Golden Pineapple Awards
Best Gourmand — Hotteok

Hotteok becoming an Art and Olfaction Awards finalist was especially meaningful to us.

The fragrance is based on one of the most familiar Korean winter street foods: a warm pancake filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts.

There was no attempt to make the reference sound more luxurious or more exotic than it really is.

It is just something many Koreans know immediately.

Seeing a fragrance built around such an everyday Korean memory recognized internationally felt special.

Gay Oppa

Gay Oppa represents another side of KST SCENT.

It was one of the earliest ideas behind the brand and, in a lot of ways, still feels like one of the clearest examples of what KST SCENT is supposed to be.

Korean culture has become incredibly visible internationally through music, film, television, beauty, and food.

Korean queer life is still much less visible.

The original idea behind Gay Oppa started with a pretty simple and slightly ridiculous question:

What would the ideal Korean gay boyfriend smell like?

While visiting gay bars in Korea, we asked bartenders what kinds of fragrances they liked wearing. Warm amber, vanilla, and sensual fragrances came up often.

That eventually became part of Gay Oppa.

The name is playful, but the idea behind it is real.

Queer Koreans are part of Korean culture too, and we wanted that experience to exist inside the stories KST SCENT tells.

Supporting the Communities Behind the Stories

The cultural and queer stories behind the brands are not something we want to use only as marketing.

As the studio has grown, we have also tried to regularly support organizations connected to the communities we care about.

That has included donations to VietRISE, organizations supporting the Korean LGBTQ+ community, and the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF).

We do not really think of this as a separate part of the brand.

If we are going to make work inspired by our backgrounds, our communities, immigrant experiences, or queer identity, it feels natural to also support people doing real work in those communities.

We are still a small independent studio, so what we can contribute changes depending on the year.

But giving back where we can has become part of how we want both houses to grow.

The Recognition Is Meaningful, But the Stories Come First

We are obviously grateful for the awards.

For a small independent studio, recognition from organizations like the Art and Olfaction Awards, Golden Pineapple Awards, Asia Perfume Awards, and AskMen has helped introduce our work to people who may never have found us otherwise.

But the part that means the most is seeing which fragrances people connect with.

An oud interpreted through James' Vietnamese American perspective.