Wisteria Hysteria
Stephen Jones (2014)

"white rose" soaps, carnation, cyclamen, a honeyed woody element similar to Serge Lutens Miel de Bois. A dryness similar to l'air du Temps. I can see what Darvant means by pharmaceutical.

I like the playful name though the perfume's olfactory relation to wisteria flowers is unclear. Nice flacon- Waltersperger?

Excellent pyrotechnical (and more than poetically moonshiny) review from my dear friend Alfarom but frankly I don't get the "clima elettrico" all around, I don't catch the trick of the lights, yes...neither plain animalic skin-aroma's reproductions nor genuine creativity despite I can't say to dislike this CdG-styled "magnolia/wisteria/carnation/lilac/peony-oriented" composition. Warmness?? Naaaa....Coldness? Siiii...and may be a touch of real hysteria. Stephen Jones/CdG Wisteria Hysteria smells frankly as "nothing new under the sun". I don't get the fuss and a real post-modern creativity. A first layer on skin and it seems to get a boring (yet classic) sharply aqueous, peppery, clean, lilac/peony-like, astringent, metallic and transparent (kind of "water of the pond") main accord of wisteria/carnation, reinforced in sharpness by lily of the valley, rose and peony (probably just apparent in effects), finally supported by citrus, aromachemical amberish soapiness and musk (something more or less a la L'Eau d'Issey original for woman, V&A Muguet Blanc, Eau d'Italie Magnolia Romana, L'Erbolario Magnolia, Elie Saab Parfum or Chloe' new). A floral-chemical intensity (ostensibly a tad acid) gives out the apparent illusion of "skin aroma" (the animals are actually blocked off surrounded by stout fences). All the general atmosphere seems kind of silent, abstract, vaguely medicinal and surely synthetic. Carnation/wisteria is the "alive and kicking" spicy starring connection with its crispy grassiness providing a "lily of the valley/lilac/peony-kind of" floral intensity. I hardly detect just the note of carnation (as written somewhere out from Basenotes) since the floral valzer is far more pungent, melancholic and intensely multifaceted. A vegetal muskiness is apparent for a while, sliding down quickly towards something more robotic, slightly detergent and hyperbaric (apparently a la Maack in style). It seems to get furthermore a tad of "pomegranate/grapefruit-like" misty-incensey sour fruitiness in the mix as well (vaguely a la Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir). Along the way fluidy Iso E Super Incense, synthetic muskiness, simil cedarwood and ambroxan-soapiness provide (as background) a sort of detergent kind of pharmaceutical "neutrality" (something like a simil Jo Malone's destructured soapy water) which is anything but an otherworldly invention. Go on.

The opening of Wisteria is centered on carnation with green-citrus notes: crunchy, crisp, fresh, with a sort of abstract and “contemporary” feel of cleanness. Accords of spices, aldehydes, red pepper provide a sort of nostalgic, slightly retro feel, but “deprived” of the thickness and deepness of vintage perfumes. Shortly a sort of hologram of a traditional green-floral-spicy scent. I also get a subtle white-rose floral breeze which is really thin but palpable, soapy and crystalline, which gives Wisteria a touch of gentle colour, also softening a somehow quite “angular” blend. On the very base, dusty white-greyish notes of musks. Overall Wisteria is a modern, sharp, clean perfume, rather pleasant and unexpectedly powerful despite its “thin” texture. It's much linear too, though, so it can be a bit boring after a while. Also not the most original or creative scent around, but more complex and fascinating than it may seem, mostly because it is basically a synthetic scent with a sort of dreamy, “glowing” feel of organic earthiness perfectly blended with a luminous, icy feel of abstractness. A bit like watching a digital rework of a faded polaroid picture (or listening to a glo-fi band, if you know the genre: that “synthetic nostalgia” type of inspiration). Didn't make me fall of the chair, but nice!

7/10

Chromatic scale: White, more white and even more white. Lilac, silver, neon white, microscopic black dots, imperceptible light-blue nuances, steel-cold grey.

Rosey / floral notes with a bright metallic presence and a overall synth-pop vein. The florals are the most distant possible from the real thing. Instead, they're a super abstract rendition of the smell you could expect from a olfactive holodeck on DS9. Incense is here in full force and together with spices provides quite a thick and potent bone-structure.

As I said, the fragrance starts bright, clean and cheerful but the feeling it evokes is anything but natural. It's sort of like a sense of inner euphoria filtered through chem drugs. Hallucinations and horizontal dancing, mind trips at the borders of cosmos.

Incense takes over considerably and, together with sweetish notes give birth to a dry'n'sweet accord that, at traces, brought to mind of Eldo's Archive 69 (overlooked gem IMO) minus the camphor.But beside the incense, they also share a certain lived-in vibe. It's not lived-in as in remarkably dirty but more like *humanized*. It's the warmness of clean skin with subtle animalic (humanoid) facets.

Smartly placed juxtapositions provided by clove and smoky mate notes, preserve the fragrance from becoming too bright and cold yet, at the same time, they paradoxically enhance the overall metallic vibe.

I can't say Wisteria feels warm but it doesn't feel cold or detached either. It surely has both the elements of warmness and coldness but they're so smartly paired to give birth to a completely new feeling. Again, it's like showing to a alien reptile race what *body warmness is about*.

Potent, very long lasting and with a great projection. In this context, Wisteria feels like a collaboration between Comme Des Garcons and Thierry Mugler...if Mugler actually still had taste.