I read about this perfume the other year when it came out and was fascinated by the inspiration. I wasn't familiar with Wilke's work previously but I appreciate perfume which is so carefully considered and is more meaningful to it's creator. I think the power of an artists work is not merely to be admired or consumed but to inspire other artists to create and that's exactly what we have here in a naturally adjacent step to Carter's first works which were deeply personal but very much about him and his own experiences. Intra Venus has at it's heart a really lovely Hyacinth accord, Identifiable as such but somehow prettier than the very lush, wet, green association I have with Hyacinths. Unfortunately my mum keeps them in the front porch of her house ALL year round because she has an issue with her drains (not a euphemism, it's my mum, Behave!!!) and using the pungency of hyacinths to mask it, yeah so I have a grim association with a mild whiff of human excretor. haha... So let's go back to the opening shall we because it's explosive and interesting green and herbal, bright, tingling the nostils could this be the effects of wasabi? It doesn't smell like horseradish thankfully but the tingle and freshness is akin to ginger or something? Effects wise at least. I'm refraining from trying to explain this perfume in terms of it's conceptual inspiration (pretty thoroughly explained in the notes from the brand) and once dried down it takes on a lived in skin closeness, a bodily feel to something lurking in the base, a saliva on skin quality, juxtaposed against the florals which possess a more wafting and aerated quality, much like the breezy effect of flowers headspace many perfumers try to achieve. Intra Venus achieves that, somehow burrowing IN (as the name would suggest) but billowing OUT just as much. I'm not sure I'd wear this or buy a bottle simply because it's a bit too artistic for me, (although the soft drydown is sweeter and muskier than expected so perhaps I would like to wear it?) but that is the only reason. I find Intra Venus to be an olfactory triumph and genuinely think that Carter is a natural talent who needs to be treasured. Not only his fantastic work for his own project chronotope but other brands I had the pleasure of smelling recently, very much a different tone, but still the same creativity on show. Bravo!
0
3 years ago
Intra Venus, from Chronotope was released in 2021. The perfumer behind this creation is Carter Weeks Maddox. The notes are Cyclamen, Cypress, Hinoki Wood, Hyacinth, Mastic or Lentisque, Mate, Oakmoss, Wasabi, Yarrow.
I read about this perfume the other year when it came out and was fascinated by the inspiration. I wasn't familiar with Wilke's work previously but I appreciate perfume which is so carefully considered and is more meaningful to it's creator. I think the power of an artists work is not merely to be admired or consumed but to inspire other artists to create and that's exactly what we have here in a naturally adjacent step to Carter's first works which were deeply personal but very much about him and his own experiences. Intra Venus has at it's heart a really lovely Hyacinth accord, Identifiable as such but somehow prettier than the very lush, wet, green association I have with Hyacinths. Unfortunately my mum keeps them in the front porch of her house ALL year round because she has an issue with her drains (not a euphemism, it's my mum, Behave!!!) and using the pungency of hyacinths to mask it, yeah so I have a grim association with a mild whiff of human excretor. haha... So let's go back to the opening shall we because it's explosive and interesting green and herbal, bright, tingling the nostils could this be the effects of wasabi? It doesn't smell like horseradish thankfully but the tingle and freshness is akin to ginger or something? Effects wise at least. I'm refraining from trying to explain this perfume in terms of it's conceptual inspiration (pretty thoroughly explained in the notes from the brand) and once dried down it takes on a lived in skin closeness, a bodily feel to something lurking in the base, a saliva on skin quality, juxtaposed against the florals which possess a more wafting and aerated quality, much like the breezy effect of flowers headspace many perfumers try to achieve. Intra Venus achieves that, somehow burrowing IN (as the name would suggest) but billowing OUT just as much. I'm not sure I'd wear this or buy a bottle simply because it's a bit too artistic for me, (although the soft drydown is sweeter and muskier than expected so perhaps I would like to wear it?) but that is the only reason. I find Intra Venus to be an olfactory triumph and genuinely think that Carter is a natural talent who needs to be treasured. Not only his fantastic work for his own project chronotope but other brands I had the pleasure of smelling recently, very much a different tone, but still the same creativity on show. Bravo!