Wonderwood

All occassions perfection and a dry wood-bomb masterpiece from Comme des Garcons. I could write a novel praising Wonderwood...This is perhaps my 2nd all time favorite after CdG Wonderoud, so I consider both as my signature scents. A relative - though more than double the retail price - would be 27 87 - Genetic Bliss, which is more overdosed on Georgywood (Iso E Super-ish) and hints of Akigalawood for more peppery aspect. The vetiver, incense, pepper and woods on this one are just so amazing, that makes one of the best masculine woody scents ever made IMO. I do like the muted caraway lurking in the shadows, only noticeable if you side by side compare testers with a similar fragrance. Also, I do like the fruity musk that is again lurking lightly in shadows of Wonderwood. A slightly bubblegumm-fruity note. When I feel like it's too dry of a scent for my mood, mostly in crisp minus degrees in the winter, I just spray one or two sprays of Azzaro Visit or alike, and voila you have the same woody perfection with a little sweetness. Performance is very satisfying - even though some say it's underperforming - I respectfully disagree. Wonderwood might create olfactory fatigue, and especially on clothes it just stays for a week easy, the sillage is its specialty, so I directly ignore anyone claiming Wonderwood/Wonderwood's performances are bad without detailing the conditions. Are you smelling on skin and up close? Did you spray it on a friend i.e. at the office and paid attention to the trail? How many times did you test it? (Since our noses are never the same everyday, or even during the day our olfactory reception changes drastically...) For me I do know this and Wonderoud performs amazing, people can follow my trail within a large building, or they say the perfume fills up the entire hall. If you use fragrances, especially Wonderoud, you are already attacking your nose on a daily basis. Try not using this for a week (also try to avoid strong perfumes), and then come back to it...The molecules used in these fragrances are so low on odor threshold, that it really needs to evaporate and dilute in the air to be perceived properly. Overall this is a masterpiece to me, and god forbid if it is discontinued someday, I think people will consider it amongst the legends like Gucci Rush and PH 1.

This one is initially reminding me a LOT of Comme des Garçons Man 2.. I've never smelled the original GDG 2, so not sure about that one. I didn't get the Tam Dao similarity at all at first, but now kind of get a vague similarity to that, but it's really not the same. Tam Dao is more of a chocolate like sandalwood, I love Tam Dao a lot and would not say this is the same much at all but do kind of get that comparison more now. The main similarity in this and CDG Man 2 is the incense-rubbery note that it gives, in a really good way. I used to think the sound of that type of note profile sounded terrible, and still do think there are very bad concoctions out there with that profile, but CDG Man 2 is one that really changed my view of how well done that could be. The two differ a lot more after some time with dry down, but they so far seem to have enough in common that they seem like first cousins. Wonderwood is really nice and I'm glad to have it now.. I'll have to wear it a few more times to really get a better sense of how well it performs and its nuances and how much it evolves during the day if it even does, but I do like it. I plan on getting one or two more Comme des Garçons now that I have a little more experience with a few, it seems like a nice quality House to me. One last thing I've noticed so far with Wonderwood, it does not seem to have the "eternal" performance that CDG Man 2 has, but I'm having a hard time knowing how well it does perform, as I think I might be a little more nose blind to some notes in this one (admittedly another similarity to Tam Dao, I get nose blind to it sometimes). Again though, I can't say how well that observation is with only a couple of wears. **update, this actually is eternal. The only thing I’d mention that hasn’t changed is that the projection is not strong from the get-go. The sillage; however, is there for sure. I get whiffs from time to time throughout the day, and it’s been on my jacket now for like a week. Again, not strong in projection, just kind of pops up its head from time to time and is gorgeous.

There used to be a dinky little Comme des Garçons boutique in Paris 5 when I lived there in the late 1980s. The avant-garde, post-Punk designs of Rei Kawakubo (and later Junya Watanabe) made a profound impression and I’ve been a superfan ever since. A fragrance line was a natural evolution, bringing CDG’s unique style into a new aesthetic arena. Wonderwood is a powerful memory trigger that takes me back to 2012-13 when this was my default office fragrance and, for a while, signature scent. At the time I recall being utterly enamoured: a linear, terpene-rich Guaiac-cedar-sandalwood with a camphoraceous aspect imparted by cypress, a Western style “oud” note, and subtle hints of smokiness and spice. It is what its name implies: wood. In a stylish, distinctive - but utterly impractical - flacon. In addition to its eponymous wondrous woodiness, what always struck me was the dryness of Wonderwood, which is probably what defines it as being traditionally “masculine”. In hindsight Wonderwood feels somehow incomplete. But more of anything else would have made it less “woody” and more conventional, compromising the artistic vision. Very Guaiac-dominant, with a Guaiac/Palo Santo note that reminds me of Kenzo Jungle Homme, I still adore Wonderwood as it reminds of happier days, but tend not to wear it all that often now and when I do, usually layer it with a home made fond de parfum of Iso E Super, Javanol and/or Timbersilk, which greatly improves performance and longevity. And (creepily) even gets strangers sighing. Wonderwood is a bold aesthetic statement. Over the years it seems to have become a victim of its own success - much like Santal 33, but it is still a truly great Guaiac-dominant woody fragrance. Although Guaiac (like “Oud”) has become so popular as to be almost a cliché, Wonderwood still holds its own as a work of art, a concept independent from convention and tradition, that reflects Comme des Garçons style and aesthetic.

MY SIGNATURE SCENT!! This, along with Marc Jacobs Bang! are my favorite fragrances on the planet! Yes, the PLANET! Wonderwood, is an excellent fragrance for any occasion in my opinion. I wear it for casual, I wear it for dinner, I wear it out at night to social events. It's bone dry-spicy-wood and that's what I love! The opening is that of fresh cut woods, bright, clean, bright spices....that dries down to an intoxicating mixture of dry woods and spices, slightly smokey, there is subtle "freshness" in the background, but it's complemented by warm enveloping woods. This is a complex fragrance, non-linear...at final dry-down you're left with smokey-wood, and spice and it lasts all day, although this is my second bottle of Wonderwood and I definitely think they have batch variation, this one did not last as long and I purchased this from CDG itself...as I did the other one. Sillage is medium to high depending on the temperature of your body....I notice in warmer weather, this projects really well, in colder weather, you get more dryness from the wood and more sharp-freshness from the spices. This fragrance was my first niche fragrance and is what initially catapulted me into the world of fragrances, it has formed the basis for what I like in almost all fragrances and I always reflect back on it when I compare other fragrances. To me....the closest comparisons to this would be Marc Jacobs Bang, CDG Wonderoud (almost identical, with a bit more rich Oud note), Creed Spice and Wood (although softer and brighter due to the apple and other green notes). Also...this is a bad comparison, but there are elements in Montale Dark Aoud that are similar to Wonderwood...but I can't stand Dark Aoud....so I don't want to directly compare them. If you're looking for dry, woody fragrance that won't have you smelling like a lumberjack, then this is your scent! It's been mine and I will always love it.

Reading some of the reviews I am honestly shocked at people claiming such poor performance/longevity, as this stuff is nuclear to my nose. And it is one of the extreme rare fragrances that people I worked with actually noticed and commentated on because it was so strong (and I had applied lightly too). 1-2 sprays even under clothes for me will project heavily for 5-6 hours with a monster sillage, and will be quite noticeable for at least 20-24 hours on skin. I think that is due to the heavy use of Javanol (one type of synthetic Sandalwood), which is one of those fragrance molecules that many people seem to be asnomic to. Similar to Iso E Super in Molecule 01 (or more accurately, Iso Gamma Super), some people can smell it very clearly, while others cannot smell it at all. Some people claim absurd strength, while others claim to be ripped off with lightly scented alcohol that fades in minuets. Even Molecule 04, which is pure Javanol, some people just cannot smell it very well or at all, and think they got ripped off. But for me it is one of the strongest fragrances I own. I am one of the people that can smell both molecules very easily, but Javanol is simply INSANELY strong to my nose. Just doing one spray of Wonderwood or even Molecule 04, and that scent will linger on for days if not weeks on clothes (I can even smell it on clothing after being washed, multiple times). And off skin, it will fill rooms and large areas of buildings effortlessly with the sillage. Wonderwood heavily utilizes Javanol, so if you are asnomic to that molecule (wholly or partly), then this would probably seem like a very poor performing fragrance to your nose or other noses that are also asnomic to it. But believe me, people who can smell that molecule will be almost overwhelmed by it's powerful scent even if applied very lightly.