Chaos (1996)
by Donna Karan

Terrific fruity top notes, which reappear later oddly -- true chaos. The rest is woods and incense and is truly unisex. A masterpiece -- no less.

Chaos is a very pleasing spicy-woody scent, with something resinous that’s very reminiscent of myrrh or incense.

Although there’s an exotic vibe in its overall structure, I can’t help feeling that after a few wears I’d be completely bored of it. And it’s this potential lack of endearment that is the main problem with Chaos. Still, it’s great to see it back on the shelves after a long absence.

It's also rather entertaining to speculate that this was probably the blueprint for Serge Lutens’ Serge Noire – a scent that, reputedly, took approximately ten years to create. Hmmm…

The 2008 reissue of Chaos is a warm, fruity, spicy oriental with prominent notes of cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom at its center. There’s something medicinal in there, too: myrrh, perhaps? Or maybe the agarwood (oudh) that’s listed in the scent pyramid? For all of its apparent depth, Chaos is a very sheer and luminous scent. Could this be because there’s very little that I’d call floral in the structure? Instead Chaos is bound together by prune-like dried fruit accord and a syrupy, though light, amber.

Perfume critic Luca Turin is right in comparing Chaos to Sheldrake/Lutens compositions (Arabie comes to mind), but this is a more buoyant and transparent scent than its cousins in the Serge Lutens line. It becomes intensely sweet in the drydown, with a strong suggestion of fruitcake alongside a dusty sandalwood and some very soft and mildly animalic musk. There’s plenty of sillage to be had from Chaos, and it projects well away from the body. The scent lingers for hours as well. If the idea of a sweet, fruity oriental appeals to you, but you find today’s ubiquitous fruity feminines too crude and the Serge Lutens orientals series too ponderous, Chaos may be your fragrance.

I recognise the buttery/musky woods from the Wenge "Essence" - Donna Karan must really be fond of this type of wood. If you haven't smelt the "Essences", it's in the same genre as really smooth, polished, refined, exotic woods like Diptyque Tam Dao and CdG Hinoki, the kind that smell buttery and boozy rather than dry or green. It's also vaguely related to animalic/cumin scents like Muscs Koublai Khan and Kingdom - there's something about the warmth and sweetness of it that makes it feel more "alive" than just woods. It's pleasant enough, but I don't get the complexity or originality Chaos fans are raving about, perhaps because I'm smelling the reissued version. In fact, I think the strong, buttery smoothness of the scent might be a little nauseating if overapplied or on the wrong day. The only thing I feel besides it is a faintly herbal soapiness - not enough to really set it off. It's a bit like a base without any topnotes.

I was expecting to love this one because of the many approving reviews and the several references to Black Cashmere, which is one of three fragrances of which I own more than one bottle (just in case…). But… love for Chaos didn’t happen… neither did “like.” On my skin Chaos is radically different from BC, it is also radically different from its performance on paper or cloth, and the differences do not extend in a good direction for me.

With the reissued Chaos on my skin, the opening reminds me of the spicy, resinous Black Cashmere for all of three seconds, but then, where BC stays incency, woody, spicy, and resinous, Chaos loses the resinousness and goes dry-fruity with a dull spice in the mixture. I’m not particularly impressed by this version of dry fruits – it’s almost a heretical parody of the dried fruit accord that I find so appealing in Arabie. I find this accord a turn-off, and it seems to stay on with the fragrance for way too long of time. The soft, dry, and indistinct musky / woody drydown comes off as unimpressive as the opening and heart of Chaos. Unlike BC, Chaos doesn’t have strong sillage off my skin and it has poor longevity.

On paper I get a completely different fragrance. The opening is effervescent with more than a hint of a pleasant boozy rum note: That didn’t happen on my skin, and it’s actually quite a delightful accord. The paper Chaos settles down to a soft, translucent abstract and sophisticated fruity middle which holds for a longer time than I was expecting… finally to finish off on a very nice and very light dry musk / sandalwood accord. There is an extremely soft resinous background to the entire run of the fragrance. Neither on the paper nor on my skin does Chaos remind me of Black Cashmere.

I am continually impressed by the differences in performance of fragrances on paper and on the skin: Chaos is an excellent fragrance that just doesn’t like my skin chemistry.

I just pulled out my untried samples and Chaos is among them. This is a very exotic woods (padukwood & agarwood) and exotic spice (saffron, coriander, chamomile, cardamon) scent that leaves me a little cold. I don't smell the amber and I smell just a bit of the clove. I can understand why this has reached cult status because it is unusual and complex. For me, it is not beautiful, elegant, compelling or fun...things that make me want to buy a particular perfume. I understand that it, along with some other discontinued Donna Karan fragrances, will be (maybe already is) reissued.